Thinking of Pink...

Hello everyone,

A friend of mine has asked me to do a plug for him in 'shocking pink' (sigh).
Now it's not a colour that leaps out at me, personally, but he says it's very popular in his area.

Any suggestions for paintwork ideas gratefully received as I am struggling for artistic inspiration here.
It's going to be a topwater ('walk-the-dog' style lure, fairly slim & 4.5'' long).

Cheers,
Jim.

Here's the roughed out blank;

Jim does it have to be completely pink ?

A white belly maybe, and a thin lateral line of a real light fogging of lavender mixed with a touch of peal white to lighten it up, under the pink. Maybe he would go for a darker back of some color.

I'm not sure of what colors you have at hand ?

Then again if he wants all pink give him all pink

Thanks Charlie. Like that lateral line idea very much.
They basically use white bellied & bright pink backed lures but I was trying to come up with something a bit more interesting for him. I thought there might be a few ideas out there with you chaps, that could set me on the track to get something really nice for him.
I use Tamiya acrylics, they do a lot of colours in mini pots (1/3 Fl. Oz.), so it's not expensive to get any colour, even for just one lure. Ideal.
So, to go back to this lateral line.. do I take it that you spray the line on first & then 'mist' over it with a translucent pink, so it shows through from underneath? Sounds cool, not done anything like that yet.
I'm sure a darker back would be appropriate.. what would you suggest?
I like bold eyes on my lures, seems there could be some mileage in that department.
I make my own eyes & am thinking a bright emerald green might be a bit different..

Thanks mate,
Jim.

jim ive seen your paint jobs................and they look awsome didnt think ya needed any help in that dept

Thankyou Handyman, wasn't expecting that..
Not help I'm after, really, just a little inspiration.. a nudge in the right direction.
I might be ok with an airbrush but I am still a novice at this. My paintjobs are mostly copies, or variations on other people's work.
So, been stuck on this one for a couple of weeks & thought 'Who better to ask?'

The lures that Darren has been using are truly awful, so they won't be too hard to beat (ha ha).
I think Charlie's lateral line idea is probably all it needs to get a pink/white colour-combo looking classy. That & a big, vibrant eye.
Also seriously short on time at the moment!
So, thanks Charlie (still interested in your choice of back colour)
& I'll post the finished pink beastie when it's done.

Can't wait to see the finish lure.
I know it will be a fish catcher

Things not going too well, with this Pink Project...

Decided to try out some ideas on a few spare slope-headed-surfster blanks I'd not sprayed up yet.
Charlie's mauve stipe works a treat (a red one does not.. masked too much by the pink) but it's hard to get it dead straight & clean.
So one of the surfsters is going definately back to undercoat!
The other three are OK but only OK, not particularly great.

At this point I expect a few knowing smiles from the 'old hands' at plug making. You've been through this process yourselves. Creativity is not exactly a science; it goes well... & then it doesn't.
This is not going well; tonight I've tried mauve stripe (tick); red stripe (cross). Also, red back-colour (OK), German-grey back-colour (tick on one, cross on other).
Struggling getting 'clean' look to pectoral fins; tried to do them in red. Just won't work! Spits too much ( is red pigment larger than black or dark green & can't get through nozzle, at the low pressure I need, so cleanly???).

I've got the eyes done & I'm pleased with those. Will glue them in place tomorrow & they can make a modest lure look real good (cross-fingers, they need it!).
My 8-year-old daughter had a go at making some eyes today. She chose pink, with red pupils (???).
Actually, they look great, might nick some for a baby-blue lure I have in mind.

Anyway, the blanks for these surface lures are finished; wired-up, sealed & undercoated & ready for spraying but I am not confident... will see how the prototypes look after e-tex first (which does lift a 'flat' paint-job, beautifully).
I will post a pic of them in a few days, when they're cured.

I've got a 'violent'-pink paint in a rattle can, gonna try putting that through the airbrush, thinned a bit. Might have the edge on my current, soft-coloured one?

Cheers,
Jim.

Jim I never mask off for a stripe, it always leaves to much of a sharp edge for my taste.
I just pick a spot at the tail and either mid eye or lower eye and run between those 2 points with out spraying paint to get the hang of it, then paint.

And hey don't feel bad we all have them tough paint jobs and repaints on plugs. You'll get there.
I'm with you red doesn't look well with pink.

You may already do this but I sometimes do color tests and practice paint jobs on white paper or dowel rods or old broom handle painted white. it's easier and don't screw up a plug that way.

So, here are the first attempts.. the eyes & e-tex have improved things, as I wasn't too sure before..




Now I quite like them (whew!).

Looking good there Jim Those plugs would get smashed over here for sure !!

Great work!

They came out great Jim. You pulled it off after all that.
Let us know how he does on them, it's always great to see a fish hanging off 1 of your plugs.

nice.........looking plugs.......love the fins

Look good.. Nice work.

Thanks everybody.

Here's the final lure for Darren, from the blank I showed at the start.
BIG THANKYOU Charlie for the lateral-line technique. The photo doesn't do it justice, unfortunately, but it looks great in the daylight.
I was really worried at the beginning that it wasn't going to come out OK. Couldn't 'see' it in my head, until I started painting...





Now I like it, so I've done a couple for me; in blue & sunset colours.

Cheers,
Jim.

Very nice they look great.