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Now you tell me! Where were you three wives ago?

I don’t know if this helps, but I have achieved a sort of irredescent look by spraying one color from the back forward and another from the front back on a blank with molded in scales, I have used pearl gold and purple or green. It can be a pretty cool effect, where the bait changes color depending on the angle you are looking at it. I imagine that a light blue and gold or silver wood work as well.

I’m not sure there is a fix for this on a traditional wood lure except to find a penetrating wood sealer to use versus epoxy as an undercoat, or carve your details deeper so the finish layers do not fill them in. You might also consider topcoating with a tough but thinner product like MCU or UV cured polyester resin. I don’t think the fish care about fine carved details versus painted details, but I understand the craftsman or user might.

You can also do Brick's trick through a scale mesh.

It may be a bigger deal if you are using E-Tex for a pour on surface or for art. That is what the maker of the product designed it for. So that is what the directions are for. A thick, poured on puddle is especially where you would see bubbles. So the directions are for the prevention of bubbles. If you brush it on to fishing lures, you pop most of them anyway. If you use a round stick, you can still achieve complete mixing by doing the counter rotating thing instead of scraping. It pulls all the edge product into the middle. As for mixing it for a full two minutes - I see no problem with mixing it a little longer, it has a pretty long pot life.

One thing that you can do is after carving and it runs like you want it to is to make a mold and pour them out of plastic then you won't need to many coats of etex on it. Wayne

I don’t use it as often as Mark but I agree a clean brush makes a happy painter. I clean mine after every session with acetone and take out the needle to make sure it’s clean. That removes most of the paint inside. But there’s always a few traces in passageways, etc, and it tends to build up over time. So every once in awhile, I disassemble everything except the air valve and soak everything in restorer overnight. Agitate the container a few times during the soak. Rinse it thoroughly and lubricate the moving parts (needle, trigger assembly, air valve) with a fine oil (I use reel oil). The restorer emulsifies and softens acrylic paint so you can rinse it out of the brush (which standard solvents can’t always do).

Have stepped back for the time being. I am getting married in Augustand taking 18 days off so the planning and paying for said plans have taken over. I haven't quit...just paused.

Bonepile, if you really have to handle lure, do what mark suggested. If you actually had oily hands when you handled your lures, then they may well have had it. If your paint is bone dry and preferably heat set, it is possible to clean very gently with luke warm water and a small amount of washing up liquid - literally a few very gentle wipes or you risk lifting paint. .glider

User removed. Excessive whining never gets anyone anywhere, especially not here.

I just use a universal rotisserie motor for a grill... Similar to this one... https://www.amazon.com/Onlyfire-Universal-Electric-Replacement-Rotisserie/dp/B00X7RKCC4/ref=asc_df_B00X7RKCC4/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167141575819&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8182287484543809282&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016908&hvtargid=pla-310193723177&psc=1

I use the lacquer version a lot. When sprayed over white you get a blue sheen on the white. The darker the background color is the more pronounced the blue color. Over black you will get a beautiful iridescent blue. In the picture you can see the colors it produces over black starting with green on the tail to blue to red to gold.

I joined this forum a few months ago under the advise from members of another one. Guess what? I created an account and within a few days I decided that the rule on pics is to confusing and controversial so I rarely log on here anymore.

on closer inspection of my previous batch of lures, a couple of them were quite poorly coated as well. so that might rule out the Vallejo gloss, as I hadn't used it before. so it may be back to thinking that I didn't mix the etex thoroughly enough. but it looks more like the etex reacted with the lure, like say the lure was handled too much and contaminated with oily hands. even though I was very careful, doubly-so with the last group. something clearly touched them I would say. more attention to cleaned lures prior to coating in future sessions. yes, the Vallejo gloss was definitely cured, a couple days sitting I think. I wasn't sure about the etex with foil, so I used a spray instead. I will try the etex next time, over the foil. I used to just do one coat of etex, but a fairly generous one. that always seemed to work well. but then I was having the occasional lure that would have a messed up action. I learned that my thick layer of etex was changing it. my lures have a cup-face for their action. so I then switched to two thinner coats on the lures, and leaving the cup-face with only one thin coat, so the action wouldn't be affected.

LifeTone Hydro - Mist Iridescent Blue https://www.mckenziesp.com/Hydro-Mist-Iridescents-Paints-C3236.aspx

here is a start, they were posted a couple of months ago

I have had a 'taker ' for my offer. But unfortunately my work situation has changed, and paid contract work has to take precedence. My customer understands the situation, and I fully intend to fulfill my offer, and the shrimp will be delivered, but timescales are out of my hands. Regretfully, I have to withdraw the offer for anyone thinking of taking me up in the near future, but I may well open the offer again. I find this work interesting and challenging, even comparing with my normal work as a car designer. Dave