Pearl powder?

[Alakai]

Hello all, I am trying to dip two color tube baits and was seeing how I can come close to these effects. I am not so much concerned about the technique here, more about how the colors were made. They appear to be less transparent than the bottom layer and thought it was either very, very fine glitter or some pearl powder that I have never used before. Can I get some opinions on how I can make these colors? Thought maybe it is a white pearl powder in a color like chartreuse for one and grey / silver for the other?

 

Thank you for any help

[Apdriver]

Looks like a laminate to me. Clear plastic with some glitter on one side, light watermelon and a light brown on the other.

[Les Young]

I kind of thought so to, but wasn’t sure. 

[Elf]

I'm with Apdriver on this one, they look like laminates to me.

[Alakai]

Thank you all for the advice on the laminate process. Curious about how to get those colors the hue they are? I am thinking it is a silver pearl for the grey and maybe a green pearl or a white pearl for the top.

 

It's the shade and cloudiness I am curious about and going after

[Elf]

I could be coming from left field on this one but....

It looks to me like there is no pearl powder in either picture. 

57 minutes ago, Alakai said:

It's the shade and cloudiness I am curious about and going after

 

I think you may need a color wheel and here's an example of one. I suspect you are new to color matching (as am I) and a color wheel will be an immense help to both of us until we get some practice. Do a search for them and get one that looks like it will be the most help to you.

I got lucky and married a woman that knows how to color match and can teach me. I still plan on getting a color wheel for when she's not around though.

[McLuvin175]

Cloudiness in a color can come from a few sources but one to consider is if there is salt in those bait samples. Salt will impart cloudiness with only a minor shift in the overall color.

Its always hard to tell from a photo how to go about matching a color. Looking at those images I dont see any Hi-Lite effects but the resolution on those images is low. Adding Pearl White can impart cloudiness but usually it will also impart a sparkling effect similar to glitter that is easily seen if present. Hi-Lite colors tend to show at the surface of a bait and are usually easily detected if present.

Not sure of the manufacturer of those baits but something else to consider is companies like Berkley and Keitech add a proprietary blend of stinky stuff to impart scent that also affects the color. I had a custom color match for someone that sent me a Keitech Swing Impact. It had stinky stuff only in one half the bait (the  back portion of a laminate) similar looking to fish meal. It wasnt easy trying to match  what I call fish meal with pigments. I got as close as I could but spent the better part of a day going round and round on that one.

For me when I start out trying to match a color it is always best to work in small batches. I use a baby food jar about half full of plastic ( a little less than 50g) I start with what colorants I think will get me where I need to go (experience goes along way in this department). At this point I am not concerned about measurements just getting on the right trail. Pour small "chips", let cool, and compare or evalutate the color. Here it is critical to not only evaluate the surface tone (look at the bait holding it in your hand) as well as the undertone (hold the bait up to  the light and look through the bait). Another thing to consider is lighting. Fluorescent lights often in the shop will make a bait look different than taking it out into the sun and evaluating. Tweak your sample batch as needed or you can discard it if it isnt getting you there and start a new sample batch. This can go 3 or 4 iterations before I feel like I am on the right track.  Its a process of elimination of what colors to use or not use. I have gone 20-25 iterations on more difficult colors. Once it is looking good I can scale up the batch size and start taking notes on measurements of glitter/pigments etc.

The key to a good color match is does the surface tone and the undertone match the surface tone and undertone of the sample. Physically having a sample bait in hand is the only real way to achieve this. This is where you learn how glitter can shift a color. How salt affects transparency of a given color. How laminates colors can wrap and blend at the margins and throw you for a loop. Also dont rule out the idea of "ehh close enough" so you dont drive yourself crazy. Good luck and let us know how fare.

Edited November 20, 2018 by McLuvin175

[Alakai]

Wow! Thank you for the info. I am still testing and playing around with colors as I venture into this new hobby. I don't really know the difference between Hi-Lite and Pearl powders so will do more research on that. I'm thinking that no matter what comes up pearl silver and pearl white are pretty standard in recipes for bait fish imitation that I am mostly going for.

[DaveMc1]

5 hours ago, Alakai said:

I'm thinking that no matter what comes up pearl silver and pearl white are pretty standard in recipes for bait fish imitation that I am mostly going for.

 

Don't think too hard about it. If you're trying to match those colours take the advice given here, also get a physical sample of the colour you're trying to match, that in itself will answer a lot of questions. 

[alsworms]

30 minutes ago, DaveMc1 said:

 

 also get a physical sample of the colour you're trying to match, that in itself will answer a lot of questions. 

Sure nailed it there!  I still have about 50 baits lying around my computer that were sent to me by customers through the years.   LOL

But yes.....nothing compares to actually having the bait in hand. 

[Alakai]

1 hour ago, DaveMc1 said:

 

Don't think too hard about it. If you're trying to match those colours take the advice given here, also get a physical sample of the colour you're trying to match, that in itself will answer a lot of questions. 

 

I actually have a sample but it is pretty beaten up. Thing is, I don't know what I am looking at with the ingredients. This is why I found a pic of what I was trying for (just in another form) online and posted it here.

[Canga~]

8 hours ago, Alakai said:

Wow! Thank you for the info. I am still testing and playing around with colors as I venture into this new hobby. I don't really know the difference between Hi-Lite and Pearl powders so will do more research on that. I'm thinking that no matter what comes up pearl silver and pearl white are pretty standard in recipes for bait fish imitation that I am mostly going for.

 

check out the sparkle pearl from lureworks, gives a really cool effect. i made some 3" skinny carrots in straight sparkle pearl and they are really nice, semi-clear but with a nice sparkle to them (with no glitter), its gotten too cold here to pour outside so i wont get to experiment with it till spring (or i get a nice space heater!) but i think it will be an awesome color for the bottom of swimbaits, as well as adding colors to it to almost a sparkle highlight effect.

[Alakai]

1 hour ago, Canga~ said:

 

check out the sparkle pearl from lureworks, gives a really cool effect. i made some 3" skinny carrots in straight sparkle pearl and they are really nice, semi-clear but with a nice sparkle to them (with no glitter), its gotten too cold here to pour outside so i wont get to experiment with it till spring (or i get a nice space heater!) but i think it will be an awesome color for the bottom of swimbaits, as well as adding colors to it to almost a sparkle highlight effect.

 

 

Cool! I will check it out. Thank you