First Attempt At Photo Finish 2024

Ringonu reply :

Still need to paint the seams, add eyes and epoxy. Going to rattle can paint and hopefully won't screw it up. I used decal paper and it was pretty easy. So far I like the look of them. Will look better once I add epoxy. Never painted a lure. Hope to catch a few on on these.

Crank Bait Nut reply :

Not A Big Fan Of Photo Finish Stuff , Good Job On Those , Pumpkin Seed Is Nice.

Mike

AdamsEye reply :

Some great results for a first attempt, pretty impressive. You got nice clean lines and smooth fades, with tons of detail. Keep up the good work!

jtharris3 reply :

Nice job!

Ringonu reply :

After spray painting the seams they don't look near as good. Oh well. Now I know. Those will be the first in the takle box I suppose. Going to paint it first then apply decals on the next one to see if they look good. May have to get a cheap airbrush.

MickD reply :

May I ask what problems developed after painting the seams? Seams lifting?

What is the process to print onto the decal "paper?" You print a photo onto the paper? Have you tried Papilio's white vinyl peel and stick media?

I think you are very close to some really great lures. In fact, these look great as is.

Ringonu reply :

I am using spray paint so overspray and splattering covered much of the finish. Painting under the seams look better but you can see the seams. If I had an airbrush they would look much better.

I used the instructions from tackleunderground. Used Testors decals and decal set to keep the seams down. Find a pattern online and line it up with my bait. Print and cut it out. Seal it, add to water, and peal off the pic. Takes about 10min work time, not counting dry time, per bait.

MickD reply :

Neat. I've nothing to add; you're way ahead of me. Other than: Exc for aesthetics, I'll bet not painting the seams will not detract from their fishing effectiveness. And I just thought, you've thought of masking the area you want to save?

Ringonu reply :

I thought about taping but it would peel off the decal. Once my epoxy gets here I will add the decal, epoxy, then paint and tape, then epoxy again. Doubt it makes a difference to the fish. I just found out to seal them well. Lost half a decal once it hit the water. Something fun to pass the time.

MickD reply :

I use decals printed from my computer for fishing rods and have always had trouble with waterslides. But this looks too good not to try again. I think waterslides would be lighter and less apt to affect the action of a lure than the vinyl.

I had a sunfish pattern lipless crank that was a killer. I think I lost it in a pike and have never found a replacement. This is the way to get that replacement.

Where do you get your lipless crank bodies? Jann's Netcraft is where I would look not having other recommendations. Thanks,

Ringonu reply :

Ebay. Search lure blank. Came from china. No clue on the action. For a buck each I figure they'll be good to practice on. They are 1/2oz and came with eyes. 10 for $10 seemed pretty good. If they don't work I will hang them on the xmas tree

MickD reply :

Thanks, will do. Appreciate your help.

Ringonu reply :

Painting under the seams works for me.

MickD reply :

Looks terrific.

Using an inkjet? Clear or white background waterslide paper?

Ringonu reply :

Inkjet. Must seal after printing. Laser you don't. I used white. I may do my next batch with clear and foil finish the bait first. Definitely addicting. Not adding 3d eyes to some and will to others. Just having fun and experimenting this point.

MickD reply :

On 7/13/2015 at 12:00 AM, Ringonu said:
Inkjet. Must seal after printing. Laser you don't. I used white. I may do my next batch with clear and foil finish the bait first. Definitely addicting. Not adding 3d eyes to some and will to others. Just having fun and experimenting this point.

You do know that using a clear decal will mean you will not see whites because an inkjet cannot print white, right? Unless your blank is already white. I predict your decal will be less bright, but only an experiment will tell. I ordered what I think are the same blanks you have. I already design and make rods and tie flies, here goes another.

With my decals I have to seal them, too. I also use a little line of color preservative along the seams (after applying the sealed decal to the rod blank) to prevent lifting when the epoxy hits them. Sometimes, I think because the epoxy stays fluid so long, the edges tend to lift if I don't do that.

Some rod builders use Sally Hansen clear nail polish over decals. Not sure what its UV resistance is, but it dries almost instantly. I've used it for fly heads, and it works very well for that. Another fast drying option is Permagloss or Lumaseal polyurethanes. They are very hard and never yellow in the sun. I'll be giving the Sally Hansen a try, I think. It has to be tough, and with the fast dry, it should be convenient.

Ringonu reply :

I will try the polish before the epoxy. Thanks for the tip.

MickD reply :

If you are going to use epoxy for sure, then I recommend just covering the seam edges with the polish to prevent the epoxy from lifting the edge. I don't know how the polish will react with your waterslides. You may want to just try it on a test piece so you will know exactly how it will react without wasting a lure.

Ringonu reply :

Crappie. Just need my epoxy to come in...

MickD reply :

Very nice, that will work.

Ringonu reply :

I saw someone add glitter they bought from TW to their epoxy to help reflect light. I'm debating doing that since these aren't foil finished.

kickerfish1 reply :

Killer job!

Comfortably Numb reply :

I love them. Inspires me to try it.

Have you tried any more rounded cranks with compound curves?

Ringonu reply :

I have not. I still have two lipless left to do then will order some cranks. Not sure if I will go with ebay cranks or janns.

Ringonu reply :

Not my favorite. Probably won't use this image again. Now I just have to wait for my wake baits and square bills to get in. Still waiting on the epoxy too... I'm ready to test these out.

Ringonu reply :

Going to try out my lineup of lipless cranks. Also going to give tgese a go. All were painted using regular ol' spray paint. Almost tempted to get an airbrush now...

MickD reply :

I finished the lipless cranks with your templates. Look great, but action is somewhat subdued. I tried to speed up the action by changing out the #4 hooks for #6, with no success. I took an unfinished blank and put a truly flat top on the head of it, thinking it would help, but it doesn't appear that it worked either. These blanks have way more weights/balls in them than normal lipless cranks, so maybe that's the problem. I think I'll take a couple old lures that have good action and do the bluegill and sunfish treatments on them.

Ringonu reply :

Good to know. Like I said, if they don't work they'll make good xmas ornaments. I put size 2 short shanks so I'm not too confident after hearing your report. I am testing off the bank tomorrow so I doubt I will get to see te full affect. I plan on hitting up the yard sales looking for name brand lures to refinish.

Big Bait Fishing reply :

that pumpkin seed is awesome !!!! nice job

Ringonu reply :

After testing this morning the lipless weren't great. They had an ok wobble but kept wanting to turn on their side. The wake baits worked great. Most stayed on top witha few riding just below the surface. Going to try these out on a smallie creek and see how effective they are.

I am going to keep playing with the lipless to see if I can get them to work. All lures were from wlure in case anyone was thinking about ordering them.

MickD reply :

Same experience with lipless cranks as Minnow. I've tried smaller hooks and flattening the head with an epoxy add-on without success. I think they just have too many steel balls in them, too high moment of inertia. I think I'll try drilling out some of the balls, repairing them, and see if it improves the action. They might catch fish that are really on, but they are not anything like Excaliburs.

Big Bait Fishing reply :

if you guys are making them for yourselves , you should use some good lipless crankbaits like Red Eye Shads , a photo finish on them like that pumpkinseed would be awesome ..

MickD reply :

On 8/8/2015 at 11:36 PM, pgersumky said:
if you guys are making them for yourselves , you should use some good lipless crankbaits like Red Eye Shads , a photo finish on them like that pumpkinseed would be awesome ..

Just finished two today, one on an old Rapala and one on a Rattletrap. I took some good looks at the lipless cranks in my box and noticed a couple things of interest. The tops of the fronts of all of them are much wider than these blanks. I added a flat top onto one, didn't help, but today I about doubled its size. Will let you know how it works. I noticed the construction of a translucent ghost pattern Excalibur, and it has about 8 small, about BB sized balls in a compartment very low on the lure. These blanks have about twice as many balls, some very large, so large they cannot really rattle, and they are mounted higher on the lure, so that positioning may affect the tendency to turn over. I took the big 3 in the middle out and am replacing the big balls with 5 .186 diameter balls. They really do sound better, will let you know what happens with the action. One last thing, the Rapala had a larger front hook than the rear, which might tend to keep it upright some. I think that making the top much larger and flatter, changing out the big balls for smaller ones, and putting the larger, heavier hooks back on (at least in the front position) might help a lot. Worse case scenario is to use, as suggested and in process now, proven lipless cranks for blanks. A lot more expensive, but should work fine.

MickD reply :

The pumpkinseed, finished over an old Rapala that was never successful, caught a fish on its first cast today. Action looks good, and obviously it works. Nothing on the bluegill finished Rattletrap, but it looks better than the blanks we've been trying to use. Looks like refinishing lipless cranks that work is the way to go.

By the way, the added flat top on the China blanks does give it a better action, but I still don't think it's as good as most commercial lipless cranks. Not the way to go.

Ringonu reply :

Thanks for the updates Mick. I will be on the hunt for old lipless cranks. Yard sales here I come

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First Attempt At Photo Finish 2024

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