Hit Or Miss With Dick Nite's

[tightliner]

Hello all! Yes another Dick Nites question! Half or more of the lures I dip with DN still come out with a puddled or uneven finish, kind of like ckicken pock marks. I heat set the heck out of the water based paint and primer and still seem to have a problem with a nice smooth finish. There is no doubt that DN is a super hard finish I just have a problem getting it right. Could it be the primer coat? I have been using folk art white and dry the heck out of it. I use Createx for most of my other colors. I know some of you guys have mastered DN. I still think its worth trying to get it right if not just for the ease of getting a superior finish with little effort. I realize this subject has been beat to death but I would really appriciate any good advice. Thanks alot, Ed.

PS- Perhaps laying on paint to thick?

[BobP]

Do you spray it? Brush it? Dip it? Dry it on a lure turner? Hard to give an authoritative answer but I suspect you are getting too thick a coating on the lure. If all the underlying paint is well dried water based acrylic, you shouldn't have any chemical interaction problems. I have good luck using the simplest, fastest method for applying Dick Nite - I dip the lure in DN once then hang it to dry so any excess clearcoat drips off the tail of the bait. The drip-dry prevents any excess DN from accumulating on the lure and causing the paint to wrinkle. Give it 5-7 days to cure out and it's ready to fish.

Edited May 18, 2010 by BobP

[tightliner]

Do you spray it? Brush it? Dip it? Dry it on a lure turner? Hard to give an authoritative answer but I suspect you are getting too thick a coating on the lure. If all the underlying paint is well dried water based acrylic, you shouldn't have any chemical interaction problems. I have good luck using the simplest, fastest method for applying Dick Nite - I dip the lure in DN once then hang it to dry so any excess clearcoat drips off the tail of the bait. The drip-dry prevents any excess DN from accumulating on the lure and causing the paint to wrinkle. Give it 5-7 days to cure out and it's ready to fish.

Thanks for the reply Bob. I dip the lure . I really would like to switch to DN almost exclusively if I can get it right. I really like the thin, one coat process and DN is really hard. Any step process instruction would be great if you have the time. Thanks alot, Ed.

[Lure--Prof]

Try using nothing but Createx on a few baits. I prime with Createx opaque white, and heat-set it (after letting it dry some on its own), then spray a coat of pearl white and repeat the drying & heatsetting procedure. If you're thoroughly heat-setting, and your bait looks good before the DN, there shouldn't be a problem. Could you be applying some paint too thick? That you might think so tells me that perhaps so, and you aren't getting it as thoroughly heat set as you think. Hang in there, you'll figure it out!

Dean

[tightliner]

Try using nothing but Createx on a few baits. I prime with Createx opaque white, and heat-set it (after letting it dry some on its own), then spray a coat of pearl white and repeat the drying & heatsetting procedure. If you're thoroughly heat-setting, and your bait looks good before the DN, there shouldn't be a problem. Could you be applying some paint too thick? That you might think so tells me that perhaps so, and you aren't getting it as thoroughly heat set as you think. Hang in there, you'll figure it out!

Dean

Thanks Dean. I think you're onto to it with just createx. Some of the junk paint I use because of price my be the culprit along with not heat setting enough. Between your advice and Bobs,I bet I get it right. Thanks so much guys! Ed

[BobP]

I use Createx but also Polytranspar, Van Dyke's, Smith Wildlife, and Createx Auto Air just as often. In my experience, there is no difference in how they work with Dick Nite so I don't think your problem is related to the brand. When you dip baits, do you hang them to dry or do you put them on a lure turner? Coming from using epoxies for topcoating, I started out using a lure turner on my DN dipped baits and that caused blisters and paint wrinkling. I discovered that DN skins over very quickly and if any collects on one part of the bait (usually near the tail if you dip baits), a lure turner will cause it to slosh back and forth under the skin, causing wrinkles. I went to simply hanging the baits up so the excess DN drips off the tail - and my wrinkling problem disappeared. The process couldn't be simpler - dip it, hang it, walk away.

I dry paint with a hair dryer as I shoot it but I don't blast it to death, just get it nice and dry before shooting the next color.

Edited May 21, 2010 by BobP