Newie Question On Prep

[hunter7711]

I finally got all my equipment together to start re-painting some lures. What is the best way to prep the baits for paining. I have both plastic and Balsa baits. Most are new, just ugly paint jobs.

[BobP]

On plastic baits, I lightly sand with 400 grit paper to remove the gloss and give the surface grip, wash it in dish soap, shoot a white acrylic color basecoat, then colors. Basically the same with wood. If you are sanding wood to remove a blemish, be sure not to sand down to raw wood. Some guys dispense with sanding and use Bullseye Adhesion Promoter on their baits instead. IMO, you don't need esoteric primers, coatings, etc. Get the new paint on there and a durable topcoat will keep it on. No primer or special coating will keep paint on a bait if the topcoat fails - and there's nothing you can do to make the topcoat more durable than it inherently is.

[hunter7711]

On plastic baits, I lightly sand with 400 grit paper to remove the gloss and give the surface grip, wash it in dish soap, shoot a white acrylic color basecoat, then colors. Basically the same with wood. If you are sanding wood to remove a blemish, be sure not to sand down to raw wood. Some guys dispense with sanding and use Bullseye Adhesion Promoter on their baits instead. IMO, you don't need esoteric primers, coatings, etc. Get the new paint on there and a durable topcoat will keep it on. No primer or special coating will keep paint on a bait if the topcoat fails - and there's nothing you can do to make the topcoat more durable than it inherently is.

Thank you so much. I just needed a place to start.