Gitwood Posted May 3, 2018 Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 Hi All, New guy here... I've been messing around with Alumilite products for the last couple of years and having a blast. Just upgraded my airbrush and I'm excited to hit the shop this weekend and tinker... I made a silicone mold of a favorite jerk-bait and I've been casting with Alumilite White and micro-balloons, keeping track of my recipes along the way to try and perfect the elusive suspending bait. I've been making my own wire harness for all of my solid-body baits - a single piece of wire from tip-to-tail. My theory is why temp fate with screw eyes, but maybe I'm over-thinking? The store-bought version I was templating had its tail eye pop right out of the plastic with hardly any force - I was quite shocked at how easy it did so, adding fuel to my theory about through-wire frames. It makes balancing the lure more difficult, but is worth the effort? Anyone have any anecdotes about their screw eyes? Any colour suggestions for the diving lip? The Alumilite seems to be as strong as the original clear lip, but I wonder if anyone has suggestions for painting the white lip. My first instinct is blood red...? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigblue2 Posted May 3, 2018 Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 2 hours ago, Gitwood said: Hi All, New guy here... I've been messing around with Alumilite products for the last couple of years and having a blast. Just upgraded my airbrush and I'm excited to hit the shop this weekend and tinker... I made a silicone mold of a favorite jerk-bait and I've been casting with Alumilite White and micro-balloons, keeping track of my recipes along the way to try and perfect the elusive suspending bait. I've been making my own wire harness for all of my solid-body baits - a single piece of wire from tip-to-tail. My theory is why temp fate with screw eyes, but maybe I'm over-thinking? The store-bought version I was templating had its tail eye pop right out of the plastic with hardly any force - I was quite shocked at how easy it did so, adding fuel to my theory about through-wire frames. It makes balancing the lure more difficult, but is worth the effort? Anyone have any anecdotes about their screw eyes? Any colour suggestions for the diving lip? The Alumilite seems to be as strong as the original clear lip, but I wonder if anyone has suggestions for painting the white lip. My first instinct is blood red...? Thanks! I make my own wire eyes using .030 steel welding wire just barrel twist the wire drill small hole and epoxy it in I have never had one fail so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted May 3, 2018 Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 I usually make my own eyes and hook hangers and insert them in the mold before I pour it. Alumilite is more than strong enough for the embedded eyes and hangers. I have done screw eyes as well, but I set them with some super glue or epoxy so the fish cannot torque them out. I never ever use a full tip to tail harness with AL W. Now, for the lip, red is an interesting option. Red disappears in 10 feet of water (depth), so it would be black any deeper. More shallow than 10 feet and it sure won't hurt, at least most of the time. Storm Hot n Tots had metal lips that were painted, and that did not matter. Bomber Baits made a crawdad with a metal bait, and it did not matter. Seems Bomber also did a metal lipped water dog that worked well also. Still, I think that in some cases, well only the fish know for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitwood Posted May 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2018 I never thought of just doing my own twisted eyes, I think I'll give it a shot. My only concern would be the tail hook where the mold is the thinnest - has anyone ever experienced weakness in the casting as the Micro Balloon count goes up? Larry from MakeLure said the same thing about the lips - he recalls Rapala coming out with a line of different colours. I also forgot that many years ago I had some cranks with metal lips, so there you go. I will try painting the lip with my chrome base coat and see what happens. Maybe try and blend some others with the body scheme. Thanks for the input! If I feel it's worthy, I might post a pic or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted May 4, 2018 Report Share Posted May 4, 2018 5 hours ago, Gitwood said: My only concern would be the tail hook where the mold is the thinnest - has anyone ever experienced weakness in the casting as the Micro Balloon count goes up? None on any of the baits I have used. So far, never had a AL W and microballoon bait break on anything except a rock I tossed it into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitwood Posted May 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2018 1 hour ago, Anglinarcher said: None on any of the baits I have used. So far, never had a AL W and microballoon bait break on anything except a rock I tossed it into. Good to know! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
