Kustom Krankz

you get what you pay for with airbrushes- a pretty good deal is hobby lobby-iwata hp-cs- a little less than 200.00 but print off the 40% coupon and get it for 120.00- I have 3 I bought that way- you might find one a little cheaper online somewhere but shipping may run it up a little-plus I'm a little impatient-when I want it I want it now!- as far as a compressor-I got one from lowes- small pancake compressor- just make sure it has an auto shut off feature- (it will cut of when the reservoir hits a certain pressure) usually you can pick one up for less than 100.00- DON"T skimp on the regulator and water filter- those are the two most important items in my book- one little shot of water will ruin a nice paint job- and it always will happen right about the time you are finished!!

mark and I have talked about this wrinkling issue and since I started using testors white and pearls I have not had one issue with it- just my .02- my procedure is as follows if it helps- paint bait as usual ,drying with hairdryer between coats- into hotbox @110 degrees for 15 min. or so- remove and dip first coat of ac 1315- back in hotbox for 15 0r 20 min- dip again- usually do this 4 times and bait is done the next day- a lot of times I will leave baits in the box for an extra 12 hrs or so while I am at work and they are rock hard when I return to them-no smell at all- I have done probably 60-70 baits with this process in the last month or so and not one problem- got on a good school of smaller bass and caught probably 50-60 on one little john I had painted. it was pretty scratched up as you can imagine- took it home, removed the hooks ,hit it with some 500 grit sandpaper, and two dips later I could have sold it as a new bait- as far as toothy critters go ,an epoxy is probably the best bet- as far as bass fishing cranks go, i'll be using this stuff- thanks to mark Paulson for the insight !

I will paint 20 or 30 blanks at a time with white base coat and put them in the hotbox to cure so I always have "cured"white. then as I need them I paint my patterns. this seems to help with the wrinkle more than anything. but, I will say I have had some instances where I had to do a bait I didn't have a pre- base coated blank done and the testors white and pearl white never wrinkled. not sure why but it works for me so far- I think the testors paints have some solvent in them that allows them to dry better with a heat gun between coats-

Give the testors airbrush paints a try. Thier black and white sprays like a dream straight out of the bottle. No wrinkling with as 1315 either. Available @michaels. I no longer use wicked black or white. Thier pearls are killer too

anybody know where I can get some 5/8 oz one knocker blanks? lipless thanks mike

I use the AEX 5 compound from paasche- or baking soda when I'm out. Either one works well. Just have to play with air pressure.

anybody had colors bleed with this stuff- I have been using it for a little while and this weekend I had a bait with a yellow belly bleed a little- not noticeable on the bait bout what drips off the rear hook hanger has a yellow tint to it- tried spraying another one with krylon clear before dipping- still bled a little but with no adverse effects-

the first time I used it I chewed up an old bandit bait- small learning curve-

I use anywhere from 20- 40 psi- depending on the paint and clear- factory finish comes off easy- devcon,e-tex,etc., take a little more muscle- even with baking soda you can harm the plastic- the less the better

rayburn guy- if you or anyone ever needs a motor let me know- I do a lot of appliance repair on the side and I always have several of those motors - wont cost anybody a thing mike <::><

I have a cabinet built with a 100 watt heat lamp in it set on a line voltage thermostat with a computer fan in it to circulate air inside the cabinet - I set it for 90 degrees and dry my painted baits for a day in it then dipped baits in it overnight and they are ready to roll- I think a little heat does wonders for this stuff

no u can do it outside . I do it just to re-cycle the media and not make as big a mess- it will make quite the cloud of white dust!! I hook my shop vac up to my cabinet and let it run- pulls a lot of dust so you can see whats going on

u can make a good drying wheel from a motor that comes out of a microwave oven- most are a/c motors and either 3 or 6 rpm- just make sure its not a dc motor- I have made three that turn 12 hrs a day and never had to replace a motor yet

I bought a paasche air eraser that works great- it will take the media supplied for it(3 different grades)or baking soda- does a good job- made a small blast box to use it inside of and you can screen your used media and save quite a bit- more than I figured- just try not to let the soda get too much moisture in it because it starts to ball up and chunks wont do good!!

I have done that also mark- it works fine- and definitely cheaper!

anybody got any idea where you can get treble hook protectors at a decent price in large quantity- used for shipping- been using tubing but would like to find the Styrofoam protectors instead

tried the weight thing ONCE in the beginning-no good- go to mudhole.com and get the syringes for mixing their rod coat- the plastic shot glasses are great for mixing-smooth on the inside- the syringes have the correct type of rubber in them- wont contaminate the two parts- drill a hole in each cap,insert syringe and leave it in there- draw out equal parts , mix, and apply - the best way I have found- perfect results everytime- as long as I don't drop the bait on the floor!

Thanks for all the info guys. As usual, good info here

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