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Maybe a watermelon back...

Try these... https://www.cncmolds.com/webstore/ http://www.pouritmold.com/

Looks like a green pumpkin back with a white belly and 5 different glitters, large black, small black, green, silver and gold. I'd toss in a pearl powder on the white half just for the "pop" factor.

You have some great advice here already. Whatever you use for paint, make sure it will stand up to UV. Createx is used to custom paint motorcycles and the like. The Createx high end reducer works on all acrylics that I have tried. I am a firm believer in using the name brand reducer. It cost pennies per application and performs flawlessly. NEVER pre mix an entire bottle of paint. I use bottom feed and have found that mixing small amounts in the feed bottle works best. If some paint starts to get clumpy, discard it immediately. If it merely thickens, you may be able to reduce it to the correct viscosity. As far as how much to thin it, thin it until it behaves properly. Sometimes you want it to spray a very thin coat from a distance, to deepen or blend a color. Sometimes you want a thin detail line or spot. Seldom do you want it to "spider", which happens if paint is too thin, a too much pressure, or sprayed too close. I use few opaque paints. Learn to paint in thin layers. Fluorescent, iridescent, pearl, wicked detail, and transparent paints allow the underlying color to show through to one extent or another. Transparent base and/ or reducer can be added to a color to make it more transparent. To take full advantage of your airbrush, you will need to use an adjustable regulator. The pressures I use vary greatly. Base coats may go on at 30-35 psi. Details like spots, gills and fins use pressures in the low single digits. If you blend your own colors, keep track of the number of drops of each color and write it on a chart (along with a sample), on adhesive labels (which can be put on your spray jars). Createx does not advise mixing Createx paints with their Wicked line. A hair dryer is sufficient for heat setting between coats. You don't need a lot of heat. I usually use the high setting. Some have even used their airbrush to set the paint by just allowing air out of their brush - no paint. I don't have the patience for that.

You Dah Man! Hahaha

Mj54, Regarding what brand of paint to use. Most of us keep a basic array of Createx on hand since it has a good consistent quality and can be found anywhere airbrush paint is sold. But there are many other brands and you can mix and match brands just according to the colors and effects you like (pearls, flakes, color shift, etc). I’m a fan of paints formulated for taxidermy. It has some nice effects and usually comes thinned and ready to shoot. But I don’t hesitate to try any brand as long as it is water based acrylic paint. It’s good practice to heat dry each color as you shoot it. I use a hair dryer and it only takes a few seconds. It avoids pushing wet paint around when you shoot the next color. And a buildup of wet paint over wet paint can take many hours to dry. A final topcoat over wet paint can be a disaster, depending on the topcoat used. Some brands are sold in water based and lacquer based colors. I avoid lacquer based because of health and safety reasons.

You might try the wire baits forum.

Paint a coat onto your master before you add the bulk of the plaster. Should take care of any issues as seams you have addressed viscosity, removal of bubbles with agitation, etc.... Also make sure you master is seated well in the other half. Air can get trapped and work it way up as things heat up.

One issue in thinning paint is whether to thin a whole bottle, or just a small amount as you prepare to shoot it. To some extent I think it depends on how often you paint and how quickly you use up the paint (and therefore how often it’s agitated). Once, when I thinned with 15-20% Pledge Floor Polish and then stored the paint for an extended period, the paint pigment and Pledge precipitated to the bottom of the bottle into a super hard mass that was impossible to remix, ruining the whole bottle. Maybe that wouldn’t happen if I used less Pledge, or maybe it was paint specific (I use several brands). No doubt it is best to thin only the amount you plan to use before you shoot. But that is an added hassle I’m too lazy to take. So I switched to an alcohol/water/glycerine mix thinner or Createx 4012 reducer for those admittedly rare occasions when I thin paint. Mostly I just turn up the air pressure and blast away and I use a lot of taxidermy paint that comes ready to shoot.

Woops. You said Morning dawn. That is a three color laminate. https://www.roboworm.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/2012 color descriptions.pdf I used LC hot pink and LC electric blue for my version. Real one

Maybe it’s where I bought them from, but I separated over 3500 hooks into 100 packs and had 5 hooks that were bad.

I have been building saltwater lures for almost 20 years now. In that time Ive assembled easily more than 250,000 lures as a conservative number. In that time of bending nothing but .0625 bright stainless with a pair of 2202140 Knipex pliers I've never had a problem save for my first pair that just literally folded in my hands one day. I'm still on the second pair more than 10 years later and still don't have problems bending stainless wire with them. Maybe I got bigger popeye muscles than Mark LOLOL

If you don't mind using a split ring there is a mold that is really good. The Trokar Pro Swim Jig, https://www.barlowstackle.com/Do-It-Trokar-Pro-Swim-Jig-Weedless-Jig-Molds-P2757.aspx . It uses a flat eye heavy wire hook and it doesn't have to be a Trokar, I use the Eagle Claw 2706BP but you can use the Mustad 32798 and I believe the Gamakatsu 594 will work as well. I have used heads in which I attached the blade direct and I also used a double split ring set up and my favorite combo by far is the Trokar pro swim jig with a single split ring. Now, the blade won't hit the head so you get very little sound but it makes up for it by being very erratic, it works so well it is all I use anymore.

I think they were called Hi-Tech molds or something similar? Allen

I tack my bills in place with the merest dab of superglue. If alignment is not perfect, the lip can easily be dislodged for another go. Once the alignment is good, I apply more superglue (runny) which is drawn into the joint by capillary action. The top coat of epoxy around the edge of the joint completes the installation. Dave

They are very entertaining and there is something in your video list for everyone. I actually came across your YouTube channel, 'Black Warrior Lures' first, I was researching BSF larvae at the time, and then accidentally found you on TU. I like your docu style, it keeps it real, and combined with the editing, keeps the video story moving and interesting. Looking forward to more vids Dave

I have a pair of 7" knipex pliers, and they bend up to .051 wire fine. I struggle with bend .062 wire with them.

knipex has several sizes of round nose pliers which handle small jewellery taper upwards to .050. Check out there web site. Good german made steel.. strong box joint which keeps the pliers straight under pressure of bending wire. Note each model will allow a minimun round diameter bend . Match that to the tackle you are wanting to make. Hope this helps.