What do I need?

Mike Cork · October 21, 2008, 08:24:16 AM

If I were going to get into painting a few lures for myself what would I need. I don't want to spend a ton of money but would like the ability to produce some nice paint jobs. So I figure air air brush is a must, which one is decent and effective but won't break the bank?

Also what kind of paints will I need and where to get them?

You guys that do this regularly, help a brother out that just wants to paint a few for himself. I would like to paint some spooks, stickbaits, and maybe a few rattle traps for ripping threw the grass

Ellie Mae · October 21, 2008, 09:57:22 AM

paitence... and plenty of it lol

sorry cant help you more still learning myself

javelin225ho · October 21, 2008, 10:36:18 AM

Mike, first thing you need is an airbrush with a regulated compressor. i would go with a mid-range air compressor so it isn't running the whole time you are trying to concentrate. I would regulate the pressure down to around 20lbs, you can fine tune it when you decide what brush and paint you are deciding on using.

i would get a moderate airbrush, you dont have to break the bank and buy a brush the Nail lady uses to put stars on your girlfriend's nails, just get something that will paint down to 1/16th of an inch. A Paache brush is good for this. You can get a brush that is fed wtih a cup, or a brush that is gravity fed. I prefer the cup. This enables you to use small amounts of paint at a time. What i do, I remove the cup and just put paint in the feed hole. its usually just enough paint for a bait and depending on how much you plan on using, you don't waste hardly any paint. When you get the airbrush, you will get a needle for it, guard it with your life. if you bend that tip in any way, you will need another one.

for paint, i use a poly transpar paint (laquer based) from a taxidermy supply company. they have all kinds of paint though, water based and laquer based, i would check them out at www.taxidermy.com . I have been dealing with them for years and they have great customer service and fast shipping.

If you go with the Laquer based paint, you don't need to thin it, you don't have to wait but mere seconds for it to dry while painting a bait, when you are done painting, its ready for clearcoat after a few seconds. If you use water based paint, it will take longer to paint because of the drying factor.

Try to avoid mixing those paints on a bait. Laquer needs to stay with Laquer, Water with water. Not to mention, if you put both of them in your airbrush without cleaning it, it will gum up and not work. then it really needs a good cleaning. I stick with Laquer for convience and ease factors. You will need a good exhaust system in your area to keep the fumes down when using Laquer. I recommend painting in an either open area or in a very well ventihlated place.

Clear Coat is needed to seal the bait and protect the paint. I use the 30-Minute Devcon 2-Ton Epoxy. its a 2 part epoxy that you mix and spread on the bait. It hardens overnight when mixed right. It works best when painted on over a heat source. I use a propane heater. First, mix it in a dixie cup for 45-60 seconds, use a disposable paintbrush from wally world and paint it on. when the bait is completely covered in clearcoat, a thin coat of it, give it a minute of rotating. you can do it by holding the bill of the bait or, if you have a lipless or topwater, use needlenose pliers. Hang the bait on a small hook, i use a bent finish nail, and let hang overnight.

Next thing you need are the accessories:

Stencils: get some old business cards or the front of a paper notepad, cut it up for your stencils.
Exacto Knife: Get these at Wally World or any Craft place, you will need these to cut your stencils and remove the old eyes on a crankbait/topwater
Squirt bottle for Laquer: This can be found at the taxidermy website or any medical place. the thing is, you need to get a bottle that will hold Laquer Thinner.
Paint brushes: Get these at walmart, they will be the multicolored pack of disposable brushes
Dixie Cups: get the 3oz, PLASTIC cups for mixing your clearcoat
Masking tape/painters tape: Use this to tape off the bills of your crankbaits.

Lure hardware:

Split Rings: I rarely use the factory splitrings. I replace them
Hooks: Put new trebles on your bait, maybe add a feathered hook.
Eyes: Get the 3-D eyes from any tackle supplier that has baitmaking items. You need to put these on before you clearcoat the bait.
-you can paint on the eyes, but use water based paint and use a Q-tip to get the eyes right.

This is all i can think of for now, if you have any other questions, post them up and we will get them answered!

Mike Cork · October 21, 2008, 05:50:43 PM

Awesome information Jav

How about you other two that frequently show off your work? What do you guys recommend? "thecrankincracker" "Big M" what are your thoughts?

Ron Fogelson · October 21, 2008, 09:58:06 PM

Wow, thanks Jav

javelin225ho · October 21, 2008, 10:54:04 PM

no problem guys. keep an eye out, i will be writing a tutorial on building a tackle store in your garage/shop, when i move down to fla in Dec. Its gonna be start to finish, empty garage to fishing warehouse/boat storage in a matter of days.....with pics!

mlakrid · October 22, 2008, 06:50:51 AM

Mike,

Tightlinez asked the same type of question a while back in this thread:
http://www.ultimatebass.com/bass-fishing-forum/index.php?topic=54814.0

and Barry answered:

Quote from: thecrankincracker on October 03, 2008, 03:10:40 PM
You can start out high dollar or cheap! I started out cheap, if you can get good with the cheap stuff you'll be killer with the high dollar stuff! Iwata is by far the best airbrushes. I started with a airbrushcity.com capital 2006gf gravity fed airbrush. They have it on sale right now for 59 bucks. It's a great all around airbrush. As for paints I use createx (airbrush paint). I get it from hobby lobby, its about 3 bucks a bottle. It comes in transparents, opaques, glitter, etc. I started out with walmart paints (2oz)bottles mixed with about 50% water. Little cheaper and they work ok too. I could go on and on for hours about the best stuff and how to set up a paint booth but I think I will just give you the holy grail of tackle making and painting website..... www.tackleunderground.com......... These guys are very knowledgable. Every thing you ever need to know about painting, pouring worms, tacklemaking, whatever.!!!!

I want to get into painting my own baits so bad I can taste it... Plus it will help keep my costs down, because everytime I see a beautiful bait, I have to look around the net and then I end up wanting to paint, and I am not setup to do so... SO I end up spending more money...

My wife does not understand when I say: "THE BAIT MONKEY MADE ME DO IT..."

Oh well...

Mike A!

javelin225ho · October 22, 2008, 08:30:22 AM

Quote from: mlakrid on October 22, 2008, 06:50:51 AM
Mike,

Tightlinez asked the same type of question a while back in this thread:
http://www.ultimatebass.com/bass-fishing-forum/index.php?topic=54814.0

and Barry answered:

I want to get into painting my own baits so bad I can taste it... Plus it will help keep my costs down, because everytime I see a beautiful bait, I have to look around the net and then I end up wanting to paint, and I am not setup to do so... SO I end up spending more money...

My wife does not understand when I say: "THE BAIT MONKEY MADE ME DO IT..."

Oh well...

Mike A!

Mike, if you start painting, you will start looking for damage rack baits, yard sale baits and ebay baits to repaint.....the spending money part doesn't go away.....then you have the "i have never seen that kinda paint" part.....

the bait monkey is invisible to signifigant others......

mlakrid · October 22, 2008, 10:10:20 AM

Quote from: javelin225ho on October 22, 2008, 08:30:22 AM
Mike, if you start painting, you will start looking for damage rack baits, yard sale baits and ebay baits to repaint.....the spending money part doesn't go away.....then you have the "i have never seen that kinda paint" part.....

I can believe that...

Quote from: javelin225ho on October 22, 2008, 08:30:22 AM
the bait monkey is invisible to signifigant others......

Sadly, I found this out, and my wife does not have any expensive hobbies so I can say something similar too:

"and how much did those shoes cost you?"

Oh well...

Mike A!

thecrankincracker · October 22, 2008, 08:54:30 PM

Hell, I've been broke ever since I started!!!! lol... You start out just for fun, then you start catching fish with your work, (that was it for me), Then your buddies want some, Then you start getting calls, Don't see your wife anymore because your always in your shed, lol (not sure if that's a pro or a con), Start going crossed eyed from fumes, lack of sleep, reading forums all night..........It's a monkey alright. When its starts interfering with my fishin' though I got to give it a rest.... Seem's like we got a lot of knowledge in here though, should be able to pick up some great pointers.