jerkn

The heat gun is your problem, I had the same exact thing happen the one and only time I used mine to heat set the paint on a foil bait. I also always put a coat of etex over the foil before paint and it still happened, lifted the foil and etex. At that time I was using 3M high strength #90 spray glue and it still didn't hold. I don't know of any stronger spray adhesive. Since I switched back to a hair dryer it never happened again. I now use both the general purpose 3M and Elmers with no problems.

I use a foil lined box and light bulb like BobP mentioned. I originally built the box just for dust protection because of the close proximity of my finishing area to my shop. I later lined it with foil and added a light bulb to speed up the drying. It works great but there are a couple of issues, for my use a 100 watt bulb was way too much, that is what I tried first. I am down to a 40 watt not and that keeps it between 85 and 90 degrees depending on where you place the thermocouple. Also, I don't turn the bulb on right away anymore as it wants to pull air from the lure and cause bubbles, especially with a foiled bait. I usually let it rotate for a few hours then turn on the light. Normally I only use the light for my first coat of etex before paint and the final coat. I like to add my additional build coats while the coat underneath it is still tacky and 12 hours under the light will make the etex fairly hard. If I were to build it again I would change it up a little and use a sheet of plexiglass on hinges for the front. Any heat loss could be compensated for with a higher wattage bulb.

I haven't used d2t but the people at envirotex said as soon as you can handle it you can reapply.

One of those topics was started by me. I searched "createx envirotex" and got no answers to the question I posed, try it and see if you get an answer. I agree with MTfishingrods completely, I signed up on this site to learn, not to be belittled. I try to learn from other peoples mistakes. Should I waste $20 on clear and a few hours on a lure only to find they are incompatable when if I asked a simple question about it on a website someone who has already made that mistake could have warned me in a few keystrokes? Is that what this site is for or is it just to show off your lures? If you don't like the questions all you have to do is skip over them, but don't worry, you'll never see me ask another "stupid" question. Maybe I'm beating a dead horse but some of you need knocked off your high horse.

Thanks guys, I got it all straight now!! JDW, you can paint right over the envirotex but most people want a white base to paint over so you probably want to primer it.

For any of you guys using createx/envirotex do you do anything to prep the paint before applying the envirotex? Doesn't seem like it would hold up to even a light sanding. Do you scuff the envirotex between coats, and how long do you have to wait between coats? Thanks.

Benjamin, thanks for the link. What you did with the watermelon jigging spoon is exactly what I wanted to know how to do. Just so I have this straight, there's no prep work, no clear afterwards and the paint sticks well? If that's the case then I don't think it can get much simpler. Thanks everyone for your help. Once I get going I'll be sure to post a few pics of the finished product. I think I like it here already!

Basseducer, thanks for the idea on the candy powder paints, I'll look into it. Hopefully dayooper or cadman will see this thread and chime in also with some ideas. Spike-A-Pike, thanks for the info and no, no treatment plan yet! It's actually been 2 years since I got the urge to start building lures but money has been tight so I've been slowly acquiring what I need. I have a nice table saw, small bandsaw, belt/disc sander, airbrush, and plenty of ideas. The only other thing I really need is a lathe, that's next on the list. I have a buddy with a planer and jointer so he can take care of the rough stuff for me. Reading this forum and seeing all the great lures these guys make really gets you pumped up. Hopefully you will see a few of my lures on here in the next few months. Thanks again to everyone who responded.

Thanks for the reply basseducer, Here's a picture of what I would like to do. Hope it attaches properly. These blades are $27 per 50, I can buy plain nickel or brass for $7 per 50. Any ideas on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hey guys, did a forum search and came up empty. Hopefully someone here will be able to help me out. Some of the nicer blades I see for crawler harnesses look like transparent paint over nickel plate where you still get the flash of the nickel or whatever base material you use. I bought some transparent createx paints for my airbrush but am not sure what to put down as a base so the paint will stick. I was thinking of spraying them with a can of lacquer first but I have also heard of a product called bulldog adhesion promoter. Some of the blades come lacquered so maybe you could paint over that and then lacquer again. Any thoughts would be appreciated.