The paint on a Mann's 1 minus has deteriorated to the point it rubs off on adjacent lures.

 

I know that might sound far-fetched, but it's like the paint lost it's strength and became soft and putty-like. 

 

I assume this occurred due to a reaction with a plastic bait in the same box.

 

Any advice on a simple paint-over to prevent further deterioration?  

 

Thinking I'll cover with hard as nails.

You could dip it in a can of polyurethane 

A light coat of nail polish should work fine as a quick fix.

The hard as nails works well. If you want to try a "rattle-can" option, I have used the Krylon clear coat in the link below with great results.

 

http://www.krylon.com/products/colormaster-paint-primer-acrylic-crystal-clear/

Perhaps this is obvious but you'll probably want to remove all ALL of the soft paint before applying anything over the bait.

5 hours ago, Ratherbfishing said:

Perhaps this is obvious but you'll probably want to remove all ALL of the soft paint before applying anything over the bait.

Should have been obvious but I foolishly started putting the nail sealant over top.  Am in process of scraping off.

11 hours ago, snake95 said:

Should have been obvious but I foolishly started putting the nail sealant over top.  Am in process of scraping off.

I don't feel so bad for mentioning it, then.  Once that paint softens it's pretty much gotta be removed.  There MAY be something which will harden it (I'm not a chemist) but I don't know what it might be.

I coat my baits with prokote epoxy it works great but you need to rotate it while it dries for about 24 hrs. 

Duckaholic, I have been purchasing some cheap crankbaits that are made in china of course but they have an awesome color scheme and tear bass up. My problem is that they are not coated in a "clear coat" like you use and the paint scheme doesn't last through very many fish. {Those spots and their teeth} What would be a good product to spray them with or seal them with? I know nothing about this kind of stuff.

I am wondering if the paint failure could have been caused by exposure to extreme heat? Was the tackle box left out in the sun too long possibly? I have a tackle box that came with a clear lid. When out fishing if I went to change lures anything under the lid was so hot you could not touch it. I ended up painting the lid to stop the extreme heat build up.

4 hours ago, Log Catcher said:

I am wondering if the paint failure could have been caused by exposure to extreme heat? Was the tackle box left out in the sun too long possibly?

No it wasn't left out in the sun.

Lure was left in contact with several others, and maybe some soft plastics.  I have plenty of lures and this is the only one to experience this kind of paint failure.  My best guess is that it happened due to contact between the paint and something in one of the soft plastics.

 

 

Another good way that I like to seal my baits with is to dip them in KBS Diamond clear coat. It is easy just dip it in and hang it to dry. My other stuff which is pro kote works awesome as well but you have to rotate the bait as it dries otherwise the epoxy runs off. KBS Diamond sets up quicker than the Pro Kote.

KBS Diamond also comes in a spray can as well which I haven’t tried yet.

Where do you purchase the KBS Diamond Clear coat?

....

You can buy it on Amazon or from KBS Diamonds website.

Devcom II 30 minute epoxy is what I use to do custom lures.  It held up to a 9 foot gator for 20 minutes and only lost two small chips While leaving the plastic lure blank untouched. Actual use time is at best 15 minutes. After you apply it (with a small paint brush) use either a heat gun or hair dryer on it for a few seconds to remove any air bubbles.

KVS diamond clearcoat can be purchased on Amazon for around $35 I use the Devcon II because of the shelf life plus I like it strength better. I tried the KVS but changed back.