painting/top coating jointed baits

[BORDERBASSER]

I was just wondering how you guys do it.  I have made a few swimbaits so far, but have not painted them yet.  It seems like it would be especially difficult to to seal the baits with epoxy and keep the hinges clear...especially if you wanted a really tight and clean looking joint.   I use cotter pins linked together and epoxied in and would think that I could assemble and disassemble as needed during the painting and coating process.  Then after all is said and done assemble and epoxy the pins in for a permanent assembly.  Anyway, that is just what I'm thinking.  What have yall found to work best.  Thanks.

[BIG M]

I made a frame from a coat hanger to hold my baits while painting and applying top coat.   You can also leave the joints out and put in some screw eyes to keep the holes from filling with paint and epoxy.  Once the top coat has cured simply unscrew the eyes and replace with your cotter pins using 5 min devcon.  

[Guest whittler]

I usually paint and top-coat the bait then assemble after the epoxy is cured. One problem is you are basically painting 2 or 3 seperate baits which can be difficult to match with some paint schemes.

Have been looking for a good hinge system that is invisible or nearly so but with a lot of movement and in the process I have a bench loaded with jointed wood and am still looking.

[BORDERBASSER]

Thanks guys for the comments.  The two baits yall made look fantastic.  It seems to me that painting will need to be done assembled to get an even look,  but applying epoxy would be best done disassembled.  The cool thing about using the cotter pins, is you can spread/bend the pin apart just a little, squeeze back together, and insert it in the hole.  That way, it will spring back apart in the hole and stay put without any gluing as long as your not too rough on it.  You can put it together to paint...take it apart to clear coat, then put it back together for final assembly.  Anyway, that method makes the most sense to me so far.  I was just wondering if anyone else was doing something similar.  Thanks again.