Sealing a paint job on a lure

[ryanmitchell]

Looking for a little help for repainting musky lures.

Want to repaint a topraider, jackpot and hellhound. Going to sand the current finish off the hellhound and jackpot. Want to paint an orange with block dot pattern for the hellhound. Just spray paint the lure orange, Sharpie on some black dots, and then I want to seal it.

What sealant do you use to coat a lure? Vipers, warlocks, the finishes on those lures are great.

Will do the same thing for the jackpot and topraider. Have tried spray painting before and adding glitter, but the finish always looks dull and wears off quickly. Spray paint not the way to go?

Thanks in advance, Ryan.

[upnorth]

I would think an epoxy would protect it pretty well. Might be a bit of pain to apply tho.

[bonefish]

Look for a product called Envirotex at Menards, Home Depot, etc. It's what many of the wooden lure builders use. It's a very hard, durable, and clear finish. If you Google lure building, you may see articles referring to "etex" and this is what they are talking about.

[TylerS]

Someone posted a link awhile ago to an Ohio site where a guy started a thread about airbrushing lures. Anyway, he uses two-part epoxy, but not that 5-minute stuff. He said you brush it on and rotate it slowly until it hardens. His lures looke amazing and he's been doing it for years, so it sounds like a well-tested method.

[solbes]

Yup, but unfortunately I can't repost the wesbite. Anywho, it's the Devcon 2 part 30 minute epoxy, which is becoming harder to find. It does take some practice, but I've been improving. I've heard of the Envirotex a lot too as was mentioned above.

DickNite is the other popular topcoat, and is often dipped with the excess running off.

There are lots of other top coats, but I haven't heard too much about their long term durability. I wonder if some of the automotive clear coats might work. I think most of those are highly flammable though and would require some controls.

[mainbutter]

"Devcon 2 ton" epoxy is what you want. It's a 2 part 30 minute setup 24-hour full cure epoxy.

It isn't as easy to find as loctite epoxies (which is pretty much the only brand you'll find at big box stores like menards and home depot), but I have found at a Hardware Hank's and an Ace Hardware. Don't use Loctite epoxies unless you have to. I've used it and it works, but you don't get the rock-hard finish, and loctite's epoxies all yellow a bit (except possibly loctite's marine 50 minute epoxy which I haven't tried yet)

One thing people haven't mentioned yet in this thread is thinning your epoxy.

I use 100% acetone (which many nail polish removers are in essence) or denatured alcohol (found that at Wal-Mart in the same aisle with their epoxies and RTV silicones) to thin the 2 part epoxy. I mix my 2 part epoxy up, and then thin with about a 50% thinner and 50% epoxy by volume. I just eyeball it really. This helps me brush it on so it flows better. I often apply 3 or 4 coats on bigger lures. I tried using un-thinned epoxy once, and it began to set up before it was smooth, so the end result was a topcoat that was almost "chunky"

[ryanmitchell]

Thanks guys. I think i will try the Etex stuff. Seems like the simplest solution for me. I also talked to one of the lure manufacturers and he said he would seal them for me for free, just pay the shipping $10. Thought that was reasonable.

[bassnbucks]

I picked up a new hobby this winter, I have been airbrushing blanks. I have been putting 2 part epoxy on for a clear coat. I like what mainbutter said about thinning it. I am going to try that next time. here are a few pics of some I have done. I can't wait for the ice to thaw...

And one for my wife.

[upnorth]

Pretty darn nice stuff there. Nice backgrounds too, my photos usually have my messy workbench in the background. May have to re think that a little