G&H decoy paint

M

memphis john

Member
Hey everybody, anyone have a clue to using some good paint? I have over 250 G&H decoys to repaint and have been to a local art shop and bought some acrylic and it does not seem to adhere too well to the plastic. The touch up kits that G& h sells are not enough for my needs. I need to mix my own colors to match all that is in my spread. I will be painting Bluebills, Blackjacks, Cans, wood ducks, Mallard, widgeon,Gadwall,teal,pintail, and a few black mallards. The acrylic I chose seems to be nonglare, but people at the art store do not take readily to hunters. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Memphis john
 
Just a thought,I have not tried it on decoys,but I painted some plastic lawn chairs with fusion spray paint. It sticks well, other paint peals in a short time. You could use fusion as a primer for the decoys and after the fusion has dried use other paint. I heard or read some where that fusion comes in flat colors.

One other possibility is plasic pipe primer this is used on a pipe joint before the glue. This takes the shine off the plasic and softens it temoraralary so the glue adheres to the joint. It also might make a surface that paint would adhere to. This primer comes in clear or with a purple stain. It comes in small or large cans Use only in a well ventilated area.

I am not a chemist so experiment at you own risk. Any thing that softens plastic can't be good for you.

Let us know what you come up with John this is a problem I am sure others have as well.
 
Call Willy At the Duck Blind shop. He is on line and he can give you an idea of what it would take. 250 birds is a lot of paint. A lot of people have been talking about Jansen Paint and its ability to stick to plastic. I have not used it but for a long time hold I think it might be your best bet.
Duck Blind
Ask about a link to his post on how he prepped the birds. I don't remember where I saw it.
 
Give Lou a call at Lock, Stock & Barrel. He has a lot of experience with decoy paints and maybe his flat marine enamel would work. Just google it.
 
then why not just call G&H and tell them that you love their decoys, that you have 250 that you want to paint, know their paint will work and need their help in getting enogh paint from them, at a reasonable price, to re-paint them all?

Seems that would be the way to go since you already know that their paint will work...Certainly won't hurt to ask and given the tenuous loyalties in the the decoy world these days I would think they'd jump at the chance to keep one of their dwindling number of satisfied customers happy.

And in the end whats the worse they can say? NO....

Steve
 
I used FME from Lou at LS&B on my G&H. It has worked great. Give Lou a call, you won't be dissapointed.
 
Hey Carl, could you elaborate ? I googled LS&B and couldn't find anything .What is FME?
Click to expand...

John,
Here's some info on our FME.
=================
Flat Marine Enamels (FME)

These Flat Marine Enamel (oil based) paints have been used for decoys and boats by generations of hunters in this region. We have a mile long area of waterfront (Lake St. Clair) known as the Nautical Mile. There are more boats in this one mile of lake frontage than any other place in the country. That, on top of the fact that we are an “old world’ market hunting area, gives us an advantage in the development of decoy and boat paints. Chris Craft started in this lake and their “roots” began with duck hunting boats and decoys. We are rich in duck history.

All of our paints (FME) are manufactured for us, to our color requirements and specifications. These colors are designed to be UV protected and have a FLAT finish, perfect for all of your decoy and hunting boat needs. For your convenience, we package these paints in gallons, quarts, pints, ½ pints and ¼ pints. We can also have any color custom blended for you. We are your “one stop shop” for decoy and boat paints. These FME paints are “primer based”, meaning that they are self priming, have a high pigment and flattener “load” and can be overcoated.
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I'd also post some pics but haven't figured that thingy our yet.
There's a color chart on my website : www.lockstockbarrell.com

If you email me, I can send you some pics and info: duckguylsb@Juno.com
Let me know how we can be of service.
Lou
 
John

I have a G&H brochure at home that shows cans of paint for repainting their decoys. They did sell it at one time. There are other alternatives, like Lou's, but if you want to stick with originals call them back. I bet they can't come to the phone as they are in China trying to set up shop to compete with Greenhead Gear who has been handing them their ass since they got in the business.
 
If G&H was smart, they'd at least invest in some lifelike masters. Avery is kicking their arse because they just plain make a better looking decoy. Not so sure about whether G&H has to have their dekes made in China to compete with Avery, but they sure as heck need to make them better looking. I am a huge fan of Avery's GHG decoys, mostly because of their looks. I agree their durability isn't equal to G&H, but it's good enough for me. If G&H could make their dekes as attractive as GHG but keep their famous durability, I would be willing to pay a 10-20% premium for them. I think Bigfoot may beat G&H to the punch with their upcoming duck series. American made with Bigfoots legendary paint durability, looks like G&H could be in even more trouble.
 
who says? Has anyone sent their sales figures? Got any "total decoys sold per annum", or "decline in decoys sold per annum", or "declining percentage of total market" data to support those statements or is that just a personal feeling based on the fact that the GHG decoy "looks more like a real duck"?

Seriously I'm interested in the data that supports those statements because if there is a decoy mfg. company that I'd like to see survive its G&H....10 years ago their decoys are head and heels above the nearest competition as far as "closeness to real life look" was concerned and no one, before or now, has ever built a decoy that held up to more abuse, both structure and paint wise....add that to the fact that they are American made then I think it would be most unfortunate to hear that they have, in fact, suffered seriously as a result of the GHG decoys....

So wheres the sales data that supports that?

Thanks

Steve
 
let's not kill a perfectly good rumor with facts! Something Bdaves said that proves the US consumer is spending themselves out of a job.."They aren't as good but good enough"...more than likely price is a huge determiner of that statement too..I always buck a sale objection with this,

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone
cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper,
and the people that consider price alone are this man's
lawful prey"
this is a quote attributed to John Ruskin from the late 19th century.

.I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.
 
the old gjy that put his son though college by selling hot dogs from a vendors cart in NYC....the kid becomes a hot shot stock broker and visits his Dad once a week.....the old guys still selling his hot dogs just like he has for the last 50 years....

the son asks..."how many dogs a week Dad"...to which the old guy replies..."same as forever, a thousand giive or take a dozen".

The stock broker son recoils in horror and states..."Dad don't you know that we in a delcining economy and that people won't be able to continue to buy at that level and at your price?"....so the old guy, who's just a vendor, listens to his son, who after all is a Stock Broker, and changes his brand of hot dog from the premium kosher product he'd always sold, reduced the number he ordered, and lowered his price so that he wouldn't lose business...

The next week the son asked his Dad..."how many did you seel this week"...the old man shakily replied, "only 500 son it would appear that you are right, no one has the money to spend like they used to"...as he left the son warned his Dad that things were going to get worse before they got better.

The next week the old man went with an even cheaper product, reduced then number of condiments, bought day old buns, cut his order by another 25% nd again lowered his price in hopes of getting the lost business back...

When the son visited at the end of the week and asked how things were going the old man was nearly in tears....he had sold only half of the 300 hot dogs that he had ordered and was now faced with the prospect of not having the money to replenish his cart and would have to, for the first time in his fifty years of selling hot dogs, carry stock over to the next week.... The stockbroker son assured him that he was doing the right thing because "times were tough" and that afterall the father had been "warned"...

The visit the following week found the old mans corner, the place from which he had sold Hot Dogs for fifty years and from where he had supported his family and sent his Stock Broker son through college occupied by another cart which was selling the same high quality kosher dogs with a full range of condiments that the old man "used to sell and the line to buy fromthe vendor was quque'd down the street. The son found the old man, broken and in tears, at his home. The Father lifted his wet face to the son and said "you were right son, the economy is in the tank and I can no longer make a living selling hotdogs like I have my entire life"...the Stock Broker Son agreed, said "see, I told you" and left....(make up your own version of what happened to the old guy from here)...

Now this story is 30 plus years old but it is, or at least still shold be, valid...QUALITY has a value....going cheap has a cost.....as you said Lee nothing changes which is obvious when "good enough" becomes the standard by which we measure quality.

Steve
 
Hey there, I thought I would reply to your response and tell you that yes indeed,G&H decoys are still made in America.Dick Gazalski is a very sincere man and I spoke with him at the Vegas SHOT SHOW. We had some commonality as he was one of the founders of Ducks Unlimited. My father hunted with Nash Buckingham when he was younger(dad that is ). We talked a little about that and how the limit has changed over the years. My dad has Nash's duck stamp with his signature on it. It is the one from the 60's with the Black Lab on it. But I am getting off topic.
I have had wonderful sucess from G& H product and will continue to use them. I personally own close to 400 plus decoys, and all have served me well. As an electrician I am sometimes out of work , and when I first came to Vegas, I met some guys that took me duckhunting. I used his decoys and was the envy of the lake and killed over 150 plus ducks during the 105 day season. I took my first Cans here and took over 9 on my first season. I support American made products because overseas manufacturing is crippling our nation as a whole.
I will soon attempt to carve some magnums , and will support this website should I have any talent. I am very appreciative of the comments on this site.
My hat is off to everyone.
Thanks a bunch ,
Memphis John
 
Steve

No hard data here. As you said "their dwindling number of satisfied customers" has also been my observation as people have jumped on the GHG bandwagon. Over the past three seasons I've witnessed boats full of new GHG decoys. I've not seen or heard anyone say they still buy G&H. Certainly there are those who are loyal but the field evidence says they are taking a beating in the open market. I agree though, G&H decoys were perhaps the best ever mass produced decoy in terms of durability. Thick plastic bodies with paint that stands up to abuse. IMO If they reworked their patterns and paint while maintianing the durability they could compete take back a lot of what GHG has gained even if they cost a bit more to be made in the US.
 
Lee

Having developed a fondness for woodworking machinery I can attest your statements are quite true. Furniture factories are going out of business left and right. Ethan Allen for example, with deep roots in NC, is coming from overseas now. High or low quaility the Chiwanese will make it cheaper. I spoke to a cabinet shop owner today about a shaper he's selling. They built furniture for Sears and other large dept stores for many many years. They are now liquidating their assets. You know what the cruel irony is? Most of the woodworking machinery is now built overseas. Asians are showing up at factory auctions to buy old quality american cast iron machinery for their patternmakers to use to make their machines. They want our machines (highest quality ever) to build their machines (lower quality) so thay can turn and sell them right back to us.
 
I have never heard the hotdog parable, but there are a couple of business I don't go to anymore. One pizzaria started to use lower quality ingredients and is now out of business. A hamburger resturant went to prepackaged burgers. They are still there, but I haven't eaten there since.

It is true you need quality.
 
I'll tell ya..being in retail...it seems every customer busts your chops on price...ignorant of what price and cost is. I fight with my inner self daily as to whether I should handle the crap, or keep the faith that people actually do want quality products.
 
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