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Finish on poppers

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Hey guys!Was curious what y'all use as a hard clear coat on foam popper?I've used 2 part epoxy,Sally Hansen and UV resin,but the results are so so for me.

 

All the best-Steve

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Lately for me, I haven't even been using any base coats or paints. I've been lite coating with Solarez resin sprinkling glitter dust, even gluing flash wraps, eyes and finishing with last coat of the UV resin. These were made from the foam letters got at Wlmrt. "BigPopper" post shows it.

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Here's some redfish spoons. Not only great finish creates body strength attaching things on /together. Revolutionary to me...the results are pretty much INSTANT!

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These big boys were made from utility corks, sprayed once with $1 Walmart paint then jazzed/resined

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Envirotex-lite.

I used this on the crease flies that I did for the April Fools Warm Water Swap.

Craft stores such as Michaels sells 8 oz for $14.99 and often has a 40% to 50% off one item.

8oz will last a long time.

Tips

1. Use a rotating drying wheel while poppers are drying to achieve a uniform surface.

2. For best results mix the two parts in exactly equal parts for 3 minutes.

3. I always mix a minimum of 5ML of each part for a total of 10ML.

4. To extend working time:

Get a larger container than your mixing container will fit and put in crushed ice and a little water.

Then put the mixing container into the larger container.

Do not let the mixing container float as you do not want any water in with the epoxy.

This extended my working time depending on ambient temp by either 2 to 3x.

My recent working time was 3 hours.

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From my research I found some great ideas, but wanted to use materials I had on hand when I made a bunch of hard foam poppers last month. It was a first for me and IMO, fun to do. After final body colours had dried, I dipped them twice into some Marine Spar Varnish, hung them to dry while removing any runs/drips by using a brush.

I wasn't sure at first if the varnish smell would last, but once dried it disappeared. The finish was hard and shiny, but it did leave a slight golden tone to the bugs, which I thought added to the look. I had a small pint can of it on my rod bench for working with Cane rod repairs.

Second attempt was with some Artists' Gloss Varnish from Michaels. A clear liquid that I brushed onto the bodies. I was not happy with it, for it melted some painted eyes and would have required 4 coats to give me the shine like the Spar Varnish did.

I am going to see how the fish react to my poppers before searching for another type of finishing material. So far, I am happier with my first attempts.

There are many other fellow tiers here that are great at popper finishes that might add a comment to help you in your search.

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i'm beginning to think uv resin isnt the best thing to coat poppers. over time, it seems to develop cracks and then just flakes off

 

i have a dozen or so painted blanks that have cracks on them but have not flaked off as shown below. ill add a coat of sally hansens and see what happens

 

da0s4H2.jpg

 

IjETuTR.jpg

 

maybe just coaying them with sally hansen is enough

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I've been using UV resin for the last couple of years. Just a thin coat enough to cover the eyes. Since they tend to dry tacky I use Art Deco Transfer foil to add a bit of sparkle to the body, then wipe the body down with an alcohol wipe to remove whatever tackiness remains. The bodies are soft foam.

 

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i'm beginning to think uv resin isnt the best thing to coat poppers. over time, it seems to develop cracks and then just flakes off

 

i have a dozen or so painted blanks that have cracks on them but have not flaked off as shown below. ill add a coat of sally hansens and see what happens

 

da0s4H2.jpg

 

IjETuTR.jpg

 

I haven't had that happen with the UV resin....yet. I did have it happen with epoxy. One of the reasons I use a thin coat of UV resin is to prevent that kind of cracking. Another option would be to use a flex type of UV resin.

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I use sally Hanson. UV cure is way to expensive for my liking. two part and slow drying stuff is to big a PIA. Popper finish falls into the why complicate the simple category. How long does a popper actually last that it requires a 10 dollar an ounce finish? It's simple enough to recoat the popper with more sally Hanson if for some reason you don't like how it wears.

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I use sally Hanson. UV cure is way to expensive for my liking. two part and slow drying stuff is to big a PIA. Popper finish falls into the why complicate the simple category. How long does a popper actually last that it requires a 10 dollar an ounce finish? It's simple enough to recoat the popper with more sally Hanson if for some reason you don't like how it wears.

Yep.

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UV resin can be very very cheap. I use loctite. Some guy on eBay sells it past its expiration date. Crazy large quantities and crazy cheap. How does 30 bucks a liter sound?

 

I have two that work good. One is loctite 3106. The other is loctite 3992. That one is cool because it cures with uv and once cured it is uv reflecting

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I’ve tried a bunch of stuff in the past,last year or so I’ve been using

Liquid Fusion. It dries clear hasn’t yellowed so far and is semi flexible.

No cracking issues so far.

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Clear coat a popper? Never even thought of it, Why? I thought model dope was all that.

I'd probably try white shellac, as an alcohol based hard coat that will dry rapidly.

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tjm, since the soft foam popper bodies aren't closed cell foam, they will absorb some water. If you're fishing one all day, they may end up riding a bit lower in the water. Which may not be a bad thing. Still a clear coat adds a bit of flash and sparkle to a popper. Since I don't paint mine but use permanent markers, I think it enhances the colors. I think it does help with the durability with soft foam poppers. Hard body foam poppers are definitely more durable. I don't like them because it's hard to blend colors using permanent markers. These are two of the first three pencil poppers I ever made. The bodies are large goose quills, stuffed with foam, covered with Corsair EZ body tubing and coated with Sally Hansen. They were tied on 6xl cricket hooks. I fed them to schools of snapper blues, 6 to 8 inches long. I caught somewhere between 30 and 40 of them if I remember correctly. One thing I do remember is they quit hitting them once the eyes were gone.

 

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ah. no paint, gotcha

I haven't used the foam for poppers, but all the foams I have worked with melted on contact with thinners, so, I'm surprised Sally doesn't melt them.

Reason I thought of shellac, no petroleum thinners and because alcohol is water based it might not melt the foam.

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