Painting a Hardbait

[jooleyen]

I'd like to make this white swimbait a different color. What is the best way to do this?

[fishin' fool]

Alot of guys that are serious about painting their own lures use air brushes used for model cars and such. Alot of higher end bait manufactures use air brushes to paint their lures. A more cost effective way would be to get a few cans of spray paint of natural colors of bait fish, or bait fish/prey in the lakes you fish and try to match the color scheme and markings.
First I would put your base coat or coats on and let them dry. I would use two colors and try to get a counter-shadeing affect like a real fish.
To get natural lateral markings and scale marks of bait fish you can cut a stensils out of paper, hold it up to the bait and give it a light mist of paint. I think they even make a clear sealer in a spray can form, so when you are done painting it you can spray this over it to harden and seal the paint.
If you want an easier way, paint your bait a solid color, let it dry then take a sharpie marker and make gill plate markings, eyes, eye spots, lateral markings ect. I've used sharpies alot of time in detailing baits. Let us know how it turns out! Good fishin

[aikenyounggun]

Well if you cant do it yourself a lot of companies custom paint for a fee of course.

[jooleyen]

ookay. So just some spraypaint that I'd find at an artsncrafts store or menards?

Thanks.

[fishin' fool]

yea any spray paint would work fine. I would defenatley look for that clear sealant. Good fishin'

[The Doc]

Use Devcon 2 ton for your topcoat. You can add glitter to it, or just leave it as is. It dries hard as nails, and crystal clear. You can find it in the paint department at wal mart. The glitter I use is a Martha Stewart I stole from the wife. She got it from Wal mart too. I'll post pictures of some baits I've redone later...