Having trouble seeing.

[Palmetto Balsa]

I need a little help. I want painted eyes on my baits but don't know the best way to go about it. Does anyone have a good technique for spraying them or a dabbing technique that looks real.

I have some glass taxidermy eyes but these baits are already sealed so it is too late for that.

Thanks, I am sure a few of you have some great ways to do this.

[fatfingers]

In the past, I've made them using a pencil eraser, dipped in white. Practice dabbing it first, before you apply it. Mark the spots on the bait first, so you know exactly where you want them and you get a nice symmetrical look.

After applying the white with an eraser, you can then do the same with the black or read (for the pupil of the eye) using the head of nail. Of course, the nail head should be smaller than the eraser.

[Theflyingplatypus]

First off, nice looking baits man. What i use is a dowel with a nail glued in, the nail head makes a good surface to dab the eyes. Don't touch the lure with the nail head though. You can have differant sizes by useing a couple different nail sizes.

[Lure--Prof]

I spray using stencils cut out with different size hole punches. I use standard plastic stencil material that is see-through, and can be used over and over, both of which are advantageous. You can also use the hole punches to make eyes from tape, or combine the paint and tape; either make nice uniform eyes.

[JBlaze]

A friend of mine showed me how, just using different sized wooden dowels. just touch the end of it in your paint and it will pick up enough to dab one eye. do the same for the other eye. wipe the wet paint off your dowel and you can use it over and over. let the paint dry on the lure then use a smaller size dowel to make the pupil.

[JBlaze]

Thanks Fat Fingers for the idea on marking the spot first. I have struggled with symmetry. Eyeballing the spot, just don't work.

[parrothead127]

Great tips guys,

I'll share this tip I just came up with a couple of weeks ago, it might have been discussed here before I don't know I'm new here. I take a pair of needle nose pliers, open them up to the distance I want for eye seperation and make a small indentation. This gives me a mark for drilling the eyes. I'm sure someone has a better idea, but this has worked for me.

[VANNDALIZER]

If your doing production CSI makes a system for painting eyes and dots. Rather expensive though. Around 500.00 but would be nice to have if you were doing alot of baits. mav

[quick20xd]

P.B. One thing that might help: When I was learning to "dab" eyes, I would spray a light coat of clear krylon on the head of the bait, and let it dry before painting the eyes. That way, if I messed-up, (which I did often) I could wipe it off, and not hose-up the whole paint job. When I got the eyes painted the way I wanted; I could clear coat the whole bait as usual with Devcon.

Be sure to test the clears reaction to the paints you are using on a scrap piece before you try it on one of your great paint jobs.