Hi, Im new to tackle making but sounds very fun and rewarding.  Im curious if i should start hand painting or start with an airbrush and do any of you have websites were I can look at the airbrushes?  Also I think im going to start out doing poppers and then crankbaits, I heard old broom handles work well for poppers so that is probably what I will do.  

Bassking, do not start by buying a lot of equiment. You can do some great paint jobs with rattle cans and pratice. For wood use what you have, broomhandles or about any scrap will work then as you gain skill move on to better equipment and materials.

Go to the articles on this site for good how-to's. Tacklemaking.com or tackleunderground.com has  good info and the latter has forums. Do a google search on hobby sites and air brushes and check out e-bay. Hobby stores in your area have airbrushes and paint.

I found an airbrush at Wal-mart in the modeling section.  It's not great, but it was inexpensive and a good starter unit.

Balsa is cheap so carve away. You will have a great time with the Wal-Mart airbrush kit. Model paints also work well and are small quantitys and small $$. We want to see the pics of the baits and the monsters you catch with it.

8-)