Hi lites are something we usually think of as being "inside" a plastic to create some scolor bounce but here's an example of how the same hi lites can be used outside of the plastic to achieve some super realism.
These are identical 3" baits that have a lot of stuff going on with them. They're a 3 color plastic with the top and bottom being hand pours with a color dotted onto one side before finishing with a near transparent center color. I used my bluegill plastic as the center color while the top is gunmetal bluegill that has some black added to it. The belly is clear with ever so little pearl powder and some medium flaked fire opal. Once the basic bait has been shot and I am happy with the color flow into the tail I add the eyes and sit down with my
Jaquard color assortment of pearling powders and a soft artist paintbrush and go to work.
If you look carefully at the very bottom edge of the belly you'll see that I have brushed a light coat of silver from the mouth end of the bait to where the belly narrows into the tail. This gives the fire-opal a little extra character and offers some super reflectivity at the bottom of the bait.
Again using the bottom bait as an example I used a changeable color of powder that is a golden-bronze when seen at one angle but a nice violet when viewed from another. Both baits have this brushed on both sides at mid body from the back of the eyes to the same general area of the body where the silver stopped and as a bonus to this color you can see with the top bait that it hardly even shows....just one of the classy aspects of this technique for applying the hi lite powder on the outside of the bait.
The top plastic has a little blue tint to it along with black and is smoky looking by itself. I decided on a slightly lighter blue powder to contrast with both the plastic and the color line. This was brushed on from the nose back to where the other colors stopped and was feathered down the sides some so it would just come to the bronze line. If you look very carefully at the top bait you can see where these colors merge.
When I was happy with the brushed colors I did a clear dip just past where those brushed colors stopped on the body.
These baits change appearance about as fast as the eye can blink with the brushed powder colors on the outside....something the colors cannot do inside the bait. Because hi lites and these Jaquard pigments are hyper fine....worse than talcum powder....very little goes a long way when applied to the surface of the plastic like this. To get a very thin, smooth coat applied a real soft artist brush is mandatory and when it comes to feathering the powder coat you'll appreciate the soft brush.
In the hand where there's some sunlight, the only thing these baits don't do is jump around on their own. The realism that this technique gives to soft plastic baits is almost beyond comprehension and it is easy to learn to do. If you have some spare time, get a brush and use some of your hi lite powder to see what you can create. You can wash the powder off with alcohol and redo a bait many, many times to practice. This technique will add yet another whole aspect to your plastic making if you give it a try.
