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JBlaze

Making 3D Scales

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Something I have been thinking about for a while, is making 3d scales.

 

My wife and I were out running thrift stores a few days ago and I ran across these two belts one is made with sequins and the other is made with little metal scalloped strips. I bought both with intentions of laying a piece of aluminum foil across them and rubbing it with a rag to see if I could create a 3d scale pattern.

 

A few stores later, I ran across this old credit card press/embosser. Not sure what it is called but I hoped that it would suit the purpose for which I intended to use it, which was making 3d scales. 

 

Hope some of you guys/gals might find this idea useful.

 

John

 

PS, just pulled the first one off the drying wheel, will post it in the gallery.

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Edited by JBlaze
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Spec & Nathan. Thanks for the encouragement. I have at least one problem to solve before I will be content with it.

 

Mark, I did use several coats of thinned Golden interference paint.  I was introduced to this color shifting paint by Vic (Little River Baits). It works well over colors but I just couldnt get that color shift over the shiny foil. I'm not sure how many coats I put on the foil but I heat set each one and never had any problem with the glue losing its grip. The only thing that the interference did by putting it over the foil was that it dulled the bright shine that it had. It was very bright and I could see it losing more of  its shine with each succeeding coat.

 

Super Bowl,  Whats that?

 

John

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Spec & Nathan. Thanks for the encouragement. I have at least one problem to solve before I will be content with it.

 

Mark, I did use several coats of thinned Golden interference paint.  I was introduced to this color shifting paint by Vic (Little River Baits). It works well over colors but I just couldnt get that color shift over the shiny foil. I'm not sure how many coats I put on the foil but I heat set each one and never had any problem with the glue losing its grip. The only thing that the interference did by putting it over the foil was that it dulled the bright shine that it had. It was very bright and I could see it losing more of  its shine with each succeeding coat.

 

Super Bowl,  Whats that?

 

John

Glad to hear that the glue isn't affected by heat setting paint.  Thanks.

I use Wildlife colors iridescent and color shift paints, and find they show up best over black, or dark colors.  I do use the iridescent violet on clear baits to give the that violet hue, without losing their transparency.  When I've shot anything over foil it reduces that shininess for me, too

 

Hahaha  It's the game I fall asleep in the middle of, and only wake up when it's over.

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Three more 3-D scale patterns for the little press. I found a different style of lady's belt which I disassembled and reassembled on a piece of wire mesh to make a smaller scale pattern. A piece of aluminum diamond mesh which I purchased at Michael's and a piece of screen wire for the third one. 

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Hello Ben, I think you are right about me, I am always thinking about how I could improve upon or 

 

change the design of things. I think that is why I like tackle building, because it is within my 

 

power to do just that with just a few tools, some wood, plastic, glue and wire. It satisfies that 

 

urge to create something that is different for the most part and something that I can call my own. 

 

I enjoy it even when my ideas do not work out or even just plain fail and plenty of them have done 

 

just that. I think, as many before me have said, "I am addicted to tackle building" and can't wait 

 

until I retire so that I will have more time to waste on and spend my money on this cotton picking 

 

hobby. I love it!!!

John

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Heres some foiled bait I made by pressing kitchen foil into mesh, I cut the foil out from the outline of the bait allowing for overlap, to keep the profile of the pressed foil I filled the back of the foil with epoxy, then stuck the foil onto the bait with double sided adhesive, next I flattened the top and bottom of the bait where the foil overlaps and epoxied the whole of the bait to hide the joins when painted.

 

Yes its time consuming! 

 

then airbrush the bait as needed, then epoxy again, its time consuming but worth it, hope Iv explained it well?

 

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DaveG, . Your baits look really good. thanks for that.very encouraging post. That was going to be my next attempt at keeping my scales from being flattened Did you let the epoxy  harden before placing it on the bait?

 

 I think that would work well on flat sides but for a round bodied bait, I am thinking maybe it should just set up just beyond the point where it will not run or drip before applying it to the side of the bait. Then it could be shaped and formed to the contour of the bait.

 

Another question for the epoxy gurus.Does epoxy need to be exposed to the atmosphere to cure?   If so, once I place it on the bait where no air can get to it, it might never harden.

John

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JBlaze the epoxy will harden without any kind of exposure as its a chemical reaction,

 

I use 5 minute epoxy on the back of the foil and apply it to the bait just as it sets, if you leave it any longer it can crack when you try to form it around the bait, im using the 5 minute stuff just because I bought some syringe packs cheaply but when they run out i`ll just use Etex.

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JBlaze the epoxy will harden without any kind of exposure as its a chemical reaction,

 

I use 5 minute epoxy on the back of the foil and apply it to the bait just as it sets, if you leave it any longer it can crack when you try to form it around the bait, im using the 5 minute stuff just because I bought some syringe packs cheaply but when they run out i`ll just use Etex.

DaveG, Thanks again for your response. It is people like yourself that makes TU the great site that it is. I am sure that you just shortened my learning curve by many hours. Many Thanks.

  I took a look at your blog, very nice baits.  I particularly liked the three under the heading,"The Black Edition".

John

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DaveG, Thanks again for your response. It is people like yourself that makes TU the great site that it is. I am sure that you just shortened my learning curve by many hours. Many Thanks.

  I took a look at your blog, very nice baits.  I particularly liked the three under the heading,"The Black Edition".

John

Thanks J, I guess if we can all help each other it will save time and money 

 

Dave

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Up Date on the 3d scale foiled bait. The first pic, has a layer of D2T of the back side of 

 

the foil sides. It has been curing for about 35 minutes now and is getting very tacky so I am 

 

ready to attempt to place them on the sides of the bait.

 

 As you can see in the second pic, I was able to get it on the bait without damaging or 

 

flattening the scales. I used my wife's tweezers (shushhhhhh) to handle them and a dental pic 

 

to burnish the edges. 

 

Thanks DaveG for your help with this. So far, it is looking pretty good. 

 

Tomorrow afternoon, I will apply another layer of epoxy and maybe I will get it painted by 

 

the weekend. 

 

I did not make this flat sided bait, it was made by a good friend of mine. His name is Dean 

 

Helton and his baits are IMHO as good as if not better than anything out there that I have 

 

used. He has been making Balsa baits for many years. If this turns out good, I will take it 

 

and show it to him.

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