Beginning lure painting

[Pondpredator40330]

Hey guys. I'm interested in starting to paint my own lures.  What would be a good beginner kit to start with.  

[Travis]

There are plenty of cheap airbrushes out there that will work.   That doesn't mean you have to go with junk however.  Personally I would rather spend money upfront and be done with it.  The products below aren't the highest price but are solid performers and one could easily never replace them.

Personally I would get an  Neo CN gravity feed dual action air brush.  Iwata has long had an excellent reputation and isn't going to lend their name to a product without it performing.   Should be able to get one for around 60 bucks.  

You will need a compressor also (if you don't have one).  I have used several over the years and started with a Craftsman set up that I use with my nail guns.  LOUD but performs flawless.  I have used some smaller airbrush specific compressors that are very quiet and use them from time to time still but a California Airtools 1 gallon portable is what I use mainly (120 or less).  Quiet, CFM appropriate, and pressure doesn't drop to low when in use (few of the airbrush specific dip considerable into low teens).   Pick up a filter/water trap with it.

For paints just do yourself a favor and buy airbrush specific paints.  Createx pretty easy to use and come by whether it is their general line or wicked series.  Have use Badger Spectra also and its ok.  Many other paints will do just more problematic and best to avoid starting out (Folk Art and other generic craft paints thinned for example).

 

 

[mark poulson]

Thin your paint with the paint manuf.s thinner, especially water based paints.

Learn to quickly clean your airbrush so you won't get paint clogs.

Do a more thorough cleaning after each painting session.

Never put away your airbrush without wiping down the needle, or it will get stuck in the airbrush.  Been there, done that, had to sell the T shirt to pay for a new needle.

[Thiskidlikes2fish]

I would also recommend for the first few months you start painting to use a master airbrush then go to the iwata neo.This is what I did and after a few months once I had made all of my mistakes with the master airbrush and trashed it i could just throw it away because it was cheap and I just switched to the neo and have been using it since.The neo is considerably nicer but am glad I didn't have to buy 2 of them and made mistakes with the cheap one.Hope this helps!

[Outlaw4]

I would start out with a Master airbrush, and a basic pack of Wicked primary colors and a big bottle of Wicked reducer. Learn how to battle tip dry, spraying pressure and smashing needles and how to reduce, mix and blend paint. Paint a whole bunch of boards to figure out what you like to paint / figure out you style.

I paint with an Iwata Eclipse. It does detailed work better and easier as its more refined but i can paint anything I'd need to with a Master. 

If money is no object skip right to the Iwata or similar. They are great tools.

I prefer to paint from a bigger air compressor. It runs less and i have one. make sure to run into a regulator with a water separator. All air compressors will get water in them and will always spit it out of your air brush exactly when you do not want it to.

Keep whatever airbrush you get clean. Buy cleaner, make cleaner (lots of home brews you can look up), just keep it super clean. 

[mark poulson]

This will help you.  I shoot a bit and backflush with it every four or five painting session.  I put it in a glass pickle jar with a gasketed metal lid, and it lasts for years.  Even when it has old paint suspended in it, it still works.  If I can't get my air brush to shoot right, I break it down and soak all the parts overnight, and then reassemble the next day and shoot another cup full back in my soaking jar, and I'm ready to go.  It is a life saver.

https://www.coastairbrush.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Restorer

[RiverSmallieGuy]

I know I am late to this topic, but what I use 99% of the time is rattle-can spray paint. It is cheap, it is fun, and it is easy (if you know what you're doing). You can use stencils and there is any color you could possibly want and even tons of finishes.

 

Braden

[Hillbilly voodoo]

I started with rattle cans, then a cheap badger airbrush and compressor, now I use a neo and a decent compressor 

If I knew what I do now I would have saved the hassle and started with a neo and a compressor that I could adjust my psi

its easier to do decent work with good tools then struggle with meh tools