# Lure Paint newbie question



## The Zodiac (Apr 10, 2010)

I am embarking on designing my own lures for myself & need to know something from you members with experience if I may.

Now I know that airbrushing is considered by far the best method to paint lures & components, but I do not own one currently & was considering vinyl & powder paint as an alternative for now until I can afford a good airbrush set up.

My question is this. Can one paint wood & plastic lure bodies, jigs, spinner & buzzbait blades, & other components with vinyl & powder paints & still achieve a professional looking paint job, or should I wait & save up for an airbrush system ?

Thanks for any assistance in this matter.


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## Fish Scalper (Oct 31, 2009)

Do you think plastic or wood will stand up to the heat needed to apply paint, then an oven to cure it, in the case of powder? Powder is a cool thing, but heat, lot's of it is what makes it work.


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## The Zodiac (Apr 10, 2010)

Fish Scalper said:


> Do you think plastic or wood will stand up to the heat needed to apply paint, then an oven to cure it, in the case of powder? Powder is a cool thing, but heat, lot's of it is what makes it work.


Well powder would be more reserved for jigs, for the reasons you mentioned. lol As far as wood & plastic, I just wondered if say vinyl paint can be applied to make the lure look professional.


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## Fish Scalper (Oct 31, 2009)

Nothing wrong with vinyl at all, many lure companies use it. But, it generally goes hand in hand with an air gun or just dipping things in it.


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## st.slippy (Oct 3, 2008)

Zodiak, I know my lures don't look as good as most the guys on here, nor even necessarily professional, but for wood, I have been using cheap acrylic paints that you can buy for about $1-$3 per bottle at joanns or walmart even. Once coated with epoxy, the initial paint hasn't been an issue. All of the plugs are cut out with a jig saw and shaped with a mouse electric hand sander. I make up for the jig saw imperfections with the sanding. I bought a sheet of lexan to make the lips, which you can cut with a coping saw. You can get on luremaking.com and download patterns for the lips, or design your own. Pick a lure design you like, and make a couple of modifications to suit your taste. I make mine out of scrap pine or cedar, and if they are not the thickness I like I rip wood down with a table saw. I got a spool of steel wire from lowes which I use to make the screw eyes. I get better results drilling my holes before I shape the lure, at least on small ones. I use a five minute epoxy for the screw eyes and lips then paint. The nice thing about acrylics is they dry super fast and if you goof just keep a wet paper towel. I bought one of the cheap sets of multiple size brushes. Finally I coat it with devcon and make sure to cover part of the screw eyes as the devcon holds better than the 5 minute epoxy. If you want to make stuff at the quality level of Vince and some of the other great lure builders on here, then ignore this completely. I've only been doing all of this for a few months. Fish scalper really helped me with the powder painting and blades, jigs etc. Patterns are pretty tricky on them with powder paint, but it can be done. I know this is long, but just wanted to give the information I could, from one new guy to another.


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## st.slippy (Oct 3, 2008)

Oh yeah and for powder and patterns read cadman's posts


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## cadman (Jan 25, 2009)

Zodiac,
I can't tell you all the ins and outs of painting crankbaits , however I can give you some good advice about painting lead heads. In my personal opinion, on lead heads powder paint is the way to go. You can not get a harder finish if done properly than with powder paint. I have done some tutorials here on powder paint, so you can look it up, or PM me and I will send it to you along with some super powder painted jigs and spinnerbait pics I have done. Also you can shoot Createx over powder paint if you want to do really fine details on your jigs. However if you do that, you will have to clear coat the jig to keep the paint from washing off. I hope this helps


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## The Zodiac (Apr 10, 2010)

Wow, I totally forgot about this thread. Been sidetracked. Thanks for the informative help you guys. I do appreciate it.

For starters most of my painting will be mostly lead jig heads & spinner blades. I want to eventually paint some wood & plastic cranks / minnows as well. I know that in order to get truly professional results like Vince for example, you need airbrush equipment. I guess my only concern was when painting these wood / plastic lures was to at least achieve a smooth appearance in the paint. Free of stroke lines & brush marks.


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