Airbrush/powder coating

[Lerie]

I am in the process of learning both, so I have done a bit of internet research concerning both topics. There are many topics out there including U-Tube videos on airbrushing. Most of them with the air brushing are about painting plugs and not much info about spoons and spinners. One of the best help sites I found with air brushing is Ohio Game Fishing in the Tackle Making Forum. If your thinking about air brushing, the old adage of "you get what you pay for" seems to be a theme in that you don't want to buy a cheap one from Harbor Freight. Hobby Lobby carries name brand airbrushes and paints at a good price point. I am still new to it and still figuring it out. I have sprayed primer and base coats on minnow lures, but no detail work as of yet. I keep on regressing to hand painting my minnow lures, spoons and spinner blades. What I have trouble with is that the recommended paint is an acrylic which is water based. So you have to clear coat it with something - I use a clear urethane lacquer and apply 2 coats to the lures I paint. I find mine more durable than the paint job I experienced with Warrior products - even questioned a rep at the Hamburg show about it and he stated that he only gets about 3 uses and retires it due to paint peel off.

As to powder coating. One site that has some good info is TJ's Tackle and their video library. TJ shows you how to heat your spoons/blades and drop the powder coat on to the item being painted, in addition to a powder coat sprayer. I picked up a sprayer and have tried it, but I am struggling with having satisfactory results. When I figure this out it will be your best bet for painting as the paint should be more durable than spray painting after you cure it in a oven at 325 degrees for 20 minutes.

While catching fish is a great and thrilling experience - the high gets even better when you catch that fish on something that you made, and it gets better yet when that fish came off something that you painted yourself whether it be a well known color pattern or one that you created yourself. Back in the mid-80's I was a field tester for Bill Norman Lures and what was great about dealing with them was that they would paint up color patterns that I came up with. Back in them days I was the Manager of Pro Angler in Dunkirk when the Bomber 24A's were hot and Bomber would paint up my custom colors, as long as I would order 10 dozen. The ultimate thrill with Bomber came when they added on one of my patterns to their catalog.