what kind of paint is best for painting plastic lures by hand. i just painted my first lure ever today using acrilyic. is that the best? any help would be great and what do i use to get the shiney finish?? THANKS!

I don't know what to use if you are handpainting.

but for a finish a two part epoxy like Devcon 2ton 30minute is a great way to go.

Thanks Fourbizz not really sure what that is but if you could give me a link to where i could get it that would be great.Thanks!

devcon 2ton epoxy, you can get it walmat.  You will need to rotate the lure for about 25 min so the clear does not sag.

I have handpainted hundreds of spinnerbaits using Component Systems vinyl paint. It works great. Covers well, and frankly I got good enough at some of the patterns that people thought they were airbrushed. However, the paint costs about 6 to 8 dollars for a 4 oz. jar and it is touchy stuff, meaning the shelf life is inconsistent, it stinks, and you have to use a special thinner which smells even worse. It will always have a special place in my heart ::)because the first baits I made that caught fish were with that stuff. I got an airbrush not long after I started making baits with the intent to spray vinyl, but I couldn't seem to get the stuff to work right in the brush. After that I got pretty good at doing them by hand so I put the airbrush on the shelf only to get back out this week after finding all my vinyl paint solid after a summer and fall of fishing and unable to afford replacing all the vinyl paint colors. I went to crafts 2000, bought createx paint and will not go back to vinyl. It's just cheaper to spray. One reason for using vinyl paint is durability. It is durable but when you coat your paint job with Devcon 2 ton anyway what difference does it make. My advice, after going the long route, is go by an airbrush and some createx paint. By the time you get all the colors you want in vinyl you could have bought an airbrush anyway. This is probably more that my 2 cents but I've been there done that and I hate to see someone go down the same long road.

Dan

P.S. Does anyone know if fluorescent light will make Devcon set up quicker. When I use it I only have about 4 min working time and it gets so hot I can't touch it. The only thing I can figure is I'm using one of those fluorescent replacement bulbs close to the lures.  Just incase you're wondering, yse it is 2 ton.