First Time Crankbait Painting - Suggestions

[Carolina Rig]

I've read quite a bit about folks buying their own crankbait blanks and then painting them however they'd like.  This is interesting enough to me that I'm going to be taking the plunge today.  I just ordered up a bunch of blanks, eyes, split rings, and a lure turner.  Those will all be here tomorrow.  I'm about to head to Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon to pick up an airbrush and a compressor.

 

I was wondering if you guys could make a recommendation on any other items I might need to buy that I'm not thinking about.  Cleaners, stands, etc.  Basically anything you have on your bench that you didn't know you'd need and couldn't really imagine working without it.

 

Also, I've ready really good things about the Createx paints so I'm planning to pick up a few of those.  I was wondering if you could share some of your favorite colors or at least those that you're using quite a bit.  I'm obviously not going to buy them all right now so I was hoping to get some of the more popular colors and be able to paint a few lures tomorrow.

 

Thanks!

[Baitmaker]

Createx paints are good, but I would avoid buying their white. It can be a real pain to get consistent results with. Wicked brand paints are made by Createx, but their white is much better IMO. The pigment is finer ground and flows a lot better. I mostly use Createx colors except for white. 

[Heartland]

40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby does not apply to airbrush and compressor.  Look at the fine print on their website.   In my experience most acrylic paints will work fine if you take the time to thin them properly. For crankbaits, colors that are often used are, whites- pearl and opaque.  Black, orange yellow,  light and dark green, blues.  Watch a few online videos of how to paint crankbaits, you will get more information there in a few hours than you will know what to do with.    There was a post about this same subject just a day or two ago, might try a search.