Lure painting and top coat

Recently tried painting some plastic lures with CSI paint through an air brush. Was a lot of work with having to use thinner. Paint turned out great, but when I put CSI clear top coat on it had a reaction and wrickled the paint. I switched to createx water base paint. I’m not sure what to use as a clear or topcoat, or how to apply the coat. Do you brush, dip or airbrush? Thanks for any help you can give me. Keep in mind I’m very new to painting lures.

Check to make sure you put the clear coat on in the window of time the directions suggest. Had the same thing happen when I waited to long and not long enough.

I use the created wicked paints through a air brush, then I brush on envirotex lite (2 part epoxy) for my clear coat. Made a rotating wheel out of a grill rotisary they go on while the 2 part hardens so the coating stays even. Typically to two coats for the top coat, very glossy/flashy when done and the stuff is rock hard. I did try a batch putting glitter is the epoxy for even more flash, worked but have to be careful about how you brush so they stay suspended evenly across the lure.

If you try hand making wooden lures from scratch, the envirotex also works very well for sealing/hardening the wood prior to paint and will span some imperfections you may have so keep a smooth surface.

I tried two different one part too coats (one was CS, don’t recall the other), both of them made my paint run, especially the ones with firetiger like stripes on them.

All my better pictures are on a memory card from am old phone, these are two after the first top coat.

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Thanks, I have a rod dryer I can rig up to spin the lures. I will give envirotex lite a try. Nothing more upsetting then having the clear coat wreck all the work you put into painting them.

I use CS Sealcoat. Its a water-borne epoxy that dries very hard and doesn’t interact with anything so top coat nightmares are all but non-existent.

A heat gun will help smooth out the epoxy also, I don’t ‘time’ it, but basically as long as it takes me to clean my stuff up after I’m done (15-20 minutes?) I lightly hit each on with the heat gun, helps with bubbles as well as thick/thin spots. Just don’t heat too much for too long or you can make it run.

Youtube videos (and a bunch of trial and error) helped me out a lot. By no means am expert but they look pretty good when I’m done I think and catch fish.

My goal this winter is I want to vaccuum form a bunch of stencils designs for various profiles so I can make my detail work much more cleaner, I’m a terrible freehand artist.

Jon Masching wrote:

Thanks, I have a rod dryer I can rig up to spin the lures. I will give envirotex lite a try. Nothing more upsetting then having the clear coat wreck all the work you put into painting them.

I have had very good luck with Envirotex as a top coat for my crank baits, just make sure you follow the mixing instructions carefully. I mix mine 50/50 by volume. Too much or too little of one of the two parts and it won’t cure properly. A couple years ago I added just a little more hardener and it never cured, stayed tacky even after 3 days in a warm(light bulb heat) box. Fortunately for me, wiping the baits down with denatured alcohol and then top coating with a precise 50/50 mix they turned out perfect.

Finally got back to painting some lures. I used envirotex lite and rotated the baits using a setup I made for my rod dryer. I noticed after the first coat has fully cured, I have a few spots on the baits not coated or coating is very thin. Spots are maybe 1/16 inch in diameter and about 6 spots per bait. My thought is to just add second coat on baits, is this a bad idea? Is there prep I need to do in-between coats on envirotex lite? Thanks for any advice.

If you get orange peel as its called the bait’s surface had some specks of oil or small dust or dirt particles dried on it. Try lightly wiping the baits off with alcohol before doing the second coat of envirotex. If the spots thin again you’ll have to live with it.

I lightly wipe down my dried baits with alcohol on a very soft cloth before doing the top coat and run a nylon stocking over all the surfaces to see if I feel any type of debris stuck to the surface. Nothing will get past the nylon test and every woman has a drawer full of them you can use.

Tom, my wife tells me that women don’t wear nylons anymore.

I hear that women’s underwear are sort of passe as well. Ask her about that.

Thanks for the tips, greatly appreciated.

Tom Sawvell wrote:

If you get orange peel as its called the bait’s surface had some specks of oil or small dust or dirt particles dried on it. Try lightly wiping the baits off with alcohol before doing the second coat of envirotex. If the spots thin again you’ll have to live with it.

I lightly wipe down my dried baits with alcohol on a very soft cloth before doing the top coat and run a nylon stocking over all the surfaces to see if I feel any type of debris stuck to the surface. Nothing will get past the nylon test and every woman has a drawer full of them you can use.

Buy yourself a tack rag. They have beeswax that pics up dust particles or towel lint. Open the towel up completely they are usually smashed in the bag. Could probably do thousands of baits with that rag.
I’m a custom semi painter by trade. That’s what we use to get a super clean pain job. They’re like 2$ a piece

I use 2 ton epoxy but need a lure turner. I also use KBS diamond clear much easier but I will get skim in can so has down side. It is just a dip and done no turner. I like it a lot. I use createx paints in the air brush. lot of good youtube videos on how to finish and paint baits. Takes a lot of practice to get things to look good.

Hi guys, I might be a little late to the party here. I have never used the Envirotex product before. I have been using Devcon 2 ton epoxy in clear in 30 minute set. I have no issues at all with this product itself. Any issue I have had was user error.

You will always have issues with the 1st few applications. There is a learning curve. Don’t be upset with the product if you have some issues anyways.

I like Devcon because it adds weight to my baits and is a thick protective finish. It makes the bait heavier but does not affect the buoyancy of the bait much. This little bit of weight allows me to cast that bait 10-15% further than a bait without it. It makes my baits much more durable also. Most the baits I refinish are husky jerks. The walleyes on the sippi beat the crap out of these baits and I don’t go through so many with a Devcon coating over them. I have heard that it will amber/yellow in color you if left out in the sun but this has not happened to me yet and have a few that are a couple years old. I can also add glitter to the bait and still get a nice smooth texture when finished.

Best tips I have are to mix it well!!! This is the 1st lesson you learn. Also learning how much to apply is something you learn with time. I have had those small pockets of unfinished areas just because I did not apply enough product. I usually apply it with a brush and the bait in my hand and then rotate it next to my shop light to make sure I did not miss any areas. The bright light shines off of the epoxy nice and allows you to inspect the bait before you rack it. I have never put a second coat on. I just run it the way it is if flaws happens. The fish don’t seem to mind…

I will attach a photo of one I finished a couple weeks ago.

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There’s this dude on youtube called Marling Baits, his videos might be able to help you.

Ahren Wagner wrote:

There’s this dude on youtube called Marling Baits, his videos might be able to help you.

Agreed, I have watched a lot of his videos and he does a great job! Cool videos.

Well it appears I had just applied the first coat to thin. Cleaned baits up and applied a second coat of envirotex. I couldn’t be much happier with the results. They turned out night and day better than the first batch I tried in September. Thanks for all the advice and tips.

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