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CHUCKV309

"Perfect Finish" top coat.

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I am a neewbie to custom painting and I have been looking on this site for about a week now. After getting some ideas about paints and clear coats, I decided to do a little leg work around my area to check availability and prices. While I was at a Hobby Lobby, I came across some e-tex light and then next to it was some very similar bottles that were called "Perfect Finish". It is a two part mix just like e-tex. The kits were the same size and the same price. The only difference I could find was the dry and cure times. The perfect finish dries in 3 hours and cures in 12. Has anyone tried this stuff? If so, how does it perform? (hardness, durability, ease of use, etc) :?:

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I have never tried it before , Havent heard it mentioned either . Give it a try and let us know how it does . If you have searched the subjects on the board you have seen this is a great debate on clear coats . E-tex , devcon and flex coat seem to always have their loyal , dedicated , and well quite aggressive opionated users . Give the perfect finish a test and let us know . Clear coat is all personal opion and every body has there favorite !!!

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I have never tried it before , Havent heard it mentioned either . Give it a try and let us know how it does . If you have searched the subjects on the board you have seen this is a great debate on clear coats . E-tex , devcon and flex coat seem to always have their loyal , dedicated , and well quite aggressive opionated users . Give the perfect finish a test and let us know . Clear coat is all personal opion and every body has there favorite !!!

I use Flex Coat High Build and I love it. Have been using it fir 4 months now and will continue to use it, I only have one hurdle to get over, and that is what to do with the bills. The Flex Coat looks great on the lures, but not the bills, actually it looks like crap if you cover the bills. I tried it on the bills, off the bills and have not come up with a positive solution yet. Any ideas will be appreciated. Thanks to all.

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   My vote is for automotive urethane.

That is one solution, but the fumes are to dangerous, and I really want to stay with flex Coat. Just hoping someone would have some good ideas on how to avoid the run off on the lure bills. I have tried taping them and use an Xacto knife, but that damages the bill, tried not using the tape and try to stay away from the bill while applying the Flex Coat on the drying wheel, but it is next to impossible to keep it off the bill. Any ideas or fixes for this challenge????? 

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If you have a ferris wheel-type turner, where the lures are suspended horizontally between two plywood discs that rotate on a center shaft, you should be able to carefully apply the epoxy and get a minimum amount on the bills.  But if you are using a turner that flips them over, top to bottom, as it turns, you should probably look at a different topcoat, one that doesn't need to be turned.

D2T is stiff enough to apply and then turn by hand for a few minutes until it starts to set.

Otherwise, using a topcoat like DN, Solarez, GST, or a water born urethane, something that can be dipped and then hung vertically, bill up, would seem to me to be your other alternatives.

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Chuck,  The main things I would be concerned about with "Perfect Finish" are whether it is waterproof and durable.  Etex (aka Envirotex Lite) is a popular topcoat because it is both durable and waterproof, but it is sold as a pour-on decoupage coating - which has to be neither waterproof or durable.  The durability and water resistance are just byproducts of the fact that Etex is an epoxy.  I'd carefully read the label before trying Perfect Finish.

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 Captain  Ron , I  think you are doing about all you can,I see discussion after discussion on here about this and that is great, some are allergic,some don't like the smell, I  am quite sure they all are bad for us in certain ways...the way i look at it is  I'm not painting cars, I  am using a lil airbrush to paint a small lure, I  have my area set up well to ventilate so it doesn't have to be an issue at all, ease of use, durability, ability to add glitter in a consistant fashion...good luck with finding a solution

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If you have a ferris wheel-type turner, where the lures are suspended horizontally between two plywood discs that rotate on a center shaft, you should be able to carefully apply the epoxy and get a minimum amount on the bills.  But if you are using a turner that flips them over, top to bottom, as it turns, you should probably look at a different topcoat, one that doesn't need to be turned.

D2T is stiff enough to apply and then turn by hand for a few minutes until it starts to set.

Otherwise, using a topcoat like DN, Solarez, GST, or a water born urethane, something that can be dipped and then hung vertically, bill up, would seem to me to be your other alternatives.

I do use that type of drying wheel. I have it set up so I can coat 8 lures at a time. I think I will try coating 4 at a time, that way I won't have to hurry to keep up and maybe I will be able to keep the top coat off the bills. The finish I get from Flex Coat is amazing and it is also water proof. I have a lot of money invested in Createx products and Flex Coat works very well with Createx Paints. To change and go with automotive Clear Urethane now is just not an option for me. I tried using Urethane in the beginning, but it would attack the Createx Paints and that was just not acceptable for me. Thank you for your comments, I really appreciate them......."FISH ON" my brother.

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If you have a ferris wheel-type turner, where the lures are suspended horizontally between two plywood discs that rotate on a center shaft, you should be able to carefully apply the epoxy and get a minimum amount on the bills.  But if you are using a turner that flips them over, top to bottom, as it turns, you should probably look at a different topcoat, one that doesn't need to be turned.

D2T is stiff enough to apply and then turn by hand for a few minutes until it starts to set.

Otherwise, using a topcoat like DN, Solarez, GST, or a water born urethane, something that can be dipped and then hung vertically, bill up, would seem to me to be your other alternatives.

I have used DN and I must say, it's not for me. With Fles Coat at first I was having a problem with the finish staying tacky and never curing. Well I discovered the problem was in the plastic mixing cups that I purchased online. They were not accurate at all, so I started using one for the resin and another for the hardener, pouring one in the other and making sure I was mixing the two long enough at the current temperature. I have spent a lot of time getting this right and I want to continue to work at perfecting this process. I really appreciate all the feedback I get for all. This is a world of knowledge at our finger tips and I love it.  

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If you have a ferris wheel-type turner, where the lures are suspended horizontally between two plywood discs that rotate on a center shaft, you should be able to carefully apply the epoxy and get a minimum amount on the bills.  But if you are using a turner that flips them over, top to bottom, as it turns, you should probably look at a different topcoat, one that doesn't need to be turned.

D2T is stiff enough to apply and then turn by hand for a few minutes until it starts to set.

Otherwise, using a topcoat like DN, Solarez, GST, or a water born urethane, something that can be dipped and then hung vertically, bill up, would seem to me to be your other alternatives.

I thought about trying Solarez, but I say where you get more of a Satin finish instesd of a High gloss like Flex Coat High Build gives you. I just might try Solarez and see if I can live with the finish or not. I like the Idea of dipping, hanging and walk away. I did this with DN, but it kept attacking my Createx paints even after I went through all the proper steps to make sure the Createx was applied correct and even heat set in a time and heat controlled oven. DN is just not for me, plus the shelf life is to short even with Bloxygen. Thanks for your reply.

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Hold your baits by the bill and apply the flex coat.   I've been doing that way for yrs and never have a problem with running all over the bills.

I also let the mixed batch of flex coat sit for about 5 min before I start brushing it on.   It needs to start to cure or else it's way too runny for me.

Flex coat is the best product for me and that's why I use it.

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 Captain  Ron , I  think you are doing about all you can,I see discussion after discussion on here about this and that is great, some are allergic,some don't like the smell, I  am quite sure they all are bad for us in certain ways...the way i look at it is  I'm not painting cars, I  am using a lil airbrush to paint a small lure, I  have my area set up well to ventilate so it doesn't have to be an issue at all, ease of use, durability, ability to add glitter in a consistant fashion...good luck with finding a solution

Thank you, I really appreciate your support. I don't give up easy, I will find a way around this challenge if it's the last thing I do. A lot of good always comes from all the good people on TU, and I'm very grateful for that. I will let you know the outcome, in the mean time I will continue to put out the best product I possibly can.

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Hold your baits by the bill and apply the flex coat.   I've been doing that way for yrs and never have a problem with running all over the bills.

I also let the mixed batch of flex coat sit for about 5 min before I start brushing it on.   It needs to start to cure or else it's way too runny for me.

Flex coat is the best product for me and that's why I use it.

Sounds good, I will give it a try. Not ready to put Flex Coat out to pasture yet. Like you I think it is great stuff. Thank you lots for your support.

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I shaped, painted, and dip coated 2 cranks yesterday with Solarez.

I hung them in my nail light box for three minutes, rotating them every thirty seconds.

They are ready to fish today, and I already have one tied on.

I did notice that the one I had foiled seemed a little softer, but I'll check that out today to be sure.

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