Well, I am happy to report that the batch of poppers that I put together back last winter were a huge success on the smallmouth. I gave a few to a couple friends to try also and the bass slammed them. So, you know what happened next, my friends want more for next season.
Since I am not a very good painter and this was the first time I had made these things, the finished product was a little rough (not that it mattered apparently) but like all things I want them to be a little more polished. I painted the Wapsi foam popper bodies with a brush, 1 color - yellow, and black eyes, then proceeded to brush on a clear coat for some shine. I painted some red on the bellies of a couple which apparently made them better. It was acrylic paint but I noticed that the eyes “ran” a little when I brushed on the clear coat even though I let it dry for two days in between coats.
Do you guys paint them with a regular brush or do you airbrush them? Airbrushing would give them a more even finish I would think. If you do airbrush them, is there a particular setup that you find works well? I will only make about 20-30 of these things probably over the winter and not wanting to break the bank I was just going to get one of those Testors kits with the propellant cans but they are pretty pricey and maybe I could hook it up to my small air compressor that I can adjust the flow of air on.
What do you guys use? I enjoyed making them, just want to make them better or more polished I guess. Thanks,
Dwight,
I just use a regular brush with Testor’s “Acryl” acrylic paint, but if I want round spots I’ll dip a pointed toothpick in the paint and touch the body with that. The more paint on the toothpick, the bigger the spot. I use doll eyes for the eyes and use super glue to put them on. I finish them with Loon’s Clear Hard Head over everything - paint and eyes. I only let them dry an hour or so before applying the Hard Head and haven’t had trouble with bleeding…yet.
Joe
Nice looking poppers Sirrom! The spring 2007 issue of Fly Tyer Magazine had a great article on the subject of foam poppers for Bass. The author used water base acrylic paints, brushed on, with a final laquer coating for hardness and durability of the bodies. The finished products were impressive enough to plan some of those for the vise this winter when we are snowbound up here in Canada. 8)
I’m mostly a “dipper” lol. I get the cheapest water based craft paints I can get at wal-mart and a bottle of Sally hansens hard as nails for a top coat. one dip of paint and a top coat. The topcoat would also work great on brushed poppers. it’s self leveling and would hide most imperfections.
I am just starting with flies, but I paint my jig heads with powder paint (baked cured) and then I do the eyes with outdoor PLAID Acrylic from Walmart. I make the round eyes with the flat end of a drill bit and use one 1/2 that size or smaller for the black. I also use Sally Hensons for the clear coat over the eyes.
For the drill bits you can pick up a cheap small set, just make sure the butt ends are flat and not rounded.
I made some foam poppers from those popper kits you buy containing the popper bodies and hooks. I painted them with a brush but I used fingernail polish and the small brush in the bottles. My daughter had a box full of polish of all different colors. My poppers dried clean and smooth, you would have thought they were air brushed.
OK lets see what our FAOL Jim Hatch can add to this subject. I know he uses sheer curtain fabric over the body material to spray thru for scales (black spray can paint) and black markers for gills and red to highlight them. Coats the bodies with epoxy. All are finish on tooth picks 20 or more at a time. Go the Fly Archives — on the main page first fly tying then pick archives.
The best article is in the 2nd quarter 2006 under “The Jelly Bean”
Another is 3rd quarter 2005 “Creative Foam fly Tying–Dremel Bug” BILL
I think it would depend on what type of foam you’re using. These are all tied up using soft foam popper bodies and I used permanent markers to “paint” them
Once I lay the colors down, I’ll do a couple of coats with a clear, flexible varnish or epoxy
For cork or or the hard body popper body I would use acrylic, though I don’t think I’m up to using an air brush
