So after fishing with a few of the west coast guys... They have convinced me that oversized swimbaits can work.
I bought the Tru-Tungsten 7" swimbait with the intentions of learning to find big fish.
I have looked many times at the TT and was not super happy with how dark their blueguill pattern is.
I looked at the Talapia patterns too, to see if they would suffice right out of the package. Nope!
So I bought it knowing that the newly acclaimed "Airbrush Master" Jeff Cheetam could achieve the pattern I wanted.
I took it to him yesterday, and after 90 minutes of deliberation and research... this is what he ended up with.
He said that he wouldn't be able to get to it for a while, but four hours later he gave me a call and stated,
"Dude! This may be the best work I've done yet! This thing is sick!"
He was a little upset because he can't get a picture to justify the realism he see's when he's holding it in his hand.
After viewing the pictures, I can't wait to pick it up next weekend at the Wonderland Show. If you get a chance, go to the show and take a look at it before I snag it up.
I am only posting a generic before and after picture to keep it simple.
I think I see a new reality show coming. "Trick My Tru-Tungsten"
joshimoto son ;D
Quote from: joshimoto son on March 23, 2009, 11:06:15 AM
So I bought it knowing that the newly acclaimed "Airbrush Master" Jeff Cheetam could achieve the pattern I wanted.
Ha! You're too funny. I had no intention of getting to it until after this week, but as it sat there, all sad and drab looking, it kept calling to me...pick me! Pick me! I tried taking better pics, and got a couple decent ones, but once I can get some in natural light, it should really come alive. Thanks to Josh for getting up the nerve to let a hack paint up your $50 bait. A couple more pics (not that great of quality though):
darn! I could never throw something so pretty. I am afraid that the two POinter 100s he just painted for me will never see water. I havent even seen them in person yet but the pics are good enough that they make me want to hang them on the wall rather than put them in a tackle box.
Nice work again cheezman
McCarter himself :-\'
i would mount that beauty on the hood of my truck.
Quote from: McCarter on March 23, 2009, 11:59:08 AM
darn! I could never throw something so pretty. I am afraid that the two POinter 100s he just painted for me will never see water. I havent even seen them in person yet but the pics are good enough that they make me want to hang them on the wall rather than put them in a tackle box.
Nice work again cheezman
McCarter himself :-\'
If you don't want to throw them, I will ;D
McCarter,
I already played with them for a bit, you almost lost them for some strange reason.
joshimoto son ;D
Quote from: dartag on March 23, 2009, 12:03:36 PM
i would mount that beauty on the hood of my truck.
I liked how this one turned out so much that I just bought three 4" versions online ;D I'll save one for your new hood ornament if you'd like :D
the fish may crawl out of the lake and eat it off my hood. the wife says it looks pretty and when i told her what it costs she shook her head. she says it must be nice to have rich friends. what are you going to throw that thing on. 150 lb braid. i would definately take scuba gear along.
I just paint them, I don't salvage them :D
LETS SEE YOUR WORK? not after seeing yours.
Quote from: bassassasin88 on March 23, 2009, 11:09:30 PM
LETS SEE YOUR WORK? not after seeing yours.
Seriously, post some of your stuff. I'd like to see it.
At the forrest Wood Cup I watch one of my boaters lose a $100 Tripple Trout in about 6ft of water.
The water was all muddied up from the TM, he tried to use his rod and get a lucky snag, but failed.
He couldn't leave the boat during the tournament either.... soooo he just picked another one out of his tackle and
started throwing again. He was fishing for a Million Dollars... what else was he going to do? lol
He had over $2000 just in swimbaits on the boat.
I could have spent a lot of time in his boat just looking at baits I've never seen before.
These guys say once you get your first bite on a big swimbait, it can ruin you.
I'm hoping to find out!
joshimoto son ;D
Quote from: joshimoto son on March 24, 2009, 09:50:51 AM
He had over $2000 just in swimbaits on the boat.
Holy crappie! :o
:)
Two questions, how did you remove the eyes? And did the epoxy take away the texture?
Quote from: bassassasin88 on March 24, 2009, 10:39:32 PM
Two questions, how did you remove the eyes? And did the epoxy take away the texture?
I didn't remove the eyes from this one. If you haven't seen the eyes on one of these baits, you will understand. They are by far the coolest eyes I have seen on a bait - very lifelike. Plus, they are molded into the bait, so it would be really difficult to remove them, replace them with new ones and make it look good. I taped over the eyes with blue painters tape, and used an exacto knife to cut carefully around them. I then removed the tape carefully and slowly when I was done painting so I wouldn't pull any paint from the edges. I don't use epoxy for my clear coat, I use Dick Nite's Lure Coat. It is thinner than epoxy, is chip and UV resistant and is easy to work with. If you look closely at the 2nd pick Josh posted, you can see it didn't take away from any of the details or texture at all.
I tried to tape off the eyes on an x rap and it didnt go so well. Do you generally remove the eyes? Like on lucky Crafts? Too many questions? Only one more. Do you brush or spray the dicks nite?
Quote from: bassassasin88 on March 25, 2009, 11:27:05 PM
I tried to tape off the eyes on an x rap and it didnt go so well. Do you generally remove the eyes? Like on lucky Crafts? Too many questions? Only one more. Do you brush or spray the dicks nite?
Most eyes are done in standard sizes, so I generally remove and replace the stock eyes (like on an Xrap which is 1/4 inch). Depending on what baits I am repainting, the stock eyes may not match the color scheme/pattern I am doing so I replace the eyes with something that fits the scheme better. The eyes on the Tru-Tungsten are just so cool looking, and with the way they are molded into the bait, worth taking the time to tape off and keep. I didn't have so much luck taping over eyes at first, but once I started making the cuts with an Xacto knife instead of a straight razor blade, they started looking much better. With the Dick Nite's, I prefer to brush it on instead of spraying or dipping. I feel like I have more control over how thick/thin of a coat I can put on. Keep the questions coming. I don't mind one bit.
I think th redone bait looks great, but I wanted to give you another option. I have two Jackall Giron Ghost Bluegill baits that are great right out of the package.
I've looked at the TT baits, a bit pricey for me and I haven't seen anything in the size I would want. 7-inches seems too big for me in Ohio. Do they make smaller sizes?
Eric
Quote from: Buckeye on March 26, 2009, 09:14:40 AM
I think th redone bait looks great, but I wanted to give you another option. I have two Jackall Giron Ghost Bluegill baits that are great right out of the package.
I've looked at the TT baits, a bit pricey for me and I haven't seen anything in the size I would want. 7-inches seems too big for me in Ohio. Do they make smaller sizes?
Eric
TT does have a 4" version of that bait. It is $19.99 retail, but they go on sale sometimes. Late last week two online stores reduced the price on some of their swimbaits 20%. I was able to pick up a few for $15.99 (I say few because I needed to hit that magical $50 mark to get the free shipping from [REMOVED - see No Links Policy List (http://www.greatlakesbass.com/forum/index.php?topic=11129.0)] ;D).
Eric, (and others lol)
If you liked the old Girons you need to see the new ones. They took some Japanese technology and laid photos onto the lures, hands down sickest looking baits I have seen out of a box. Here is a link to a photo, click on the RT colors. link removed
The photos do not even do these things justice you need to see one if you know stores that carry them, Frank's is bringing a couple in I think.
What kind of sink rate do the TT baits have? Any idea?
Thanks!
Eric
Quote from: Buckeye on March 26, 2009, 12:31:19 PM
What kind of sink rate do the TT baits have? Any idea?
Thanks!
Eric
They have two versions, a wake/slow sink, and a slow/fast sink. They come with weights that you can add or remove based on how you want the bait to sink. Remove the pin connecting the head to the second section and add and remove weights as necessary.
Cheetam your definatly getting good with these custom paint schemes. I wish you had that bluegill pattern back when I was looking for some custom painted Rick Clunn's. When I get some extra $$ I will have to have you paint me up a few baits.
T
Quote from: TCook on March 26, 2009, 12:58:12 PM
Cheetam your definatly getting good with these custom paint schemes. I wish you had that bluegill pattern back when I was looking for some custom painted Rick Clunn's. When I get some extra $$ I will have to have you paint me up a few baits.
T
Thanks T. I was working on an earlier version of this scheme when you were looking to have those RCs done. It's taken me a few tries to get it to where it is now, but so far, I'm pretty happy with it.
all it needs is some drake's mix and hush-puppies.
nice one jeff.
Quote from: thedude on March 26, 2009, 04:40:30 PM
all it needs is some drake's mix and hush-puppies.
nice one jeff.
mmmmmmm.....hush puppies......
Thanks Justin.
Couple ?'s for yah cheetam. Thinking about starting to make some of my own custom painted baits. But dont know where to start and I have 2 new 8ft benches that r screaming to have paint marks on them. Suggestions on airbrush guns, paints and etcs would be great. Second ? if i can get my hands on some of the Rapala Supershad blanks or colors that dont produce can you paint some of those bluegills up for me? I have caught some big smallies and largemouths with those baits but Rapala doesn't have many colors to choose from and my muskie guy charges a arm and a leg to paint em. Thanks Wolf.
Quote from: Wolf_fisherman on March 26, 2009, 10:09:26 PM
Couple ?'s for yah cheetam. Thinking about starting to make some of my own custom painted baits. But dont know where to start and I have 2 new 8ft benches that r screaming to have paint marks on them. Suggestions on airbrush guns, paints and etcs would be great. Second ? if i can get my hands on some of the Rapala Supershad blanks or colors that dont produce can you paint some of those bluegills up for me? I have caught some big smallies and largemouths with those baits but Rapala doesn't have many colors to choose from and my muskie guy charges a arm and a leg to paint em. Thanks Wolf.
Wolf- Once you start painting baits, it gets REAL expensive :D. You will need a few things to get started (which you may have laying around already).
First, you will need is a compressor. I use a 4 gallon pancake style Craftsman that I have had for years, but, if you look around, you can find a good compressor for under $100. Get one with the biggest tank you can so it won't kick on every 5 minutes.
I have three airbrushes I am using right now, but the brush I am using more than any other is a PS 1000 from buyairbrushes.com. There was a deal a while back where if you used the coupon code "bigfish1", you would receive a 35% discount on that brush, or on the PS 900. Most guys who took the deal bought the PS 900, which cost under $40 out the door (if I had to do it over again, I'd choose that one - in fact, I may pick one up).
As for paints, I use mostly Createx airbrush paints (they're acrylic paints). I like the acrylics because they aren't toxic and they wash up easily with water.
For a top coat (clear coat), most guys use either epoxy (like Devcon 2 ton - or others, there are a few out there), or Dick Nite's Lure Coat, which is what I use. Pros and cons for both, but I prefer the DNs for a few different reasons, among them are it is chip and UV-resistant, it doesn't yellow over time (like most epoxies), and it cures quickly and evenly (which means you won't have to build a turning wheel for all of your baits as they cure like epoxies).
Among other things you will end up needing, tape for taping off the lips and making stencils, netting for scales, an exacto knife or two, windex or airbrush cleaner for cleaning out your brush (get some paper towels too, and maybe some Q-tips..they help), hemostats for holding baits and/or clamping down your netting....remember how I said it gets expensive... :D Don't forget, you're going to want to buy 3d eyes, and some unpainted blanks, and some new hooks and split rings and....ah you get the picture. As for painting up you baits, send me a PM and maybe we can work something out.
Before you get started check out Tackleunderground.com. Tons of info, and everyone is happy to help with any questions.
did you use a paint brush to put the red under the gills?
Quote from: bassassasin88 on April 07, 2009, 09:40:10 PM
did you use a paint brush to put the red under the gills?
Yeah. I typically don't use brushes (except for brushing on my clearcoat), but there really wasn't any other way to get that detail. I guess I could have used a Micron pen, which is what I have used to outline gills on other baits, but it is so thin it would have taken forever.