First Crankbait Airbrushed 95% Complete Looking For Lure Eyes?

[jay42782]

So having never touched an airbrush in my life I decided to work up the nerve to put some paint in my new Iwata HP-CS and give it a go!

 

put in some pearl white reduced and starting spraying the bait.never even practiced with paper just starting shooting for the first time on the bait

 

found quickly that i should have used opaque white to start so i then shot over the pearl with that

 

moved on to some yellow,then lime green,moss green and finally reduced black over the lufa (scale pattern)

 

finished with some light black sponge dabs of black on middle portion of the body

 

still might add some red around the gills not sure yet

 

is there anywhere locally you can find stick on eyes? i would love to get this clear coated and see how it looks!

 

I must say I am hooked on lure painting!

[Bruce424]

Great looking lure! I love painting my own cranks too. You should get some eyes from any craft store. Like Micheal's or jo Annes fabrics or hobby lobby

[jay42782]

thanks Bruce 424!

 

just went down to Bass Pro and picked some up!

added some over reduced orange to the belly and clear coated with Devcon 2 ton 30 minute

 

[Bruce424]

And now... The lure comes to life.

[Big C]

Very nice. 

[F14A-B]

Very good work & the first bait? Wow!

Looks great..

[jay42782]

Thanks for the kind words! yes first bait paint and first time airbrushing was the base coat pictured above.I think I am going to enjoy this just as much as in the boat!!

 

I bought the Iwata a couple months ago and I would open the box then close it! until last night..no practice shoots of any kind.Loaded paint and went with it !!

[Canyon explorer]

So having never touched an airbrush in my life I decided to work up the nerve to put some paint in my new Iwata HP-CS and give it a go!

 

put in some pearl white reduced and starting spraying the bait.never even practiced with paper just starting shooting for the first time on the bait

 

found quickly that i should have used opaque white to start so i then shot over the pearl with that

 

moved on to some yellow,then lime green,moss green and finally reduced black over the lufa (scale pattern)

 

finished with some light black sponge dabs of black on middle portion of the body

 

still might add some red around the gills not sure yet

 

is there anywhere locally you can find stick on eyes? i would love to get this clear coated and see how it looks!

 

I must say I am hooked on lure painting!

Great first time results mine was a disaster :-)

[jay42782]

well its been over 24 hours and my devcon 30 minute  epoxy clear coat is still tacky

kinda nervous

[jay42782]

second coat of well mixed D2T did the trick

[BocaGrande]

wow that is a great paintjob! this makes me want to collect custom lures for decoration! lol goo job!

[Crank Bait Nut]

It's going to take over night for the epoxy to set , dry to the touch, Hang it up and if you want another coat then do it the next day. 

 

I don't ever fish my baits for a few days after , just to really let the epoxy set up hard.

 

Mike 

[jtharris3]

First time? Looks great!

[Crank Bait Nut]

Reason It Was Tacky ,

 

1. Not A Equal Amount Of Both Parts , 2. Did Not Mix Long Enough.

 

Glad To Hear It Worked On Your Second Coat.

 

Mike 

[MickD]

The only way to be sure about epoxy proportions is to use syringes, available at rodbuilding sites or drug stores, and the drug store ones are a lot cheaper.  Make sure you mark which one is for resin and which for hardener and keep them separate.  You don't have to clean them between uses as long as you've kept them true to their intended use (resin/hardener).

 

There are probably hundreds of different epoxies.  The ones used for rodbuilding are very different from the "adhesive" epoxies.  The ones intended for guides are clear, flexible, but not that hard.  The ones intended for mounting grips and reel seats are very strong, not so clear, not so flexible.  Riley Rods website has epoxy intended for carbon fiber grips, and it is clear and very hard, so I'm betting it would be very good for lures.  It is proportioned by weight, and Riley Rods sells a very nice little scale to do that with high accuracy. 

 

http://www.rileyrods.com/

[MickD]

I said syringes are the only sure way to measure, then later mentioned weighing.  The Riley product is intended to be proportioned by weighing.  I would not recommend weighing the great number of epoxies that are intended to be proportioned by volume because there is no assurance the resin and hardener have the same specific gravity.

 

So, for volume proportioned epoxies use syringes.  For weight proportioned epoxies use scales.  

[Crank Bait Nut]

Mick , You Had Me Really Thinking In Your First Post , Then Your Second Post Cleared Things Up , Laughing. 

 

I'll Say This , When First Starting Out , Anyone That Wants To Use Epoxies , Use The Syringes. After Sometime You Will Be Able To Use The Squeeze Bottles and Just Trust Your Eyes , I've Been Using The Squeeze Bottles For Sometime Now.

 

Mike

[Karma]

thats pretty.... excellent work

 

I wish I could do something like that but I have no artistic ability what so ever. It would look like something out of a second grade art class.

[Wisconsin Bass Man]

Looks fantastic! Love the baby bass pattern!

[Flaco]

Where are good blanks being purchased?

[Oregon Native]

Looks great....I'm not so fortunate on my painting.  I use the spray paint I get at walmart in cans to fix and change old baits.  They catch fish but I am not so proud of them to show them.  Enjoy your new addiction.

[BobP]

With Devcon Two Ton, if it isn't hard enough to gently handle in about 5 hrs, you did something wrong in measuring or mixing.  I've used Devcon for about 15 yrs now.  I used to just eyeball the 2 parts to get equal size pools.  If the epoxy is in the 70-80 degree range, you can get pretty close.  But no matter how experienced you are, you will eventually screw this up so now I always measure it with a pair of syringes.  If you get the volumes off, it will either not cure hard, will take longer to cure hard, or will yellow faster than it otherwise would.  

[Baitmaker]

And the addiction has begun. Wow! That is one sweet looking paint job regardless of how long you've been doing it. Talk about starting off on a good note! I see many killer looking baits in your future.

One way to make a great looking set of 3-D eyes is by wrapping the head of a nail in foil, then painting a pupil in the center and putting a drop or two of epoxy on top. Trim the edges and they pop right off after they harden. 

[MickD]

Since I wrote the post recommending pharmacy syringes I have learned that there is the possibility that they have silicone in them which does not mix well with epoxy, causing fish eyes and other problems.  So use them at your risk.  I find it hard to believe that a device that is intended to inject material into the human body could have silicone in it, but that is what I have read.  The syringes purchased from rod-building sources do not have silicone contamination, so even if they are relatively expensive, no problems with silicone.  They will last forever if you keep them specific for each component for a while, then once a year or so, clean them with the rodbuilding brush cleaners.

[S. Sass]

Very nice 1st attempt.