JP MYERS

Offend, not at all my friend..On the contrary Dan, most flattered indeed..haha..First time anyone found one of my lure pics to re-post..Always glad to be of some small help.. Yeah it is a bit of work too I agree, I get 10-15 lures all finished up painting, then sit down and do all their fins/gills at the same time to make it less taxing.. But its tedious all the same.. Jp~

I dunno, must need to get my eyeglasses prescription changed as the eyes in the photo appear to be the exact same eyes that Im holding a card of 1/2" silver/gold/black pupil up next to the pic, looks like the same eyes, and I got mine from Predator.. I'll stick to supporting our site sponsor, he never shorts ya on the count, super fast delivery, no wait on a Thai shipment.. Jp~

I use the fine point Sharpie for my lure sigs with E-Tex..I first apply a thin sealer coat of D2T (Devcon 2 Ton) over signature area, let cure, then apply multiple layers of E-Tex as my topcoating.. The sigs have never ran.. If I apply E-Tex directly over the Sharpie without sealing first w/D2T, it runs and/or totally disappears, but never when I first seal it w/D2T.. If by deft you mean Polyurethane Deft, its probably not a good enough sealant to protect against the solvents in the E-Tex.. I have used poly Deft for many years in my woodworking projects, its a great interior wood finish but I doubt it can seal against the E-Tex solvents.. The Deft itself may also contain enough solvents to mess up your sig as well.. It can lift regular ink pens as I had that problem w/Deft when signing my wood toys.. But I am 100% certain that E-Tex will lift Sharpies if you dont seal the sig properly first.. Switch pens as others have already suggested or change your sealer to Devcon 2 Ton then apply your E-Tex..I've been doing it this way for 2 yrs with no problems.. Jp~

This pic shows some decent airbrush detail on fin & gill marking for reference.. I did this a while back.. Jp~

As that is my lure in the photo you've supplied, perhaps this might help a little Dan.. Cut out a small stencil from acetate, use 3-4 colors sprayed w/the airbrush.. For a good looking fin dont place the stencil directly on lure body surface, rather keep it slightly off the surface when spraying & it will give you softer edges that add depth and a appearance of shadow that makes the fin "jump off" the body.. I glue a few pieces of toothpick to the stencil so it stays off the body.. On the fin in your attachment, I just did the outline in black, let some of the body color(copper foil) show thru for a very basic fin.. I usually use 2-4 colors and spray a little of the belly color on the very front of fin to blend into the belly.. You can do gill markings in this same method..

You need to weigh the portions or use a small measuring cup.. Squeezing out of the tube, almost always, one side sends out more than the other.. You have to reeeally give the tube plunger an even pressure to get equal amounts of both parts-- better off to weigh or measure.. You can also get D2T in squeeze bottles.. Yeah the D2T will yellow quickly from my experience w/it.. I switched over to E-Tex and have been nothing but pleased.. You'll need to rotate your lure w/e-tex for 3-4 hours then hang to dry for another 8 hrs or so.. It takes far longer to cure than Dev. but worth the wait.. Crystal clear & super glossy.. BTW, sounds like your coating didnt cure properly, as stated by Mark, it was probably improper mixing..Did you notice if any of the surface was tacky after it set in the sun?.. Thats a dead giveaway too.. I've been using Createx & never had any such problems, gots ta be da mix..I have had enamels wrinkle after appling devcon, but that was becuz the paint had not cured completely.. Hope it all works out for ya, Jp~

Here is a medium size Ohio farm pond Largemouth Bass I caught today.. I was swim testing a few lures and hooked this fish, decided to take a photo.. The lure is one of my handmade crankbaits, 6" at 2.3 ounces.. It is in a silver foil shad pattern.. I was wearing my lucky Ramones T-shirt, and caught the bass on my third cast.. I was a little surprised as it was about 2pm & temp around 88f and she hit in the shallows.. Ok, so the lure worked great, testing is over!.. Hahaha..