Foam safe, water-proof paint

[sparkleminnow 0]

Does anyone know of a source for water-proof, air brush paint? I was wanting to paint a foam body topwater pattern, but markers wear off....yes, even the "water-proof or laundry markers. So far, nothing stays on for more than a few hours.

[Toneloc 0]

Sparkleminnow,

 

Go to wally world and get you some "Polymark" "Dimensional Fabric Paint" in the craft/sewing section. Tons of colors and its only .77 a bottle.

 

The paint kinda puffs up. Looks really good on foam.

 

Someone with a little artistic ability (not me LOL) could probably make some real neat imitations.

 

 

Tony

 

[nightfish 0]

If the paint/marker is wearing off quickly, it's because it isn't sealed. Below is a link to a paint source, but I don't know how well it'll work in an airbrush. The clearcoat seals the foam, and a topcoat of the clear will further protect the colors.

 

http://www.rainysflies.com/pages/fm_popperPaint.html

[Steeldrifter 0]

sparkleminnow I didnt even see this post when you put it up, but go to your local hobby shop and pick up some paint that is made for painting RC car bodies. That paint is not only water proof but is made specialy for lexan which is a flexable material so you dont have to worry about it cracking/chiping or flakeing off.

 

Pactra is the brand I use and its $2.95 for a 1 ounce jar. Theres a pic of the paint in this article.

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?act...or=Steeldrifter

 

SD

[sparkleminnow 0]

Thanks, guys. I noticed that I see a lot of the confusion between types of foam, too. When the subject of foam comes up, I don't think that everyone realizes that there are two kinds of foam. Styro-foam, and Etha-foam. Actually, there are more than that, but these are the two most common to tying. The Styrofoam is the hard foam bodies that can be painted, and sealed. The bodies may dent, but they are not the flexible type of foam. Ethafoam is flexible, and although I need to experiment with it first, I think most paints would chip off.

 

Nightfish, I think your source being Rainy's, it has to be what I'm looking for. The type of foam I'm coloring is the Rainy's type foam. They sell some pre-painted foam popper heads, so I'm sure that the paint they sell is the same stuff that they use to paint their own stuff.

 

Thanks, again, to all. I might have some new stuff to share with you in a few months.

[Steeldrifter 0]

QUOTE (sparkleminnow @ Mar 21 2005, 09:30 PM)

Ethafoam is flexible, and although I need to experiment with it first, I think most paints would chip off.

Thats why I said to go with the paints I mentioned, its designed to be used on flexable materials and you can actually twist the painted surface 90 degrees and these paints still wont chip/flake.

[Graham 0]

Hey Sparkleminnow. I color foam with permanent markers then paint over it with clear acrylic varnish, same stuff used to paint over and seal a finished painting on a canvas, this also seals foam well and the color will not wash off. An art store will have what you need for your air brush, I usually paint over the foam with a regular brush and sometimes mix a drop of coloration in the clear varnish.

 

Graham

[sparkleminnow 0]

Not to worry, Steeldrifter. I'm going to try both kinds of paints. The test will be how many fish it takes to destroy a paint job. I won't find that out for a few months.

[pennscreekrules 0]

I use finger nail polish. Seems to work fine for me. If I use a marker I usually coat it with hard as nails or any clear nail polish, this also gives it a nice shine.

[Philly 0]

I use permanent markers also. You don't have to seal the foam before you color it. You can fuzz and blend the color that way. But I do seal them once the color is on. Mainly use Angler's Choice Soft Body, pretty tough when dried and it's flexible.

You can create some depth to your color, at least with permanent markers, by doing a couple of coats with the "epoxy" I'll do color, thin coat of the soft body, reinforce the color, another coat of soft body, more color and the final coat of soft body. Makes a very durable fly.

[sparkleminnow 0]

Sorry, can't use Soft Body. It adds too much weight. What I'm tying already weighs close to too much. Adding more weight just makes it worse. Markers impart color without weight, but they don't want to stay. I'm going to try something to seal it after the color is on. I'm including an example of what I want to acomplish. Notice there is no "layer" of color. The color is infused into the material... Zero weight gain. Yet, the color stays put?!?

[Philly 0]

Sparkleminnow:

Are we talking about the same stuff? I just can't see how it adds that much weight to a fly. If you're in SmallieHunter's Smallmouth Swap, the fly I did has two coats of Soft Body on most of them, some have three. Now I tie poppers similar to the one you showed, and again I don't see that much weight added if I do a couple of coats. The stuff's also available in a thin formula that might be worth a try. There are some water based varnishes I've picked up in craft stores that might suit your purposes. You just don't get the clear flexible coat.

[sparkleminnow 0]

OOooK, now we're going 'round the mulberry bush. The popper picture posted was to illustrate what can be had. It was purchased over the counter, and is available already colored. The popper was not the item I was looking to color.

 

I'm including the photo of the item that I want to apply color to. (see attached photo.) This item is already very heavy. It will just cast well with an 8wt rod. Add a coat of EPOXY and it will be both more difficult to cast, and sit lower in the water.(possibly harming the action.) Also, epoxy doesn't flex. The body of this pattern does. When the body flexes epoxy will crack, and chip off. This is flexible foam(sort of like an ear plug), not the hard foam. (similar to wood)

 

Moving along to Easy Body(or, Flexibody)...it will shred. Much like when you have a good day on bass, and you get "bass thumb", the easy body will shred. Not after three or four fish, mind you, but it will after a dozen or so. Currently, the foam body will last for, quite literally a hundred or more fish without looking like it sustained much damage. Not to mention the Easy Body will also add weight. Now, if I were to make this thing out of balsa wood...the epoxy and paint might work fine. Balsa is less dense than the same size flexible foam body. You would get the look you wanted, but the durability is not quite as good as the foam.

 

The weight of this pattern will be mutiplied by a factor of, at least, three times over the popper body. The popper body uses 1/3 less body material than the pattern in the photo, and 1/4 of the metal. It's not unweildy, but more weight isn't going to help. Markers are ideal, if I can just get the color to stay.

[Philly 0]

You're right we probably will go round and round, though I've caught a dozen or so snapper blues on mine without the fly being shredded. Neat idea. A Baby Torpedo. Have you tried it with just running a through wire construction, eliminate the hook and weed guard that would certainly cut some weight. I've done that with some minnow patterns where the body is 3 to 4 inches long.

[sparkleminnow 0]

The through wire, with metal prop, metal bead, and double hook, accounts for roughly 85% of the metal weight. The mono weed guard is negligable for weight, and the belly hook is what the larger fish get hooked with 50% of the time. If I get rid of that hook it's likely I will miss a good deal more fish. The other reason for the belly hook is to give it enought weight, in that specific location, to ride on an even keel. I don't want the body to corkscrew on retrieve.

 

I need to find someone with a grain scale, so I can measure each item to see what they add for weight. Some archery guys have them, but I can't justify the cost right now. If I could get the tail prop made from plastic, instead of metal, it might lighten up substantially. I went from a counterdrilled metal bead to a hollow metal bead, and this helped a little. The double hook at the tail is, of course, somewhat lighter than a treble.