MarkNY Posted January 13, 2017 Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 I see all the great work on here and I have to say you guys make it look easy. I have lots to learn with the airbrush. Do you have any tips on setting up my airbrush properly for painting lures? I just got an iwata eclipse hp-cs. I'd like to be able to get the air pressure down but seem to run into issues when I do that. Would also like any general tips on painting. Painted my first perch pattern tonight and it didn't come easy. Took 2 or 3 tries. I think mainly because I don't have a paint plan and I'm a little limited on colors. I think I just need to practice but I'm open to any tips or suggestions to try. Thanks, Mark 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 13, 2017 Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 That is really nice! Just take your time, and don't be afraid to screw up. That's how we all learn. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jigginpig Posted January 13, 2017 Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 If that is what you are doing right out of the gate then I got little to no sympathy for you. Seriously though, that looks great. But if you want to improve, paint a lot. Like Arnold Palmer said, "The more I practice, the luckier I get." I have owned an airbrush for years, but never spent much time at it. I just started spraying lots of paint, and have improved rapidly. Keep spraying! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone2long Posted January 13, 2017 Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 I will only add this whatever paint system you use get yourself a bottle of high performance reducer it's expensive but it will take alot of the learning curve out of getting paint to spray correctly, down the road if you want to experiment with home-brew or even water ( water I do not recommend ) then go for it but your off to a good start. Tip dry and reducing seem to be the primary hurdles when fist getting started and can get very frustrating. I personally bought a bunch of cheap blanks for both practice and color experiments if you want to go on the cheap get a piece of PVC pipe to practice on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 13, 2017 Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 I have a Glad tupperware tub of water next to my paint station, with a U-shaped coat hanger wire bracket on the lip to rest my air brush in, so the tip and cup are wet. I bent hooks on the ends of the U to catch the underside of the tub's lip, so my brush hangs vertically, nose down, into the water. It's harder to describe than it was to make. I put the brush there while I'm drying my paint, and I don't have to worry about paint setting up in the brush before I have a chance to back flush and clean it for the next color. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNY Posted January 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 11 hours ago, gone2long said: I will only add this whatever paint system you use get yourself a bottle of high performance reducer it's expensive but it will take alot of the learning curve out of getting paint to spray correctly, down the road if you want to experiment with home-brew or even water ( water I do not recommend ) then go for it but your off to a good start. Tip dry and reducing seem to be the primary hurdles when fist getting started and can get very frustrating. I personally bought a bunch of cheap blanks for both practice and color experiments if you want to go on the cheap get a piece of PVC pipe to practice on. Gone, great tips. I actually made up a batch of reducer using an online tutorial and that stuff helped big time. I'll take a look at other reducers next time I'm at the hobby store. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ces Posted January 14, 2017 Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 Mark, for a first try that is really nice. Be patient. Paint as much as you can and learn your airbrush and its pressure/reducer sweet spots. After that first one... don't worry. A little practice and you are going to pump out some great lure art. My first was a fair bit shoddier than that. Don't stress. Have fun. Remember, lure colours and patterns mostly catch fisherman. In terms of colour choice when fishing I try to use three guidelines. Overall dark patterns for dirty water and dark nights, overall light patterns for clear water and bright nights. Natural colours for clear water also or when fish are shut down. I start there and see what works. I don't think fish care too much about perfect paint jobs but it certainly makes a more satisfied lure maker. Good luck mate. Cheers, Ces. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted January 15, 2017 Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 On 1/13/2017 at 1:03 PM, mark poulson said: I have a Glad tupperware tub of water next to my paint station, with a U-shaped coat hanger wire bracket on the lip to rest my air brush in, so the tip and cup are wet. I bent hooks on the ends of the U to catch the underside of the tub's lip, so my brush hangs vertically, nose down, into the water. It's harder to describe than it was to make. I put the brush there while I'm drying my paint, and I don't have to worry about paint setting up in the brush before I have a chance to back flush and clean it for the next color. Mark I must have got that from you! Lol I do the same thing and I don't have no issues at all. I just do that cycle a few more times. I don't have to do a major cleaning to often by doing this. Do you put a dish detergent in the water? I do put a very little amount. The tub I have has two sections. The second one I just keep water in for the final cycle of flushing. Takes very little time compared to a gummed up brush. Dale 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 15, 2017 Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 Dale, I haven't tried dish detergent in my water tub. I have that in a spray bottle I use for the final flushing when I'm cleaning my brush. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Ron Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 I've only been painting since last April or so. I paint pretty much every day. So over the past months or so, the biggest things I have learned is to take notes and pictures of each step for the first few months. Today you will think "Wow. I like this one and did good." But then next time you try to recreate it you can't for a couple reasons. Either you didn't take proper notes, o r even better time has gone by and because your painting methods, techniques, routines, etc have improved to the point you can't recreate your bad work. LOl Oh, and don't try to exactly duplicate someone else's paint job. Use them for ideas or techniques. You will find (at least I do) hard to duplicate what you think is a paint job that someone else did in your skill level. Reason is you don't know things like how thick or thin they put a certain color on maybe the order they put certain color combinations on, or even what a certain color is because of mixing or brands. Find things that are yours and fit your style. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jigginpig Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 That's funny Ron! I have been painting for a LOT longer than you have, but I never spent any time working on it. I usually sprayed a dark top and a light belly. I would usually do eyes, and sometime scales. That was all I felt like I needed, and I was only painting baits for myself. Recently, I have taken a mind to sell a few baits, and I figure people want pretty stuff to look at, so I have been spending a lot of time in the last few months working on my painting. I have taken the opposite tack, and try not to worry that much about what it is exactly that I paint, as long as I like it. I think your way is probably a LOT smarter, but sometimes I like doing things by the seat of the pants... :/ haha Cheers man! SS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 After reading both of your statements, Ron & JP I found myself agreeing with you both. I've been painting for sometime now and I feel that both of you are right which is just my opinion. I have notes, I mix paint the same way because I have notes for that. The schemes....very seldom come out the same unless they are a simple schemes. You can get pretty close but not exact. At this point I go with JP more. I don't get hung up on getting the two baits exact. Shading is hard to do the same each time. I guess if I did just a few schemes I could get a lot closer. What happens to me a lot is someone will come in with a pic of a scheme or a drawing of a bait with a scheme they want. So that's going off painting by the seat of my pants. I do work on eye's, scales, gill plate, dot, etc. The reason is I want the bait to imitate a forage bait that the predator fish is after. I'm finding more now a days if I'm painting for myself I painting to an idea, not by a cook book. I do have what I call rules, these are facts that happen in nature. Examples; the shells on a craw and the size of the shell compared to the size of the bait, where the eyes are located on the craw, size that a predator fish eats on average, etc. I will look at pictures of real life forage as I paint sometimes or take a look before I start. Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 (edited) LOL, I was thinking about this as a debate with myself from Ron's side and JP's side. I believe this question goes along with the OP's topic. Here it is; does a predator fish strike from a shape, color off of reflex or does it take the time to look at details? And could it be both at different times to each question respectively? Dale I have my opinion, but I'm holding it to myself for awhile. Edited January 16, 2017 by DaleSW Left out a comment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Ron Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 Million Dollar questions Dale. Does a Predator fish strike from shape? Yes a shape that will either fit in it's mouth or down it's crunchers. Do predator fish strike from reflex? Duh Do predator fish strike from color? Here's what I know: I'm on a lake that the day before I was wacking them on a squarebill I painted. The next day nadda. My son text me from the other side of the lake and said put on that chart/purple squarebill you painted and he was wacking them. I did and started pounding them on the same spots. Glad I could answer your questions Dale. Shoot me a PM for my address and you can send me the a check for the million dollars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 Not quite true, I've seen fish hit unpaint baits. Unless wood color is a factor your theory flushes. So this question is still going. Also I've seen fish follow down a forage like a tiger still not correct. This means reflex is not always true. More like deliberate in these cases. Then color is more relative of water clarity and sunlight. However depth does change the ability of the certain colors to be seen by certain fish species. So all is correct at a given time. No check..no prize. Sorry Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordanlures Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 Hey fish have personality some like jazz and some like green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ces Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 Now that we have turned to colour discussions, I thought I would share this link to a video (series) from Australian lure maker Greg Vinall. He gives a great explanation of how light, water clarity, depth and wave movement/wind effect how fish perceive different colours in the spectrum. Its a great series I think. The link is just to the first video of four but it shouldn't be hard to follow it to the other videos. I hope you guys find this helpful. Cheers, Ces. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 That's is what I refering to with my comment of depth and colors Ces. It is a good read from Doc. Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milkman Posted February 11, 2017 Report Share Posted February 11, 2017 Many moons ago I read about the only lure manufacturer in the country with an actual engineering department, I think it was Berkeley. They tested lure colors for attracting bass. Winner was plain solid bone color, no pattern added. They tried test marketing a line of such lures, and fishermen being none too smart wouldn't buy. Don't bother me with facts, I want fancy. Try to remember that the bass that held the world record for something like 30 years or so was caught on a shapeless rounded blob painted red on the front half and white on the back half. I like pretty lures too, but I realize it's largely for me and the fish have their own ideas from day to day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted February 11, 2017 Report Share Posted February 11, 2017 As far as I know Perry in Georgia still holds the world record for a naturally grown fish. For many years I thought It was Alabama. The fish was caught in 1932 in shallow water. It was a rainy year and he couldn't work in the fields so he went fishing for food. This and the rest of the story is fishing history and lore. Point I'm making is that the water was probably stained from the rains since it was a river. Being in shallow waters also would lead me to believe that a white and red bait would be the right scheme for the conditions. However I have never read about the bait used that day. Perry did advertise for a company afterwards. There is a bait that I like and mimic called the tunderstick, one of its schemes is red and white which I use in shallow stain waters or at night. It's all in what you are confident in. However color, pattern, clarity of the water, depth that you are fishing, etc. all play a roll in catching fish IMO. Not to mention action, size of the bait, etc., etc. And heck of a lot of luck. Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
