Kris

Best thing I've seen for itty bitty stuff like letters is to use Revell Decal Paper. You can get it a Hobby Lobby and I think Michaels. You type up what you want in a word doc application and run the decal paper through your printer and then apply like a water slide decal. My brother has done this and it works great. He even clears over the decal with no problem.

If I sanded off the molded in scales on a RC 1.5 or 2.5 KO to where the body is smooth would this effect the action of the bait any?

Thanks for all the help. I'm supposed to do this for someone and want to make sure I get it right....and nice Have some pics now and was wondering about the colors?

Been asked to paint a Northern Pike pattern. I'm just a southern boy here and need a little help May need to some education here .... but from what I've seen the northern pikes have either spots or stripes? What colors? Thanks !

Thanks for info .... AB is working great...just making that "whooshing" sound around the trigger / piston valve. No air sound around MAC valve but I will go ahead an take it off and have a look. I did notice that when I removed the trigger and pressed down on the valve piston you can hear the "whooshing" sound. The air is coming up from around the piston valve it seems. One other question ... where can you buy replacement o-rings for the model of Iwata?

Decided to do a good cleaning of my Iwata HP-CH so I disassembled and soaked in acetone overnight ( actually forgot about it ). After cleaning I noticed 2 problems ... 1. AB is making a 'whooshing' sound around the valve piston. 2. MAC valve is hard to turn. The AB is spraying well but have these 2 problems. Did I damage the o-rings in these 2 places due to leaving in acetone for so long? Thanks.

Is there a place to purchase musky type lure blanks for custom painting?

What about the clear coat product from Duplicolor Paint Shop line? Requires no mixing or reducing. http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_Paint-Shop%C2%99-Finish-System-Clear-Top-Coat,-Gloss-Clear,-32-oz--Quart-Duplicolor_7141551-P_N3276_T|GRP2050_____

Glad to see this topic raised. Been thinking of trying auto clear myself and was wondering about the best AB to use. For those who have already sprayed auto clear ... what is best to spray through the AB to clean it? Lacquer Thinner ? Also, are you using a 2-part clear or one that is ready to shoot out the can?

If you have a Hobby Lobby close by they sell Createx and run it on sell from time to time at 30% off. Or use their weekly coupon. I also have ordered from www.dickblick.com art supply.

I thought I would put this out there for discussion. I was reading where it was stated that brushing on clear coat would cause you to loose and/or mess up the action of the lure. That it was better to spray on the clear coat. I have always brushed my clear coat on and haven't seen any ill effects on the action of the lure. Thoughts .....

Big Bass Man, When I first started using Future as a thinner I added water along with the Future and for me it seemed to water down the paint to much for me. I've been adding straight Future to my paints with no problems so far. I usually will fill a empty AB paint bottle with 50% paint then add about 10-15% Future. Mix and check paint. If it needs a little more Future I'll add a little more.

BobP, I've wondered the same thing myself about soap's effect on epoxy if any. I clean my brushes with the soap after my last cleaning with the Acetone. Then I run them under water to make sure all soap is washed out. I've always had bubble problems when mixing D2T. I've started mixing my D2T on aluminum foil and mixing slowly. I've noticed that I have a lot less bubbles.

I'v been using D2T for about 2 years now. Here lately I've started having some problems with it as it clears. I use synthetic artist brushes to brush the D2T on the bait. I clean the brush in between clearing baits with Acetone. I reuse the brushes and keep them soft by cleaning them with Dawn liquid detergent after I'm through clearing my baits. For those who use D2T I ask the following .... 1. What type of brush do you use? (reuse or throw away) 2. Do you clean brush between clearing baits? If so, with what.

I have a new rod that has a very large cork handle and I was thinking about sanding it down a bit. Was wondering if this is possible and what advice I could get in attempting this. Thanks.

First, thanks for all the suggestions and help. I think I figured it out. At least I hope so. The 4 lures I cleared last nite turned out great. It seemed the first culprit was the new jar I used to put my Acetone in to clean my brushes I use to brush the D2T on. The jar I had been using was getting to much 'junk' in the bottom so I changed out jars. Even though I cleaned the new jar out it must still had something left in it and it would mix with the Acetone. Also a family member who is an artist overheard me talking about my problem. They suggested that another cause could be the way I load my brush with the epoxy. They explained that when painting you are taught to load up your brush with paint by loading paint on both sides of the brush AND the tip. They are taught to almost 'mash' (a good southern word) the tip into the paint. If you only load your brush with a little bit of paint then as the bristles of the brush are pressed on the canvas the air that is trapped inside the brush is squeezed out and into the paint leaving air bubbles. They thought that this would be the same with brushing on epoxy. So I thought back I realized that I wasn't loading up my brush with D2T like I used to. So last night I loaded up my brush with D2T and applied it the lure and then brushed all the epoxy off. No bubbles or fish eyes. So it seems the problem was two-fold. A brand new jar and the way I was loading my brush with D2T.

Been using D2T for over a year now. Last few baits I noticed after taking the baits off the drying wheel there are pits or dents in the surface. I haven't changed anything up in the way I mix it or apply it. They don't appear while brushing the D2T on...just sometime during drying. Everything looks smooth when I go and put them on the drying wheel.

What about the color of green on the back? The body is chartreuse. I was just wondering the color of green people used for the back.

Looking to do a Fire Tiger pattern. What color green is used?

Would the Academy H2O CRM bait be considered a squarebill lure ? Pic of a CRM ...

Got a question for those who sell lures either on eBay, locally, etc. This is more for the guys who repaint cranks and sell...then the guys who custom make them by hand. What do you stand behind when it comes to repainting cranks? I understand that it would normally cover your paint job and clearing. Anything else? What about manufacturing defects in the lure that you repainted? I personally don't see how you could back the actually product quality itself. I only ask this because I did a well known brand name lure for a guy who only now fished it after buying it about 4-6 weeks ago. The complaint is that the bill is crooked causing the lure to flop to the side and will not swim correctly. He wants to know what I will do about this. If the bill is crooked it is sooo small that I did not notice it while taping and painting it. If this was a lure that you had repainted what would your response be? Thanks.

Matt, Where can you get the size of heat shrink tubing that would fit around cranks ?

Got a sister-n-law and mother who both have a Cricut. May have to see if they will let me try it. BTW ... how thick is the mylar that you are using?

I usually hang out over on the Hard Baits section of the forum but I got a ? for you rod builders here. I have a Bass Pro Extreme rod that was given to me a few years ago. The butt cap has come off and is at the bottom of a lake. Can I replace this missing butt cap? If so, will I need a certain type of butt cap to fit this rod? Thanks.

Looking to give a couple of lures a dull finish. Was wondering if anyone knew if Krylon clear can be applied over D2T and will it hold up under water? Is there any other options out there for a dull coat?