JRammit

At least u have a spot out of the house... I have an old computer desk in the corner of the living room... Have to do all my cutting outside and lay plastic over the carpet before i sand anything... Finally have a paint booth (yea, in the living room).... But we make it work!

I dont see a bench or a desk??... Where do u do ur fiddling??

Huh???.... Ive never heard of this... Just regular ol plastic??... Melts stuff??? Keyboards?????..... They dont seem to bother plastic bags or tackle boxes.... What other items would be worrisome around plastic??

The original question was how to replicate this action without altering the body style... I might have a solution, was tempted to keep it and try it myself on a future project, but it never would have crossed my mind had i not seen this thread Suggestion: flat lexan lip with line tie on the tip....... Would allow you to place weight in the center of the "body" yet still have it in the rear of the "bait".. The lexan would be the least buoyant point, so the nose should drop like in the video.. The line tie on the end should prevent deep diving while the lip acts as a "brake" allowing the heavy trailer (i mean tail) to "jack knife"..... But getting that lip the right size and shape will b a job!! Im picturing a fatter lip than on a crank bait, to prevent the sharp edges from "cutting in" and rolling the bait Not sure if this would work in the water or not, but it seems to work in my head

I thought wtd baits just got their action by resting nose up... Being repeadedly leveled out and returning to its rest position on the retrieve.... Even cheap strore bought poppers seem to mimic that (crudley)...... I guess theres more to it than i thought!!

I wanna take a shot at it... Let me know how i do...... Video shows the nose sinking slightly when the lure is paused, but i think the weight is in the rear.. The nose being tapered down in the front resembles my current project, only in reverse.. I put my weight dead center, yet it still floats tail down because the tail is thinner and less buoyant.... I believe there is enough buoyancy in the tail of the darter to drop the nose, and enough weight in the tail to keep its inertia going as the flat sided nose slows the front down, forcing it to inherit the sideways action.... Same reason 18 wheelers jack knife.... I bet you could get the same action without the open mouth

I knew mine was missing something.... Time to thumb through my stack of In Fisherman and find some wall art!

Lowes or Home Depot + your tackle box + that drawer in your house where everything seems to pile up.... Plaster of Paris or Durhams Water Puddy for making molds, old worms n grubs for melting down, masters can be made out of anything from clay to wood to beads and tooth picks.... That was my starter kit... Then I got hooked and spent a bill online on a gallon of plastic, few colors and some glitter....

I guess the bragging rights alone would be somthin!... Still, who here doesnt dream (key word dream) of thinking up the "next big thing" and no longer being burdened by a "job" that interferes with our fishing and tackle building time???

Ill give it a try, better than time spent redoing an old project when i have so many new ones to move onto!

Does anybody think about, worry about, speculate or otherwise ponder the possibility of the big name bait co's trolling our gallery for ideas or concepts???... I was afraid to post my work at first (even though i had just started and really had nothing impressive to show), but i saw some really creative work on here so i started sharing mine too.... This is being optimistic at best.. But.. Im not sure how i would feel if i came up with something original and a year or so later saw it on an add in a magazine or commercial on Sportsman Channel......... Is this paranoia? Or has anyone seen it happen before??

Man, i tried joining a site called "tinboats.com" (or something like that) but they never emailed me back.... Ive been looking for a project boat, preferably an old jon i can convert to fit my needs and my budget... Be nice to find a place with knowledge and examples on the subject (kinda like TU).... Is your site anything like that?

This bait began in a single cavity RTV mold with severely improper venting.. Only about 1 out of every 3 shoots came out a keeper.. Now im shooting 3 at a time with 2 keepers every shoot... If i get that middle one right, ive nintoupled (if thats a word) my productivity... A little wire poking won't set me back much

My thought was to actually drill out of the mold, through the top so any trapped air can escape... The holes would be oriented on the flat side of the cavity rather than the edge... I wory if i started hacking away at the edge i might jeopardise the "seal" and cause blowouts...

Ok Travis, ive tinkered and tinkered with this mold and im almost ready to accept defeat... I could redo my whole set up, but i have one more idea, wanted to run it by someone before i scrap the mold.... My initial problem was the assumption that the 2 plaster pieces would not seal together air tight like a machined aluminum mold would... I figured all my hollow spot problems in my older molds resulted from shrinkage or plastic leveling itself inside the mold....... What if i drilled tiny pin holes in the "problem areas" of the cavity itself??.. Can i make holes small enough that plastic won't enter? Or will i end up plucking tiny plastic hairs off my baits?.... I see your point, and eventually ill need to move on to vertical molding, but in the mean time ive got fish to catch!

Sounds like a good wifey!!!... I managed to talk mine out of the back hallway if i find a new home for the laundry... Gives me room for a 6 1/2' x 2 1/2' work bench with 3 outlets and NO carpet underneath to ruin........ How deep do you make your test tanks?.... We have 8'x 5' polly containments at work, i could probably talk them out of one but theyre only 2' deep

Since i posted this thread, ive constructed 5 failures.. 2 crank baits and 3 topwaters, all with their own unique problems.. I hung them up over my desk on my "wall of shame" (ha ha!) for motivational purposes... I imagine thats just as bad as losing a successful build in the water... But yet, im still building!... #6 is ready for clear coat as we speak, and "testing" next weekend.... I get it now, just another reason to keep building!

Sounds like an episode of Survivor Man

Just added a makeshift paint booth to the "lair".... Lawnmower box with milk jug plastic "skylight", tabletop box fan behind a/c air filter, and storage for all my spray cans underneath..... Now i can paint rain or shine!

Might look alot better in an aquarium, but heres one with LW plastic Monte, is that skirting threaded through the body? I like it!

X2.... Some companies sell plastic labeled as "sinking"... I thought thats what u were using....... Ive read on here when u add anything to plastic to make it sink, it becomes harder... For me the softer the better!