BIG M

that's one hot hair dryer your using.

Here are few baits that are my attempts to copy a old B3. A couple of my baits mixed in.

The bigger the tank the better, you can dial the pressure down to what you need. I use a few different paints, Smith, WASCO, Createx, and Auto Air. I prefer a gravity feed brush (Iwata). Practice, practice, practice and don't be afraid to try anything. Cheap plastic baits from Janns make good practice tools.

Thanks Barry but not yet, I hope to see it tomorrow. Ready to paint some smaller scales.

It's a quality brush and will serve you well for a long time. Order an extra tip and needle to have on hand. Those parts are not always easy to find local.

Customer preference and a few for me.

Natural has it, that's the way I do it. I use the lid from a baby food jar. You are going to flick paint all over the place so be ready.

Thanks guys, I use to hate craw patterns but now I'm having a little fun. Falcon, I'm calling that one the Moss Back Craw and I think it's going to get bit.

I'm no expert on yellow perch, but I would have yellow higher up the sides and a slimmer back stripe. It still looks good, different but good.

Splatter the back with black paint, it works on everything. Little orange on the throat and it looks like a nice craw color to me. I like it.

I really like the splatter back for my craw patterns now. It's messy and you waste some paint but the look is killer. A few others mixed in for good measure.

great looking baits and the best airbrush paint imho.

Fish, you are setting a standard all your own. Nice work and I know why the bottom bait has a extra long line tie

D, very nice looking first airbrush bait. Way better than I did my first try. If you have a shop or garage to work in, then I recommend a compressor with at least a 6 gal tank. Iwata (revolution or eclipse) is my brush of choice (gravity feed) you can shoot 1 drop of paint and clean up between colors is easy. I have both siphon feed and gravity brushes. Moisture trap and regulator are a must, the tank will build up moisture and spit it out just at the wrong time. Have 1 trap on the tank and 1 in-line, I like the air dry. The cheap craft paints are just that cheap, you will be forever trying to thin that crap down to where it will spray a decent pattern. Spend your money on good paint it will last longer than you think.

Paul, thanks for the definition of canards. Not real sure how my name got mixed in with that but I bet somebody has tired to use them on a crankbait. Matt, no you will not find my baits in any store or on a web site. So I guess that means I don't know crap about what makes a good crankbait. Not real sure how this turned into a trash Big M session. Guess that means it's time for me to go.

Nice looking fish, I had fun painting the baits and I know you had fun catching fish with them. Thanks for the pics.

Matt, ok maybe I went to far toward the custom side with the weighting and weight placement. Can't help it, that's what I do. The reason the Bandit is rated for the same depth as a DD22 is the flat head, acts like a longer lip on that bait. Sorry for all the confusion that I caused in this thread.

The point was to show there are a lot of factors that make a deep running crank reach max depth. I've never seen a commerical bait advertise that it's chest weighted. Still does not change the fact that weighting has an effect on diving depth, as well as lip length, width, line tie position and body style. You have to have all the parts to make a deep diver reach it's max depth.

It's where the weight is placed that is the key to helping the bait get down to max depth. Look at some of the older deep divers, Bagley's had a chunk of lead in the bill. That was to give the bait the proper nose down attitude to reach it's max depth. It doesn't matter what the manufacture advertises, look at what the changes made by the pro's to their cranks to get them deeper. 1 thing is chest weighting to make the bait stand up on it's nose. I can make a chunk of balsa run deeper than any bait on the market today. This is based on three things, weight placement, body design, and lip length. I mainly use cedar for deep divers because I don't have to add as much balast weight due to the higher density of the wood.

You also have to factor where the weight is placed in the belly, that's a biggie in diving depth. The slimmer the bait the deeper it will run. A lip that has some cup to it helps to get a bait deep. A thinner lip will get a bait deeper. The slop head on the Bandit is acting like a lip extension.

A little mix of some round, semi round, and flatsides. Trying some new color patterns.

Very nice

I've played around with that before, not hard to do. Another builder off of TU was the first I've seen paint a pattern like that.

Thanks guys John, I can't help myself, just love that clear finish. Barry, I can't paint a craw pattern so I went with the splatter back. I really like how it's turning out. I'm going to try some different craw colors next to see how the splatter looks.

I've been at it again. 1st pic are 1.75 long, weigh 3/8oz, and run 6-8 feet deep. Made from white cedar to get some extra weight for casting distance. I think these look like mini wiggle warts. 2nd and 3rd pics are just plain old balsa cranks.