Here are some 4" Fat Forks [shown on a previous thread] done up in some nice colors. I kept things simple as far as color schemes. My focus was on the machine embossing left in the mold and how it looks when the bait is finished with an air brush. The orange baits got a clear top coat laced with gold hi lite powder, the same powder used in the plastics. The pink backs got the clear coat dolled up with both violet and blue hi lite powder. Both clear coats were thinned to almost water-like consistency so the hi lites could fill the microscopic hollows created by the machining. Both baits show this very well across the backs.....almost tiger-striped. Pretty cool actually.
While the machine embossing will show up on the surface of an injected bait, a bait will not show the shadowing effect that the hi lited clear coat creates when the bait is made using hi lites in the plastic....the hi lite will show up uniformly across the whole bait. Air brushing adds yet another level of depth to the plastic's surface. The clear plastic seal dip makes the finish look an inch thick.
I used plain-jane Createx paints to do the painting, but none are out of the bottle colors. I do some mixing to get the colors I want but all are simple Createx colors to start with. All of these got a clear plastic cover dip that has some uv enhancer in it. I tried the eyes without making a flat for them with the heated rod I made for this purpose. The eyes held fast for a while as I got things ready for the clear dip but a few of the eyes pulled free with the paint on the adhesive side so whether they stay attached long in the water remains to be seen but now I now I have to use the heated rod to make flats for the eyes before I paint and then use eye blanks to lift the paint free where the eyes will go, then add the eyes. Its all trial and error here but I think the learning curve will be a short one.
