MAY - What's on your Work Bench ?

[Capt Rich Geminski]

Bluefish TEETH?

 

[Mark Spolarich]

Mark, what type of paint do you use. Thinking of touching up a couple of salt water lures. How small a brush you use, steady hands? Nice air brushing, need some practice pieces??? Nice work...

Thanks!! I use an airbrush and createx paints....you can use any of the taxidermy paints as well.....

 

[Mark Spolarich]

Mark, do you use lacquer clear coat, or something else as a topcoat? Just repainted some old body baits...like your topcoat appearance much better. How durable has it proven to be? Does it hold up to salmon teeth?

Any of the 30-minute 2-part epoxies will work well for a topcoat but you will need something to rotate them on to get an even coat. I use two different brands, Bob Smith Industries and Devcon. Another popular brand is Enviro-tex.

You can also use Dick Nite moisture-cured topcoat. You can dip a bait into it and let it hang to cure.

Both should suffice for salmon as they are durable for other toothy critters. When i used to paint a lot more i did some for saltwater fish and two coats of devcon made them almost bullet proof.

 

[RLLigman]

Bluefish TEETH?


Good point, I'll defer to Bluefish teeth as the benchmark for lure finish durability!

 

[RLLigman]

Marrk, I use Createx, too. I will try to track down the Dick Nite product. Thanks. Inshore salmon bite has slowed until the next heavy rains come.

 

[Robert Van Sant]

My hunting partner of the last 40 years had a few Herter's that were in need of repair. I found a pair of his Model 63 Redheads buried in the shed at our hunt camp. He cheerfully gave me the three Model 72 cans when I offered to restore the redheads for him. A couple of the heads had shot holes and one of the can bodies had no tail. I foam filled all the heads and inserted a bluefoam board for the tail replacement. Patching and filling holes with epoxy mixed with black cork dust. The Redheads were epoxy coated and then covered in black cork dust. The Cans got Tightbond glue and black cork dust. After the coatings had dried everyone got a new set of feathers. Both he and I were pleased with the way they turned out. Ready for another 40 years on the water. I wish I had taken some "before" pictures, they were in rough shape.

 

[Steve Sanford]

Good morning, Robert~

Those re-born divers are sweet - nice job!

Here is just a teaser. I am rehabbing 5 Bean's Coastals: 3 Mallards and 2 Blacks for another duckboats.net member. They are all in various stages of the finish paint. This Hen Mallard is the first completed head. I am putting finish paint on the heads prior to re-assembly because it's so much easier to paint a head if I can hold it in my hand.

Please excuse my blurry photo of the BEFORE Hen Mallard's head. She was in the foreground of the whole flock - so did not enjoy "focal point" status....

The whole rig came to me in pretty good shape and I thought the paint was nice all around. Most heads were loose and an eye was missing. Some of the bodies had craters that needed filling. After repairs, everything got sealed with a soaking coat of spar varnish.

On the Hen Mallard, the glue had dried out of the dowel and it was completely loose.

I recarved all of the heads because the Line of Demarcation between the face and the bill had been burned - in the factory - too far aft, in my opinion. It's hard to get "the look" if things are not in the right places. All of the bills got some reshaping, too.

I re-recarved the Hen because her forehead and bill were too full - more like a Pekin.

Here she is done. The body has just the base coats thus far.

The whole flock should be ready for the June Work Bench.

All the best,

SJS

 

[Bill Embacher]

Great birdz all around Zteve, but I really like that mallard hen head! Oh, and my key for your initialz fried lazt night!

 

[Robert Van Sant]

Steve,
Beautiful work as usual. Truly an inspiration to the rest of us. Can't wait to see the finished birds.
Robert