Now these are sweet!

[ctom]

A while back I ordered  mess of different un-finished panfish crankbait bodies, many of which have been shown, but this package arrived today and is the last of that order to get here. Well worth the wait!



These came off Ebay like the others and flew in from China. I almost hedged on these but then figured what the heck.....less than $6.00 for twenty and free shipping. The slightly over 1" body portion had my attention and was probably the tipping point. Man, did my eyes get opened when I popped the package open and started looking these guys over. Of all the bodies I have ordered thus far these are by far the cleanest and have the best detailing on them. No glue ridges at all. No mis-fitting halves. The hook and tie eyes are super solid. The pockets for the eyes are clean and well-indented. I feel like I stole these.

In all honesty all of the bodies I have ordered off Ebay have been quality products and I am really happy with everything, but the price for 20 of these had me wondering if I was buying some junk. Not at all. The detail in the finish is outstanding. NOW....to try and find this vendor back again. I want more.

[Shaunm81]

I cant wait to see these bad boys painted up. Always nice seeing your work Ctom

[WALLEYE WACKER]

Them will be a great addition to you crappie bucket.

[ctom]

I hadn't done anything in a green yet so I sprayed these up using these bodies this weekend.



I did a white pearl base coat, then laid the chartreuse belly and orange throat splash.

The backs are composite, starting with a transparent green Createx with a drop of pineapple pearl Createx and a small drop of fluorescent green Createx thinned out with a couple drops of reducer. The green was applied heavy across the back and feathered down onto the sides some.. Then a thin transparent black was applied right across the top of the spine and finally a coat of Createx clear Gloss Top Coat loaded up with a color shifting pigment that ranges from green to gold to blue to purple. The color shift pigments can be seen in the bait on the top left and if you look carefully you may be able to pick out the blue and purple towards the front half of the bait on the top right.

I hate camera filters. They scrub so much out of a picture. All of these were just lit up when the picture was taken but hardly shows in the picture.

[WALLEYE WACKER]

Another option in the micro crank great colors. Can’t wait to see one of those hanging out of a crappies mouth.

[Muskygary]

If Tom starts selling custom baits, he's going to be so busy he won't have time to fish!

[billygee]

ctom
What kind air brush you using for them ?

[ctom]

Billy....I have a Badger 105 Patriot airbrush. MOquack suggested it a couple years ago and I have been very happy with it. Iwata Neo makes a gravity feed brush similar to this that is supposed to be very user friendly too.

[billygee]

Thanks Tom

Been having hand issues
had to shy away from tying and plastics for awhile
Seems this may get me back into my addictive hobby
of making ones own special bait

Airbrushing appears to be a spray control
and blend factor for best results

[Fishermanbt]

You never disappoint. Very nice handy work.

[ctom]

Thanks Tom

Been having hand issues
had to shy away from tying and plastics for awhile
Seems this may get me back into my addictive hobby
of making ones own special bait

Airbrushing appears to be a spray control
and blend factor for best results

For me it was just doing it. I found that I had to "experience" how different paints went on and how varying air pressures and paint viscosity affected things. The best part is that if you muff a bait up, wash it off, let it dry and start over. I found it helpful to learn this little things on larger sized bait and to practice the basics before moving into the realm of these tiny baits. I'm a color fanatic so I don't get too involved in stencils or pattern painting but rather focusing on color schemes that are fishy looking. If I was younger and the eyes better and hands steadier I'd be investigating a lot of different techniques but I'm happy where I'm at. A lot of what I do now I have to thank MOQwack for his guidance....he's a real master of the airbrush.

[billygee]

ctom

There's no denying your work is outstanding an speaks for itself
considering all factors practice is the key part on starting out
be it with a spray can or airbrush
Reviewed some equipment, appears your suggestion
the 105 patriot was an overall choice
Another factor are paint selections of different basis
Another was a cleaning prep and primer selection on the blank
Yes Tom seems to be a whole lot of new schooling
Appreciate your input

[ctom]

Billy, for the sake of simplicity when starting out I suggest using everything basic Createx....paints, reducer/thinner, cleaner. This eliminates confusion. The basic line of Createx paints has fluorescent colors, opaque colors, transparent colors, and pearl colors all of which clean up easily and will allow you to create your own colors. Do-It offers airbrush paints and they are great paints to work with and will clean and thin with Createx [or any other] airbrush cleaner and reducer.

Once you have a handle on the brush and the paints you can step out of the basic stuff and really find some fun in what the air brush market has to offer.

Like anything new one can find himself getting frustrated while in the learning stage. If this happens, clean things up and step away from it for a while. Coming back a couple days later will often let you figure out where things took a downhill turn and correct it. Its important not to hurry things when you're really new to this. I put things away three times. On the 4th start things fell in place and I soon found myself looking at some of the bait bodies you've seen here...the really small stuff. I know my limits and pattern/stencil painting on the small bodies just isn't going to happen much other than using the screen/moss rig I made for getting a random pain cover on the dinky baits. I am happy working this just with color manipulation, but trust me....there is a great big world of things to try, stencils to make and use and paints to go in a million directions.

As mentioned in the opening post, these green baits have a color shifting pigment top coat that is crazy. When you get comfortable with the paint and painting. send me a pm and I'll give you some specifics on the color shifting pigments/pearl and you can play with it too.

[Fatman]

Those are sweet!!  Wish I could paint like that - I'd do blade baits like that!!