paint on eyes

Arne

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Nov 1, 2022
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55
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Kenesaw, Nebr
Got my jigs poured, coat of powder coat. Look pretty nice, trying to put a paint of a different color on for eyes. Tried cut down paint brush, full sized brush before I cut it down. Paint brush handle, file handle, pencil, none of which give a decent dot. What do you folks use? Thanks, Arne.
 

Arne

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Nov 1, 2022
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Kenesaw, Nebr
Might have to go that route, jig man. Was just trying to get by with what I have. So far have made a mess of a few of them, but the fish wont care. Arne.
 

Jig Man

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Attica used to have a tool he made to use powder for eyes. I have a couple left that he painted from a jig swap. They looked really good. You might look around in some of the older posts and find it...
 

hookup

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Butt end of a drill bit and nail polish works

Did the bigger drill into the nail polish and dab a drop on the jig as the back ground. Let dry, then dip a smaller jig for the cornea part
 

Arne

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Nov 1, 2022
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Kenesaw, Nebr
Used a fine brush and air brush paint. Have to pick up some clear nail polish to cover them. Will look and see if I can find the thread about Attica's tool he made. Had to be careful how I worded that. LOL, Arne.
 

Arne

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Kenesaw, Nebr
@AtticaFish Looked thru the old threads. Found the ones with your dot machine. Do you still possibly have any pics of what you made? They have all disappeared from the forum. Thanks, Arne.
 

Hawnjigs

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Mar 23, 2010
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Ogallala, NE
And for another oh no not again repartee - my jigs have been blind the entire time here in NE.

Can't deny tho that a nice paint job with eyes shore is purty.
 

hookup

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I fish with all three, blind, plastic eye, and painted eye and notice the fish do not see a difference

But the ones with the fancy eyes from China are real appealing to the angler's eye
 

Jig Man

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Yep, and I know peeps that don't even paint the jig head... But I do like my jigs to see where they are swimming. :ROFLMAO:
 

Arne

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Nov 1, 2022
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Kenesaw, Nebr
cut a brush down and dotted some with my acrilic air brush paint. Came out ok, baked them for a few minutes afterwards will see how the hold up when the weather warms up. And @Hawnjigs this is mostly for me. Really can"t imagine it really makes much difference to the fish. But as it is cold and I have time guess it can't hurt. Arne.
 

Jamesddean

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Dec 15, 2018
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I bought a Leather punch at Harbor Freight, and had a piece of 2mm craft foam. punched some discs out the size I wanted. cur the point of a tooth pick off and glued the two together. once dried, dab the disc lightly on paint, then lightly touch to jig to make a dot the size of the eye I want. hang to dry. then coat with Sally Hansons hard as nails. hang to dry. when dry, go fishing.
 

Hawnjigs

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Mar 23, 2010
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Long ago in a land faraway I used (round) chopsticks to dip dots with vinyl paint, then coated with a clear head dip either vinyl or epoxy.

If (aka probably never) I wanted eye candy jigs nowadays would start with a wire keeper eye socket head. Poured without the keeper for ties. For a realistic look can't beat stick on eyes.

As a confused younger man I wondered if painted heads with or without eyes made a difference. That issue is now non sequitur as bare naked heads the last cupla years have yielded best ever catches during the warm season. Pinned with a tested & proven softie of course.

But, can't deny that eye candy jigs might work better for someone that believes. Which is why I still use black & red heads for trout ties.
 

wtex

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Apr 6, 2010
Messages
104
Location
MIdland, Texas
Got my jigs poured, coat of powder coat. Look pretty nice, trying to put a paint of a different color on for eyes. Tried cut down paint brush, full sized brush before I cut it down. Paint brush handle, file handle, pencil, none of which give a decent dot. What do you folks use? Thanks, Arne.
I use these. 4 different sizes.
Shake up a bottle of testers or what ever paint you use. Dip from the paint in the lid. If I dip in the bottle I get too much paint. They can be made by grinding the end of a nail flat. Or the end of a finishing nail might work. A little practice and you get a perfect circle. Use a smaller size after the first paint dries if you want to add a pupil.
 

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ArtIrish

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Aug 5, 2020
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I confess that placing eyes on jigs is appealing but if you don’t put eyes on jigs then they can’t see the fish about to bite them😉
 

RockGeo

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Sep 17, 2018
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Location
SE Missouri Ozarks
Arne, I like all my jigs to have eyes. I don't know if it makes a big difference to the fish but I like the finished look. I am fortunate that my wife likes to paint and will paint the eyes on my jigs. She uses Testors and Model Master (no longer produced but I stocked up on it) paints from Hobby Lobby and and fine artist brushes also from Hobby Lobby. I then coat the eyes with Sally Hanson Hard as Nails when I treat the threads on the jigs.
 

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Jig Man

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Arne, I like all my jigs to have eyes. I don't know if it makes a big difference to the fish but I like the finished look. I am fortunate that my wife likes to paint and will paint the eyes on my jigs. She uses Testors and Model Master (no longer produced but I stocked up on it) paints from Hobby Lobby and and fine artist brushes also from Hobby Lobby. I then coat the eyes with Sally Hanson Hard as Nails when I treat the threads on the jigs.
Nice looking bucktails
 

ArtIrish

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Aug 5, 2020
Messages
7
Got my jigs poured, coat of powder coat. Look pretty nice, trying to put a paint of a different color on for eyes. Tried cut down paint brush, full sized brush before I cut it down. Paint brush handle, file handle, pencil, none of which give a decent dot. What do you folks use? Thanks, Arne.
Amazon sells a kit of manicure tools (5 pc 2 way dotting pen tool nail art tip dot paint manicure kit, $4.99. Perfect for painting eyes and pupils
 
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