Thanks Lamar.
Buck....I simply shot the plastic bait and let it cool. Then I used an artist brush to paint the powder on the bait, no heating to it. As a color is applied it's a simple matter to feather the color out so the next color can be applied and feathered into the first color.
When I first did this I found that indoors the colors were as you see them here. Outside in natural light they were very thin appearing. Put in water on a jig and the color you see in this picture got even brighter.
The primary difference that I see between doing these as I do and how Dahlberg does his is that his method uses a ton of the pigment and is applied to the mold. I tried it his way and vacated the idea about six seconds into the venture for the mess and heavy build up of the pigment. There was no way to control how it looked on the bait. Both ways take roughly the same amount of time, but the feathering, which gives the finished bait a natural appearance, is just not able to be done inside a mold. A person can just tap his finger in hi lite powder and rub it across the back of his hand to see how easy it is to manipulate this pearlx stuff, the paint brush just makes it that much easier.
I don't think this is something to bank on for large numbers of baits but from the hobbyist perspective, or a tournament angler who wants truly singular baits, this is absolutely a great way to achieve what one wants. If you stop and think about the spraying technique after the baits are injected and the costs incurred for that process, this method makes baits that are equal if not better in results because the pigment is applied and controlled by a brush. The spraying and this technique are both done one bait at a time but this method offers absolute control of how the pigment is being applied. And if something doesn't come out write wash it off and start again. What's lost is a tiny amount of inexpensive pigment. Using the spray, you also lose a small amount of color but you'll lose more to. Clean up and over spray, plus the the paint costs much more than the pearl.
As mentioned, this is just another way to expand the creativity that the plastic offers.
