Painting Lures?

[BigEyeHunter]

Was thinking about starting to paint my own stuff, mostly harness blades and walleye cranks. Have a few questions for the lure makers out there.

1. What kind of Air brush kits do you use, How much will a good starter kit cost?

2. Where can i find the thing I need to start, would like to shop and see the items before I get started.

Would just like to hear from the experts around here.
The person who use to make my custom blades sold his company and can no longer get them. Im starting to run low.

[alex-v]

I sent an eMail to you about this. In the meantime, what part of the state are you located in?

You might want to look in the catalogs. There are a lot of nice blades already painted up. They could have what you are looking for.

[Westlakedrive]

Tough to find the stuff except online
I usually end up ordering from janns netcraft.

[sfw1960]

Tough to find the stuff except online
I usually end up ordering from janns netcraft.
:yeahthat:
Yes indeed Wes ,
http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/

[alex-v]

Basic air brush equipment can be found at larger hobby stores. That is where I found mine. More specialized air brush stuff will be available at art supply stores.

The blades are going to be harder to find unless they are ordered from a catalog. I have met people who do have a large supply and will sell them by the bag full. These people will often have them priced cheaper than mail order.

[alex-v]

Seems to me that when I was happily and actively ordering blades there was another major catalog besides NetCraft. Just cannot think of the name now.

[BigEyeHunter]

I am kind of a blade junkey, have over a thousand blades. 99% of my fishing is with harnesses.

Once the shopping season is over I will check out some local stores.

As far as getting the blades Stamina sp? has a larger selection from my experience.

[Westlakedrive]

Cabela's has a tackle craft catalog as well. I have also gotten a few other catalogs but it always seemed to me the catalogs were getting their stuff from netcraft and they had less selection.

[sfw1960]

Yeah - that & they wanted you to buy bags of 500 or 1000 of each item... like I NEED a thousand of anything!
:lol:

[DangerDan]

On the link below you can get most blades and crankbaits you would look for. I get my paints & glitters & such from Hobby Lobby. They have this spray glitter that wourks great for lures. Also many powder coating options are offered by various tackle supply shops online. I must have gotten rid of the photos of some lures I refurbished last winter. I was buying bulk old lures for a while and repainting and replacing rings and hooks. The cameout pretty good.http://www.staminainc.com/spoon_blanks/Spoon_Blanks.html

[Westlakedrive]

I was not aware of the company. Its good to know there is competition out there its the american way. I took my Netcraft catalog and compared with prices on their website. They are competive at on most prices. Somethings are cheaper and most things a tad higher. They also have somethings that netcrafts does not have such as 5 inch jointed minnow bodies. :fish:

[Luckystrike]

Stamina is another place to get paints and blades. I think the hardest part of the painting process is finding a clearcoat that will dry hard and now turn a shade of yellow. If anyone has any tips on this that don't involve baking the finished product I would be interested to listen.

[Westlakedrive]

Not sure what you have used but I know a few guys who use hard as nails. Found in the ladies nail care section.

[dcclubs]

Started making some crank baits this year and found that some guys are using the 2-ton epoxy that dries clear as a finish (get it from WalMart). I've made a few using this and I must say that the quality of the finish it quite good. You need to turn the lure every few minutes to keep it from running but it only takes about a half hour and it's starting to set up.

I picked up an airbrush right after Christmas and I am still practicing with it. I haven't tried it out on anything yet. But boy can you do some neat detailing with it! I have a Badger 155.

I second the Jann's Netcraft recommendation. I've been ordering my supplies from them. Reasonably priced and fast delivery.

DC

[dcclubs]

Forgot one thing... I haven't painted many blades for my harnesses or spinners. I found that you get pretty cheap pricing on those items from any of the catalogs or even Ganger Mtn. I picked up some nice blades and tackle making supplies last year at the GR Sport & RV show that should be coming up in FEB/Mar.:D

DC

[alex-v]

For those living down in SE Michigan this might be just the guy you are looking for. He and his wife run a nice business dealing with components and harnesses and they are in the Algonac area.

He sells blades in packages of 6 or 12 and you can get larger quantities if you ask. Also has small packages of beads so there is no need to buy them by the pound.

Naturally, there is a web site. D&B Fishing Custom Lure Specialist (http://www.dbfishing.com/)

I have gotten supplies from them at fishing shows and at their house. Give them a call and find out if they are going to a show in your area. Or, order and have them delivered to you.

They seemed like nice people when I did business with them years ago. Talked to them at the Ultimate Show this past Thursday and was impressed by the super wide selection of colors, sizes, and shapes plus the already finished harnesses.

[DangerDan]

Stamina is another place to get paints and blades. I think the hardest part of the painting process is finding a clearcoat that will dry hard and now turn a shade of yellow. If anyone has any tips on this that don't involve baking the finished product I would be interested to listen.

For clear coats on my body baits I used an acrylic paint for color of course using an air bush then two light coats of testors clear laquer. I haven't had any yellowing prolems at all with this brand and the lures I've painted are almost a year old now.