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On most baits (especially if light wood like balsa) you need some weight near the front hook hanger, usually in thru the belly. Helps the bait ride correctly, may add to the side to side action. Trick is figuring how much and where...in front of hanger, behind hanger, attached to wire of hanger... Other baits will need additional weights...farther back along the belly for level float, tail if you want a nose up topwater, forward if you want a nose down diver (like a deep crankbait). Again, very general rules to start with.

Have always added it to a layer of clear (Flexcoat) then shot/dotted the eyes, gills, etc on that layer. Follow it with another layer of FC and you get nice shiny glitter. I just hand sprinkle if I want a particular color in a particular area of a bait. Never convinced I was able to completely clean it out of my brush. Also kind of like standing beside Tinkerbell after she had a bean supper...Poof!

Lip looks wide at the junction with the body, but you should be able to sand down the edges to fix that. Where is the weight and how much? Is there weight in the tail section and where? Don't think you are wrong about wanting the nose high on a waker, at least a slow one.

No issues with baits all the way back to 2002. A good clear should prevent any problems. Gaps in a clear, lake rash, incompatible clear may let in water and that will mess up any water based paint. My C-Tex flo colors are all as bright as I want them to be. They even hold the value of their colors well when thinning, extending, adding transparent base, etc.

Am actually using with some 2 ton as a sealer on a few balsa wake baits. Had it mixed up for the hardware, not looking for pretty (that would require Flexcoat, of course), more interested in putting them together quickly so I can run them and check for blance, tune, and the V wake I am shooting for. Baits need a little extra weight/strength anyway. Who knows, maybe I'll convert after all this time. Now Skeet, what were you doing playing with spray coats?

Skeeter...isn't this where I jump in with my bottles of Flex Coat for old times sake?

Geez Skeet, didn't know you had that many teeth left.

These are easy to make from a modified mold if you have an extra bullet head or similar. Just dremel out a cone shape behind the head, appx the same diam as the head. Did this a couple of years ago to two cavities...baits are ugly as sin, but fish great. The smaller (bit over 1/2oz on Rx scales) is just about the only blade I throw anymore. Use the larger for the really snotty days at Table Rock. The northstar baits look kind of big to me...little long in the wire and the hook. Mine use regular length Mustad vs the long shanks, also smaller frames.

Cure time & heat is very much dependent on color. Would be interested in finding which color(s) are causing problems. Even dragging FB heads in rocks we usually wear the jig out or break it off before we damage the paint. What brand of paint were you dipping? Age? Clearcoat? As above, vinyl is really the only other practical alternative. For black heads onbig jigs you can use Plasti-Dip with decent results.

I think for ease of information access, it still wouldn't hurt to split the two subjects. Right now, if you want to find info on injection topic "X", you have to sift thru the Soft Baits page. If you are strictly injecting and looking for injection topic "X", that means you are wasting a lot of time working around the pouring posts.

Started with that Mustad b/c it fit several other molds I own, and had about 1500+ of them. After throwing lots of them at Table Rock I switched to Gamakatsu, The Mustads were point rolling, and not penetrating. I would bring a brownie to the boat and find it made it in by line pressure but never penetrated. Not worked loose, just never ever penetrated, no hole at all. Generally don't have that problem with the Mustad hook in other molds, but those are usually fished on jig rods, not 6# and a spin rod.

Have never sealed bare wood with a clear coat. Have always used one of the polyurethane type dips from Home Depot (Minwax, I think, would have to look at the can). Usually let it dry and sand lightly to lower any places where the grain swelled, then add a clear coat, cure, then paint.

Modified a couple of the Do-It swimbait jig molds to take spinnerbait wires and hooks. Those would be pretty close, and if done right you can still use the molds for the swim heads.

Faster vs pot pouring on full round or open molds? Are we talking about 2 color tails in a full round set up? This would be about the only plastic pouring I have not tried. Not sure whether to be interested or thankful for missing out on the burns.

Had a similar wild idea for thru wiring square bills several years ago. Wanted to use titanium wire (I guess b/c it was new). Hughesy was kind enough to point out the fact you can't tune titanium, so I never tried it. Drew it up, looked like it should work. But that was using the connector inside the bait. Assume you are looking to wrap the wire around the outside? Seems like a muskie would knock the wire out of the channel...would need to bea n awfully deep groove. You can thru wire without halving the bait. Several posts on here detailing that technique. The drilling goes ok if you use a press and go slowly.

Powder paint anyone? Lot of effort for single colors and shakey heads. Have turned airbrushed and flex coated spinnerbait heads by just cross clamping the hook in the heavy duty aligator slips on my turner. Then I went back to powder paint = less time painting = more lake time = . Even gave up dotting eyes and spots. Owner hook in the spinnerbait? If so how do you like them? Have been on the Mustads since they came out with the UP's, but lately seem to be rolling points.

Ok, admittedly I am late to the party on this hand injection deal. Have been busy raising kids, paying too much in taxes, etc. I'm just curious what the original purpose of the injectors is? About the time I tuned out on the site people were starting to play with turkey injectors, etc. Is the purpose just to completely fill full round molds? From the litany of info, they don't seem to be faster or necessarily better. The resulting baits may have more detail, but TONS of fish are caught every year on traditional handpours. I am still running sticks from one of Del's original molds using the large hot pots, sort of re-worked to clamp to the bench. Salt, color, flake all mix ok...just run the baits and top it off with mix once in a while. Obviously that is a stick mold, and would not work as well with the molds that duplicate other baits (single tails, hogs, etc). If the point is just to duplicate baits the factory can make faster and cheaper, I must be missing something. That seems fundamentally contrary to handpouring. We have fished flat sided handpours for decades in grubs, curl tails, etc and the fish fine (sticks aside), and you just have to be smart enough to keep your hand out of the stream from the pots. Am I missing it? It seems kind of like the dip your own tube deal...yes it can be done, but is it worthwhile? And I thought the old Devcon wars were bad on the Hard Baits page...sheesh.

Right. I'm probably the odd man out in the whole ETex vs Devcon vs whatever wars going back to the pre-TU days on the other site. Decided to try Flex Coat and have been very happy with it. Lighter (so you can use multiple coats for specific effects-probably average 4 total on most of my baits), clear, mixes well with flake, levels well (designed to) when turned, durable enough, decent working time. Available in a variety of sizes, mixing syringes available. A few ml will do several baits. It will get fine scratches from rocks, teeth, etc, but all the coats should if you are actually fishing and catching. The Lite formula does not have the same shine or clarity (at least for me). Used to have a ton of pics in the hard bait gallery, but apparently they lost when the site changed a few years ago. Just re-posted a few the other day that were shot with C-tex and cleared with Flex Coat. I get a bad feeling posting about clear coats...PTSD from the "wars". If you dare, search some of the old posts (2003 or so), my handle, Skeeter, Blackjack, some of the others that have been here a while. Lots of good info if you sort through the sniping. Some of those got pretty hot.

Right-o...should have read Norman's. Am typing challenged today. The "sunshine gel-coat" is really one of the original tough glitter clear coats. Think we have all been looking at it for years. They have improved the UV stability of it in recent years. Have some of the older baits from the 90's that did not age well (but fish ok). If it not an auto coat then it would almost have to be a 2 part resin of some sort (epoxy, gel, etc). My thought with an OEM resin was the idea of getting one that does not yellow. Might also try US Composites. Personally, I have used Flex Coat (regular, not lite) since 2002. Very happy with it. Cheap, versatile, forgiving, and holds up as well as most of the others.

It's WAY not cheaper. You have to do it b/c you have something (or think) special, or you simply enjoy it. Aside from pouring grub heads and such, saving $ is tough. More likely to spend it on components, tools, molds, etc.

Hard part is finding one that retains clarity. Bondo and the other common resins yellow badly (or have for me). Have used them to flake blades, but not as effectively as I expected. Might try one from a manufacturer...Ranger, Champion, etc. Let us know. *Unless you are referring to solid color gels like white, yellow, etc. Guess I was assuming use as a clearcoat like Norman. My years long guess is Norman is just another 2 part epoxy of some sort, or maybe an auto clearcoat.

Mothers are definitely the way to go for RTV reproduction. Try one of the 2 part liquid plastic (Smooth-On, etc) vs the POP. Price is a little higher but they are nearly unbreakable = easier to store. Need to hit them with some lacquer after curing.