Nutty_gnome Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 So last week I found an old, used, dirty junebug Senko on the boat ramp at my local lake. I've never used a Senko but I know that they are potentially the easiest hand-pour bait to make. So I take it home. I happen to have lots of Plaster of Paris (POP) from a recent plaster wall repair, so I grabbed the nearest small cardboard box, a Zoom u-tale worm and the used senko. In under an hour, I had a hard POP mold of each lure! By the way, I used baby oil to keep the lure from sticking to the POP and that worked great! The senko was pushed down so that that I could mold something that was at least 3/4 round in a one part mold. Then I used an old Turkish cofee maker (basically a metal cup with a long plastic handle used to make super dark coffee) to melt some old black zoom horny toads, worms, and a used beaver. Is this stuff supposed to smoke and stink so bad? My wife got very very upset with me. But, I chased her out and poured 3 great lures (black with some slight red flecks): 2 senkos and 1 zoom worm. I didn't seal the POP, which I need to do, but I used baby oil to lube the mold and that seemed to work great. The detail was much better than I would have guessed but hte worm tail is a bit thick. I can't wait to fish these this weekend and I think I'll have to order the small DIY kit to see what else I can create. It was all great fun! N_G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint308 Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Pics? Saint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Now that you have "oiled" the mold you may not get a good seal. The idea of sealing the POP is that the first couple of coats soak into the POP and the rest of the coats connect to the first two coats. The problem with POP is that it will keep on drinking the oil no matter how much you put. www.novalures.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutty_gnome Posted June 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Can do pics by tomorrow perhaps. If I can't get Elmers glue to stick to the mold, no biggie, I'll just toss it and start again. I'm sure I can improve the technique the second time around. When you heat new plastic in the microwave, does it smoke and sizzle something fierce? I was using a metal cup over a gas stove burner, so it was tough to keep the temps low enough throughout without allowing some of the plastic to burn a bit. Anyone else using a gas burner? N_G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDC Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Be careful! That sizzling is very likely water in the used baits. It very common in heavily salted baits and it is dangerous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Sock Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 . Is this stuff supposed to smoke and stink so bad? My wife got very very upset with me. be carefull melting down other baits like that, some of them are very toxic, just buy some plastic you will be much better off. the wife will still complain but maybe not as much. I would also recommend a well ventilated area no matter what kind of plastic you use. here is my order of stinkness from best to worst MF- stinks Lurecraft- stinks more calhouns- stinks even more Just my personal opinion, but there is also a good chance I have a pound of red flake in my nostrils at this point:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutty_gnome Posted June 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Thanks for the advice about the water and the wife. I think that next time, I'll use a small propane camp stove outside in a far corner of the yard. I'll have some pics of the mold and product later today. N_G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutty_gnome Posted June 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 These came from the mold before I coated with elmers. They are not super shiny, but they do have a kind of matte finish. The salt-looking stuff is salt. I am storing them in a Yum Lizard bag so that they pick up a little salt flavor and scent from the Yum lures. Yes the tail of the zoom u-tale is too thick. I need to figure that out for next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutty_gnome Posted June 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 And the molds. These are now coated in elmers. I haven't poured into them yet so I don't know iof the elmers stuck over the baby oil. time will tell. But I'm pleased with these as a first try and am amazed at the level of detail cheap POP can achieve. Ugh, these reduced, resized photos do not show the ring-detail in the senko mold. You can see it in the finishedd worm though. How does one post decent pics when you have less then 100kb to do it with? N_G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senkosam Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Excellent beginning Nutty! Nice job! You couldn't have produced a nicer looking lure unless you used a metal mold. For a glossy look (if you think it important), brush some light salad oil in the cavity, with or without garlic salt added. I had the same experience with an old Roboworm I found in the dirt before a tournament. I like the ribbing design and decided to use the top part of the body to make swim grubs. After seeing that the one part mold came out nice, I made a two part. The one on the left. The lures to the right were modifications of the one 2nd from the far right that a customer asked me to make 150 copies of. POP is the only material I use. Keep up the good creations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
