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Fired up the airbrush...

538K views 4K replies 200 participants last post by  Halonsix 
#1 ·
...finally.

Been working on the paint shop (drywall, insulation, paint, light fixtures... yuck, all work, no fun) and have the room finished to a point where I can use the new paintbooth.

I'm a little rusty because I haven't painted for about 6 or 7 months, but I got the first one painted and applied one of three coats of clear. Its a chubby minnow-type bait and its built to run about 5 to 7 feet deep.

I was trying to achieve a metallic copper effect that would change color as the bait rolls and wiggle on the center axis when retrieved. It seems to have worked out fine. It turns from a dark rust color to a light copper color as the bait is turned in the light.





I started a couple more, but ran out of time.

I'll post a few more as the weeks go by and I sure hope some of you post yours too.
 
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#3,316 ·
Fishing bait Bait Fishing lure Surface lure Fish
Fishing bait Bait Surface lure Fishing lure Plug
This one is a new model which is more along the lines of an alewife or perch than a shad.
I just started testing these in 2016 and then bow season ran over me. I'm looking forward to running these and I think a slight mod to the nose on this model will make a great perch pattern...and that's a paint pattern that is a lot of fun to paint.
This one is six inches long, but considering blowing this out to twelve inches later this year.
 
#3,322 · (Edited)
It was pretty interesting to talk with him because there were a lot of parallels betwee decoy building and lure building...

Of course, the plaint work is an obvious parallel. The idea is to replicate a given species.

Choice of wood is also critical, not only as to ease and accuracy of carving, but also as to behavior of the final product in the water. In the competition for the decoys, judges examine not only how closely the carving and painting actually resembles a given species of waterfowl, but also how the decoy floats and moves like the real thing. They actually float them and judge them against each other.

Thus, the builder also has to carefully and properly weight the wood to get the right "action." He explained that he puts the decoy in a clear Tupperware type container so he can examine it through the (clear) side of the container to tweak the weighting. You can easily imagine that it would be tedious to replicate the movement and buoyancy of a creature which basically floats on the surface.
This wood is tupelo, which I've never used.

Note also that the final product has no clear coat on it. Not sure if they seal them somehow or not, because at this level of building, I doubt that it will ever see water after it is judged by the contest authorities.

Anyway, I learned a thing or two about decoys. The gentlemen also talked about how he was always trying to sharpen his skills and learn new techniques. He showed the same passion toward the craft that one can see from the many lure builders who've posted their work on this thread here at OGF.

And that is always interesting to see...the thought and effort people are willing to put forth to better their skills for their chosen craft or endeavor. This gentleman had driven hundreds of miles to a class on airbrushing with my brother, the artist. He had won the title of world champion at his craft, but still wants to advance and learn more. You have to respect that.

Duck Bird Water bird Mallard Ducks, geese and swans
 
#3,326 ·
One thing you do not want on a duck decoy is shine. I'd imagine that the clear would show some level of shine and glare.

I know that they're sealed at the base level before painting or coating. The wood (or foam or cork) is sealed before paint or any other kind of coating is applied.
 
#3,327 ·
Thanks, Beaver. From all these years of baits building, that looks just naturally seems unfinished, but I don't duck hunt, so decoys are not my forte.
The guy is good though! The bill on his decoy looks especially realistic.
 
#3,329 ·
Good question, Syclone.
For my wooden baits, I seal the wood with a sanding sealer, followed by a coat of epoxy. The epoxy is then wet-sanded to remove any dust contamination and to provide a bite for the paint to adhere.
This process also serves three other purposes...it seals the bait to cover the grain and helps prevent musky tooth penetration. It also eliminates the need for primer, which can cause delamination at times.

The colors then begin with either a white, gray, or black base coat.

Further coats of clear are added during painting with two to four finale coats added (depending on which type of epoxy I'm applying) after the painting is done and the lip and eyes are installed.
The result is a musky bait that can better withstand teeth, hook rash, wear and tear, and contact with stumps and rocks for years to come.

The entire process also highlights the delicate pearl and candy colors that I tend to favor.

This thread, which is almost twelve years old, is loaded with tips from of a number of highly-skilled baits makers. If you're able to take the time to skim through it, you'll have access to some fantastic building tips.
 
#3,332 ·
Seems like I always need supplies. Lead, these or four colors of paint, Devcon 2 ton, screw eyes,
Polycarbonate, epoxy clear coat, and on and on.

I need to send my trolling motor in for new brushes, need to get one of my line counter reels repaired, work on my casting deck, replace one of the seats in my boat, (which Larry destroyed), and I have to figure up a way to off load the boat somewhere long enough to rebuild the bunks on the trailer.

I figure about a bazillion dollars should cover it all.
 
#3,335 ·
Just got a call from Coast Airbrush. The parts and shipping for my Iwata Custom came to $97.00.
But I can't wait to get it back and get to the paint shop again.
I've carved about 30 baits so far and about 20 are ready for paint. I have about four that fall into the experimental category, which is always a fun way to start the season.

I'm also building a couple of classic top waters with the paddle tail props. I've never messed around with those before, but even though the conditions for a musky top water hit are rare, it's been fun building them. Those strikes are something you never forget.
 
#3,341 · (Edited)
Yellow Plant

Heading over to Musky Max today. Rumor has it that Cutt Em Jack will be there too. Should be a good day. I'll shoot some pics and maybe some video.

I have a few things in the way of plastic I'd like to pick up while I'm there. I'm really stunned at the progress made in soft plastic baits in the last ten years.

The design variety alone is impressive. There are now almost as many soft plastic musky baits to choose from as there are bass baits. I love my hard baits, and I always will, but plastics for musky is still a frontier in many ways. Add to that the incredible systems for apply paint to plastic baits combined with some of the talent being applied around the globe and some fantastic work is being thrown down.

In the mid 90's, I spent two summers hurling a giant plastic swim bait on Piedmont. The picture of that ugly yellow thing is one of the few I acquired back them.The muskies were quick to show their interest...sort of. I had an incredible amount of follows, but no takers. I was twenty years younger then, and determined that if I could just present the bait properly, I could convert some of those follows into fish in the net. Looking back now, I realize that the bait itself needed some modifications and shy of making my own molds, and permanently changing the colors, which was pretty much unheard of back then, it was simply not to be.

Despite the frustration of having only follows, I remember the thrill of being so close to boating multiple fish. One mid-forties fish with a particularly rude disposition, actually charged at the undulating bait fast enough to bang into the trolling motor shaft before swimming away cursing and spitting at both me and the chunk of sof plastic. Though I enjoyed the attempt at mastering the different ways to present the bait and experimenting with different ways to rig it with terminal tackle, I eventually gave up. Back then, you could not simply order a pre-fashioned rig, nor could
you pick and choose from a wide spectrum of profiles and colors in plastic. Heck, it was hard to find any plastic baits in the musky category back then before the advent of thick catalogs and numerous musky Internet sites.

Today a novice can spend a few hours perusing the available information, ask some questions, make a few purchases, and hit the waters with a very good chance of scoring on the right lake, river, or reservoir at precisely the right time. In that respect, these are, beyond any doubt what so ever, the good old days for musky fishing.
 
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