Urethane base paints for Swimbaits

[Noeffort]

Hey guys, I recently got back to making baits and in the past I have used water based paints and epoxy as a top coat.  I want to go to urethane based paints and clear coats because I just don't want to used epoxy any more.  Most of my baits are resin but I am also going to make some soft plastic baits.  I have also used water based paints in the past on the soft plastic baits and then dipped them.  I have used the search feature and have found alot of great info but still not sure what direction to take.

I have 2 questions. 

1. Which urethane paint/clear should I go with for my resin hard bait?

2. This is for the soft plastic baits(not sure if I have to hit the other forum?) Which paints/clear can I use that wont require dipping as a clear?

Thank you in advance for any advice or info that can help. 

[G D Beck]

I'm looking for the same, in particular flexible but durable spray clear coat.  Clear dipping in soft plastic is fine, and sometimes gives a good look depending on the bait.  But I am getting some great finishes using some color shifts and the clear coat plastic takes away the look a bit, it's too thick.  Acryillic paint is flexible, but not sure how well it will adhere to plastics in the water, moving & hopefully being bit (OK, willing to lose some for the last point of it all).

I did find a clear coat called Flex Paint (google it).  It's intended for PUF and rubbers, and of course plastisol is not that.  So yeah, if anyone in this forum has tried some clear spray coat that works on soft plastics, would love to hear about it.  I'm about at the point where I may just try some things and perhaps fail/learn in the process.  I would guess that oil-based products that are flexible would be better matched to plastisol than water based. 

Cheers & good fishing

[G D Beck]

PS, also just found this stuff on Amazon:  Dupli-Color Ehvp11500 Vinyl and Fabric Coating.  Plastisol, being a suspension of PVC (V = vinyl), should be compatible.  I'm going to order & give it a try.  If it produces good results, I will let you know.

 

[RiverSmallieGuy]

5 hours ago, G D Beck said:

I'm looking for the same, in particular flexible but durable spray clear coat.  Clear dipping in soft plastic is fine, and sometimes gives a good look depending on the bait.  But I am getting some great finishes using some color shifts and the clear coat plastic takes away the look a bit, it's too thick.  Acryillic paint is flexible, but not sure how well it will adhere to plastics in the water, moving & hopefully being bit (OK, willing to lose some for the last point of it all).

I did find a clear coat called Flex Paint (google it).  It's intended for PUF and rubbers, and of course plastisol is not that.  So yeah, if anyone in this forum has tried some clear spray coat that works on soft plastics, would love to hear about it.  I'm about at the point where I may just try some things and perhaps fail/learn in the process.  I would guess that oil-based products that are flexible would be better matched to plastisol than water based. 

Cheers & good fishing

I know they aren't exactly flexible, but a couple of great spray clear coats are the standard Rustoleum Ultra Cover X2 Gloss Clear cans and the KBS Diamond Finish aerosol cans. They stay clear forever and are very glossy and durable. It is the same compound as the Rustoleum Ultra Cover X2 spray paint cans, so that makes it fairly flexible, or atleast as flexible as spray paint. The KBS is incredibly durable for spray on clears. I like to use the KBS because it stays clear forever, and dries rock hard and super smooth and is thin enough to keep carving detail present-- thick epoxy clear coats take all that detail away.

 

Braden

[Noeffort]

I remember years ago when I first started doing large platisol swimbaits someone mentioned spike it/lureworks sb plastic paints but I never got a chance to try them. Wasn't sure if anything was out there that people were using that was better. Because my baits are 9" and larger I'd like to stay away from dipping in Clearasol

[G D Beck]

Here's the link that Josh (lureworks) sent over for a flexible clear coat: https://www.ispikeit.com/product/281/clear-3000

It needs to be sprayed on with an airbrush, but you can add pigments, mica, etc. as long as the nozzle size on the airbrush is properly selected relative to the size of the stuff you'll be blowing through.  I'm going to try the vinyl clear I noted in the earlier post and see how that does.

Josh also noted that any clear coat may potentially change the color shift properties, so I'll be on the lookout for that as well.

Good fishing!

[G D Beck]

Hi folks,

So today I compared the dupli-color vinyl clear coat spray with the SB-3000 solvent clear coat.  Both links are below.

https://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-Fabric-Coating-Hvp115-Fluid_Ounces/dp/B07D2N49W4

https://www.ispikeit.com/product/281/clear-3000

Both did a great job, but I have to say, the finish is somewhat more vibrant with the dupli-color vinyl, and of course, it also doesn't need an airbrush.  That said, the SB-3000 was nice as well, and were it not for the side-by-side, it's pretty dang good.  Plus, as noted above, looking forward to mixing in some color shift pigments with a large needle to see what happens (mess and disaster most likely for me).

Now, this is just the "art" stage, how each will hold up in the water, that's yet to be determined.  But both look good right now.  For the SB-3000, I just mixed thinned in the brush reservoir, used all the material, and then cleaned with solvent.  Not bad, but make sure you dress up in your best PPE (for both products).

Cheers & good fishing!

[RiverSmallieGuy]

Would a flexible clear coat increase swimbait joint freedom? Just a thought, but it might.

 

Braden