[VARick]

I did a search and didn't come up with a quick answer.
I'm about to finish off a batch of painted hard bodies. Before I put my seal coat on.. anyone have any suggestions for the eyes?
Should I do the eyes last after the clear coat or before the clear coat?
I'm using doll eyes and they have clouded on me before when using them as eyes on flys and sealing with hard as nails. I'll be using a spray bomb clear acrylic.
Thanks,
Rick

[A-Mac]

i really like the small adhesive 3D eyes. I put them on before I clear coat too. I don't know much about the spray clear you are using, but I use Devcon 2 ton (which you can get at walmart for less than 3 bucks) with good success. If you do go this route (epoxy), mix the batch very well. Mount your crankbait in a cordless drill (w/ infinite variable speed) and begin to brush on the epoxy making sure all areas are covered. Finally, use a small quick grip clamp... or duct tape ... set your drill up to rotate the bait as slow as possible! (~1 revolution per 3-4 seconds) Walk away and let it rotate for a solid 30-45 minutes. By this time the clear is still tacky, so don't touch it. However, after this amount of time has passed the clear has set and won't run. By doing this, you get a glass like clear coat that is extremely durable. Also, I've never had any hazy coats using this method.
Good Luck!

[mark poulson]

If you're worried, try spraying one of the eyes as a test, on a piece of paper, to see if it clouds. That way you don't ruin two, and won't have to dig them out of the clear coat, if they do cloud up.
It may be that the solvent in the spray clear reacts with the plastic of the doll eyes.
I've never used doll eyes, even though my friend gave me a bunch and they're in my lure making kit, so I don't know how epoxy would react with them.

[A-Mac]

Actually the bluegill in my avatar has plastic doll eyes. Its hard to see but the finish is perfectly clear. The eyes are actually a translucent yellow and the blue from the bait reflects up from underneath. So doll eyes + epoxy will work perfectly... with D2T anyways. I'm not sure about ET or spray clear coat though.

[mark poulson]

A-Mac,
I just looked at your bluegill again in the gallery, and those eyes look wicked!
Are they movable doll eyes, or fixed pupil?

[A-Mac]

The pupils are fixed. I bought every pack I could when I found them because the craft store was going out of business. The eyes actually had a black backing to them (which extended out from the back of the eye to be sewn in) but I dremeled them off to fit. As a result, the eye became translucent revealing the blue/ yellow mix. In other words, lucky mistake! Since this pic had been posted, the hard anal and dorsal fin were replaced with micro fibers (so it could actually swim). Also, the paint has worn... for good reason

[mark poulson]

I remember the thread when you first posted about the bait, and how you experimented with different fin configurations until you found the microfibbets.
Glad to hear it worked out.
Maybe you could post another picture, so I don't have to do a search and try and find that old thread. I'm lazy.
I haven't ventured into fiber fins yet, but I have a jointed 9"swimbait that swims like a corpse, and I plan to add fiber fins and using it as a twitch bait. I hope the fiber fins will add subtle movement when I'm dead sticking it.