[76gator]

OK, I'm as color blind as they come and I am trying to repaint some LuckyCraft baits, specifically some of my favorite color for clear water, Pearl Ayu and Ghost Minnow.

Now I have tried using a number of different mixtures and my wife and son just do this at every attempt. I really just can't seem to find any Createx or AutoAir colors that will get it right. So if someone has come up with a real good mix ratio or out of the bottle version of what my wife calls mossy green for the Pearl Ayu and golden brown for the Ghost Minnow and you are willing to share what you use, I'd be most appreciative.

And I really don't care what brand(s) I'd have to go get.

[Vodkaman]

Do you have any photo editing software, like photoshop? They usually have pallete options that you can experiment with. This might give you a clue.

[mark poulson]

Michael's Craft Store sell Apple Barrel paints, and one of their colors is Moss Green. You have to thin it with Windex, but it's a great color.

[Downriver Tackle]

I mixed up some paint for Ghost Minnows before. Can't remember exactly what I used, but if I remeber correctly, it was chartreuse, Lt brown, and a touch of black. Maybe a little white or green to tweak it.

[boomah21]

I agree with the apple barrel mossy green is a great color....I dont have pics in front of me showing me the actual bait colors but if it helps its a great color to use lol

[BobP]

Gold/brown - basecoat with Polytranspar #422 Warm Gold Pearl acrylic and then shoot Createx Transparent Light Brown over it until you get the shade wanted.

I'm not a big fan of trying to exact match factory colors since they are usually lacquers and dyes, not acrylic which is the only paint I'll shoot. I think most of the hues you are looking for are easier to do with transparent and not opaque acrylics. For me, shooting transparent color over an opaque color is easier than trying to mix opaques to get a particular shade, and the layered colors will have more depth and look more "alive". You can also layer transparent colors over one another for different color values and translucency. Createx sells transparents in just about all their standard colors.

Another example is bright metallic gold. Shooting transparent yellow Createx over silver foil yields a bright reflective gold. I like it because I can't apply real gold leaf worth a darn and nothing else I've tried comes close.

[76gator]

Yeah the factory colors can be a real pain. I have tried the brown over yellow but didn't think about really thinning some Gold and then shoot the brown over it. I did try to mix them before spraying so I'll give layering a try for the Ghost color and then I'll check out the Apple Barrel for the Mossy green.

Thanks guys

[mark poulson]

I've found that Apple Barrel mossy green is a good starter color for mixing a greenish brown for the backs and shoulders of my trout lures. After I thin it some with Windex, I add enough transparent dark brown to get the color I want. I was going to call it muddy brown, but it isn't that dull. Instead, it's like a crisp darker brown with a hint of green.
I think the opaque mossy green makes a good base for darker green mixes for backs of lures, since I'm not worried about transparency there.
A side note for you.
One of the local anglers who speaks to my bass club, and who fishes the same lakes we do, is Carol Martens, Aaron Marten's mom.
She told us that Aaron is color blind, and he's a pretty successful angler! She said he chooses lure colors by contrast, and by shading. If you look at the Aaron's Magic color of Robo worms, you'll see the contrasting colors in it.

[BobP]

Yeah, but I've yet to catch a fish dropshotting an Aaron's Magic Roboworm! That is the ugliest brown I've ever seen! Must be one of those Left Coast things.

To keep from going insane (or maybe I have and don't know it) and broke, I limit my plastics to 1) watermelon black flake 2) green pumpkin and 3) purple. That keeps my plastic tonnage down to a level where the shelves in my garage just bend and groan loudly instead of actually collapsing onto my wife's car. Also, my Triton boat floats alot higher now!

[76gator]

Originally Posted by BobP

Yeah, but I've yet to catch a fish dropshotting an Aaron's Magic Roboworm! That is the ugliest brown I've ever seen! Must be one of those Left Coast things.

Now don't give up on that color, I took big fish from the last club tournament on Badin (here in NC) drop shoting that color in about 35 feet of water, and have caught a ton of lms and spots on it on Norman.

The problem might be your fishing it out of a Triton versus a Legend.