Popper Swap II

[Flytyer14 0]

Yes!! One more spot now!

[Dart 0]

Sure thing, welcome aboard!

[P.Dieter 0]

I've been trying to work out a hopperpopper pattern recently (cut from foam block with drill press plug cutters and finished with the dremel). I'm very new to this genre though, looking forward to stealing ideas from all of you.

 

Something like this:

 

[nofish 0]

hay dart' someone was looking for a swap to join. i can't find it . I think it was posted on the 29th march. gerry

[smokinprice 0]

I am still playing around with materials for this one. I have flip flops but I am not in love with them. I might run to the craft store tonight for some balsa wood. Found an article on balsa wood penicl sharpened bodies I had saved and filed away for later use. We shall see. Homework is done and I will have a BA in History now so time to play.

[Dart 0]

That's a cool lookin' hopper popper. I like it!

 

Jeff, grats on the BA, now time to celebrate by taking a fishing trip.

 

I haven't been around the board much the past week or so, but I finally got motivated today to give the balsa a whirl.

 

I tried these last week, and I think they'll do fine. There was a lot of manual sanding to shape the popper, and you can see where I brushed the hook with the emery board. I figured it would be difficult to get several poppers nearly identical using this method, although I'm sure it would improve with practice. I painted this one just to see how the balsa took the paint. I didn't use sealer before I put down the acrylic, but I think maybe I should have. I think the square, flat face would chug a lot of water and it should float really nicely. From underneath, it has a partial "water boatman" silhouette. Overall, I just wasn't pleased with it for some reason... maybe I need to give this style another effort.

 

sz 8 2xl hook:

 

 

 

 

Then I was sitting outside on the porch watching the rain come down when I had the idea to make small round bream poppers. These would be a sz 10, being virtually identical in size to the Wapsi perfect poppers. I stole one of the mustad hooks that ships with the wapsi bodies to try it with the body. I should be able to turn out these bodies pretty quickly, using a punch (sharpened end of my micro hair stacker). I'm thinking of leaving the back of the popper squared off to add a little more buoyancy to the back. I do like the round look though, although I'm unsure if it would perform (float/pop) as well as the square version.

 

Comments/critiques welcome. I've never played with balsa before... so fire away.

 

 

 

 

[Dart 0]

I'm having fits with getting the paint to look glassy smooth on these things. I thought I sanded them well, but the paint still looks grainy. Any tips on painting balsa? Maybe a coating of epoxy would fix it?

[gpd4 0]

Balsa is a very pourous wood. You have to seal it. Balsa sanding sealer works well if you like fumes. It's like thick airplane dope and you can get it a most decent hobby shops. Pray for good weather so you can do it outside. Shake it well - stir it well - add some byuterate (sp?) thinner and repeat. It dries incredibly fast, so you can seal the set and immediately start on a second coat. Keep shaking it up though.

 

Or use thin CA and a bodkin and sand lightly.

 

Or keep adding paint - eventually all the pores will fill up and you'll get a good coat to put the clear on.

[Dart 0]

Thanks for the tips. I put to coats of CA on last night and painted today but it still looks rough. I didn't sand the CA though. These little buggers are a lot of work.

[P.Dieter 0]

CA?

 

sorry help a brother out here?

[breambuster 0]

CA?

 

sorry help a brother out here?

 

Dieter, I'm pretty sure they are referring to Superglue-type glues. It's called

Cyanoacrylate. The CA comes from Cyano Acrylate, I think.

 

Take care

 

BB

[gpd4 0]

Yes - cyanoacrylate. Find a hobby shop that sells r/c airplane kits. You can get thin (watery), medium, and thick (gap filling) and also a 'kicker' that sets it instantly.

[Dart 0]

Yes - cyanoacrylate. Find a hobby shop that sells r/c airplane kits. You can get thin (watery), medium, and thick (gap filling) and also a 'kicker' that sets it instantly.

 

Hey G... thanks for the tip on the CA. I tested two coats on a body then sanded it back down and I think that's going to do the trick as far as giving me the smooth body is concerned. And I apparently don't pay attention worth a darn (my wife would agree to this point), but I'm using a very similar method to making my bodies as you posted in your step by step. If I had just paid attention to your SBS a little more, it would have saved me a lot of wasted time trying to develop my own methods. :hyst:

 

Now I just need to order some hooks so I can get the progress moving forward on these.

[gpd4 0]

Two coats is probably overkill. One should do it - then use really fine sandpaper on it. Once you sand through the glue, any pressure on the sandpaper will hog off the balsa.

 

 

[Dart 0]

Is that one coat of the watery stuff, G? I tend to overdo... well... everything. Hooks are being ordered now so I should be able to enter production mode in the next few days.