Custom painting lures

[dtrs5kprs]

2 hours ago, TrophyFishR said:

I used graduated mixing cups, maybe I mixed it right & didnt know it. Usually I can mix Etex for 5 min straight & get rid of the bubbles. They're very similar top coats, they mix & smell the same. 

Get some of the FC syringes. You can use a regular oral syringe, or BD syringe, minus the needle too. Those don't hold up as well to the goop as the FC syringes.

Mixing cups aren't accurate enough.

Don't worry about the bubbles in the cup. They will go away.

[Fish24/7]

On 3/3/2017 at 0:44 PM, Quillback said:

Lucky Craft produced those Flat series cranks that had dad claws painted on the lip.  They will catch fish, but those claws on the front ain't right. 

crawdads do walk forward w/ their pincers in the front , but if i wanted to make the bait look like a crawdad fleeing backwards then yes pincers on the bill wouldn't look "right".

[Fish24/7]

decided today is the last day I use devcon 2 ton syringes. Had new 3 packages of the stuff that had issues with the resin being thicker and cloudier than normal and almost crystalline like. Within a minute or two of mixing the stuff was non brushable. Like a dummy I tried it and it didn't end well.  Sent an email to the company to see if there are any  recent complaints.

I'm getting some more S81. The easiest stuff I've ever used on createx. Just dip and hang. simple

 

[Guest]

Here's my first batch of bluegill patterns on the wiggle wart. Usually I strictly paint bluegill square bills. 

There were a lot of steps involved & lots of layering & details. It's not 100% like I wanted it, but it's close enough. I'm going to paint a dozen more like this, shortly. Its hard to tell, but the sides are pink with trans purple sprayed over them. It looks odd at the moment, but clear coat should make it pop. Once I finally get the recipe down for the "3D bream", I'm going to print it off & hang it over the spray booth. I didn't write it down last time in 2011 & its taken hours in the booth to get here. The belly is orange net with light green sprayed thru it. 

Dave, I will use your stencil on the KVD 2.5

[Guest]

I found a cool video from SK plant in Costa Rica. I had no clue "cheap labor" was used to airbrush & test each bait.

 

 

[dtrs5kprs]

11 hours ago, TrophyFishR said:

I found a cool video from SK plant in Costa Rica. I had no clue "cheap labor" was used to airbrush & test each bait.

 

 

Yep. That's why there are a dwindling number of baits made in America. Imagine the labor, benefits, health and safety costs involved if those were American workers.

Like it or not, American labor priced itself out of some of those manufacturing jobs.

Lot of neat stuff going on there, from a painter's perspective. Especially with the stencils.

[Mitch f]

13 hours ago, TrophyFishR said:

I found a cool video from SK plant in Costa Rica. I had no clue "cheap labor" was used to airbrush & test each bait.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, dtrs5kprs said:

Yep. That's why there are a dwindling number of baits made in America. Imagine the labor, benefits, health and safety costs involved if those were American workers.

Like it or not, American labor priced itself out of some of those manufacturing jobs.

Lot of neat stuff going on there, from a painter's perspective. Especially with the stencils.

Labor rates....federal, state taxes, 10% excise tax right off the top, workers comp, painting  and injecting each bait individually, clamshell packaging mold cost, clamshells themselves, clamshell and jig art work, logos, website development. You charge $2 per bait? What a crime!!

[dtrs5kprs]

1 hour ago, Mitch f said:

 

Labor rates....federal, state taxes, 10% excise tax right off the top, workers comp, painting  and injecting each bait individually, clamshell packaging mold cost, clamshells themselves, clamshell and jig art work, logos, website development. You charge $2 per bait? What a crime!!

Yep. Feeling the joy.

[Al Agnew]

Just thought I'd share some of my creations from this winter...

In another thread I talked about my quest to design a deep-diving crankbait that will work well with a skirt on the belly hook.  This first picture is the Rebel Deep Wee Craw, shown with the skirt material I added...it's the only lure that I've found that works the way I want it to.  For most deep divers, the skirt kills the action or at least tightens it.  I want the skirt to wave widely, not just wiggle and vibrate while the lure wobbles above it.  The Rebel does this well.  Beneath it is my own creation, not a deep diver, but one that goes 3-4 feet deep.  With the skirt material actually attached to the lure rather than on the hook, it waves really nicely.  So far I have not been able to create a deep diver that works the way I want it to.

Next photo shows the shallow runner that inspired all that experimentation.  On the left is the old commercial version, the Midge-oreno, with skirt on the belly hook.  In the middle, one of my creations that follows the MIdge very closely.  On the right, one of my creations where I simplified the front face of the lure while changing the body shape.

Next, some of the ones I produced this winter...this batch has the traditional scooped out front face.  I decided to go back to it, because it's a little easier to consistently produce the action I want.  Some of the ones with the simplified flat face work beautifully, but others are not as good.  So much depends upon the exact angle of the flat face, and the line tie placement.  You can see with this batch that I don't do a whole lot of radical experimentation with colors.  Basically it'll be some variation of brown, or some variation of silvery minnow colors.  I have seen no need for different colors on these lures.

Next, a group of my homemade topwater lures.  The one on top left is a Pop-R, modified as Zell Rowland first advocated.  You sand the lure down until the body walls are quite thin and it has very sharp edges to the cupped face.  Then, of course, you have to repaint it.  I added the touch of using marabou on the feathered treble instead of chicken type feathers like you can buy.  I really like the look of the marabou, though it isn't quite a durable on the hook.  The reason for the sanding and repainting, is that it makes the Pop-R walk and spit better.  A lot of higher dollar commercial poppers produce that action these days, but none quite as well as a properly sanded Pop-R, in my opinion.

Middle left is one of my versions of a walking popper.  The rest are my versions of walk-the-dog lures.  The one on bottom left is modeled after Zipstick's namesake lure in the small size, and is a "finesse" walker.  It's small, and quiet, and is best in very clear water or water temperatures under 60 degrees.  The others are larger versions with more splash.

Finally, five versions of my homemade Subwalk...they sink slowly and walk under the surface, from 1 to 2 feet deep.  The planing fins on the rear are to keep them walking horizontally and not rolling over or jumping up to the surface, and are made out of coffee can lids, glued into a slit cut in the rear of the lure with a hacksaw.  Crude but effective.  Weight placement is the key to getting these lures to walk.  I have a dozen or so lying around that didn't walk as well as these.  I don't sweat getting the body shape exactly the same each time, as you can tell.

All are down and dirty paint jobs using spray enamel, and finished with waterproof polyurethane spray varnish.  A simple stencil cut out of clear vinyl and loosely wrapped around the lure was used on the ones in the third photo, otherwise the effects were gotten simply by spattering metallic paint.

 

[Guest]

I find it unusual that an artist of your caliber paints basic lures colors. Instead of match the hatch.