I am ambivalent about that in multiple ways. I could buy perfectly designed lures in this manner for 1€ a piece directly from china. So can every other tackle dealer. Then again, the handmade-inline-seatrout-spoon community here is very enthusiastic about the thiness of the material and the way it blends into airbrush paint layers. My finnish balsa wood wobbler supplier Hannu Kesonen also uses them - on balsa!
I remember a full-flash holographic herring design being outstandingly successfull when the herring come into the shallow to spawn. It took a foreigner from NZ to find out , and when he showed the Finns they still refused to accept it over their traditional colors allthough they were breaking their necks to resemble herring, processing anything from real fish skin to cigaret foil .
Then again, under normal/difficult conditions as I was facing yesterday, the spoons in the middle scored no reaction whatsoever. The fully-clad inchiku pattern to the upper left however brought significantly better herring bite on my sabiki rig and even on the assist hooks themselfes. Also, the inland lake trout community is very fond of copper backed shell veneer, it would certainly help to offer a true copper finish that does not add up too much.
There is a local supplier of self adhesive lure tape here which is far superior to WTP with respect to both flexibility over curved bodies and durability, but he refuses to sell me bulk rolls. Long story short, I assume somebody must have badmouthed me, pointing at the WTP foil I have no morals cutting up since it is of no interest to the U.S. market. It is nice to have the opportunity to buy overseas and stay out of such troubles.
Long story short, I will have to master this.