joehaase

Hey everyone thanks for all the added replies... some how I turned notifications off for this post, and am just now getting back around to it. I have tried the solarez various ways, and have gotten some of the clouding to go away by allowing the lure to rotate before hitting it with the light... however the sections of the lure that have black under then don't really seem to fully harden, and wipe right off even after 5 or 6 - 2 minute blasts of the light. I thought it may be a issue with the solvent not fully leaving the black paint, so i even allowed the lures to sit for a week before coating them. I am going to try and get some allumiuv and see how that works out. .... This hobby sure does get expensive!!

That is the whole goal here!!! I have zero problems waiting a few days, but this class was 3 hours drive time away... I had to find a way to have the stuff dry there where no one would touch it.. and that was the challenge. I'm going to cut the bottom off my nail light tonight and build my box out of foam and give it a try.

hahaha.. I have all the patience in the world, but it's my kids who dont! Last year I did lure making at Rutgers University summer camp... 60 kids in 3 hours.. each kid made a spinner bait and airbrushed a trout spoon.. needless to say my hands were a little cramped from the split rings and bending the wire on the spinner baits lol..

That would make perfect sense about trying to brush it on to thin and dry scraping the paint off. Since I use the Copic markers with the airbrush, they are solvent based, and do not go on nearly as thick as if I was using a regular airbrush, so that would only amplify things. I am making a box to go over my drying wheel I normaly use, and am going to line it with mirrors, with a opening on top to mount my drying light. I should be able to spin it for a few minutes to get the coating to level out before hitting it with the light.

Thanks for the reply guys. I'm thinking it's more of a problem with my technique that I need to work on. Here are a few pics. This is the original Blue gill lure my 8 year old son air brushed earlier. The vaccuform templates make life so much easier for kids! This is the lure finished with (2) 3 minute trips in the UV nail light. I see the "blushing" which gives the dark colors a haze. But if you notice by the tail and on the gill plate itself, you will see the white primer coat in brush strokes from when i put the product on. This can be solved by dipping the baits i would suppose. The other major problem I had on this lure, is on the edges of the gill plate and nose of the lure, the epoxy never full cured, and allowed everything on the lure to be rubbed off down to the plastic of the body. I think if I can get these problems worked out, I will have exactly what I need... as the kids don't care about having a super high gloss finish like we do... they just want something to bring home to show there parents and friends!

All.. I just wanted to take a second and thank everyone who contributes to this site for helping me with ideas over the past few years. I run a Hooked on Fishing not on Drugs group here in South Jersey, with the goal of getting kids outdoors and enjoying nature. One of our most popular activities has been lure making. Following some of the threads on here. I have been able to get the kids involved in airbrushing crankbaits and trout spoons using the copic marker systems with great success. I have been using 5 min epoxies for the clear coat with varying success... some turn yellow, and some just always seem to stay tacky. Seeing a few guys on here and youtube swear by Solarez, I decided to get some to try. The biggest problem with kids making these lures, is that they can't take them home right away, and it's often weeks before we interact again. I bought a pint of Solarez dual cure polyester gloss resin and tried it on a few baits i had made up. I also purchased a UV nail curing light as advised, thinking I could easily modify this to fit over my drying wheel. I ran into two problems right off the bat.. as I brushed the resin onto the lure, it started "pulling" the paint off.... leaving large brush strokes down to the primer layer of paint. It also did not cure glossy at all... it looks cloudy and has a very dull sheen to it. So I'm curious if I got the wrong kind, or am doing something wrong. Thanks.. Joe