Air brushing a fishing rod?

[George Roth]

One of the "new" things to do to the butt section of a fishing rod is marbeling. I have just gotten a kit, so hope to do that soon. That being said, I was looking at some lures that Stacy had done and I was instantly inspired to consider doing something similar to the butt section of a rod. It could be done between the split rear grip and / or in front of the reel seat. I was thinking that you could do a Table Rock Shad color...purple scaled on top and a chartruese bottom...or any other combo you could think of. What are your thoughts on that?

Now...I have absolutely NO experience with an air brush and I'd need to get set up to do it. One thing that would concern me would be to insure that the paint used to paint the blank would work with my guide wrap finish. I'm currently using ThreadMaster two-part epoxy finish. I'm sure that I could contact Andy Dear and see what his thoughts were, but wondering if any of you could guide me in getting started.

Thanks for all your help.........George

[Bassn81]

George,
I havent Airbrushed a blank, but I have painted a split section with an automotive mettalic paint as the base of a crosswrap. I put threadmaster over the top with no problems.

The marbling is pretty fun to do. I use Threadmaster and testors paints. I think Swifty has a kit out with some nice pigments also.

[George Roth]

Scott...

I just got a kit from MudHole that has a number of pigments, so should be fun to play with. Is that the same kit that you were referring to?

George

[Andy Dear]

As for painting a blank, you DEFINITELY do not want to use ThreadMaster. ThreadMaster is classified as a casting resin...not a paint, which is really what you want for this application. The best types are automotive grade polyurethane paints that won't discolor or degrade under UV exposure.

Airbrushing can be done, but it requires a brush and a compressor, and some other equipment to get it done right. The BEST way to do it...and the way a lot of factories do it, is to dip-coat the blank. Basically you get a long, piece of copper tubing just big enough to accommodate the butt dia. of the blank. Cap off one end of it, and voila...you've got a dip tube. Now fill it up with paint, and lower the rod into the tube, and draw it back out. Allow the excess to drip off the bottom, then hang from the tip to dry. An alternative way to do it is known as flow-coating. Basically you put the butt of the rod into a coffee can, then take a cup of paint and pour it down starting at the tip and let the coffee can collect the excess...it's sort of the opposite of dip-coat. Flowcoat is the way that AllStar does it, but they have a BIG fancy machine that takes hundreds of blanks that hang from a conveyor belt that runs them underneath a constant flow of paint. Dip coat is the way many other companies do it. Some companies use a combination of dip coat with a rubber "squeegee" diaphragm over the top of the tube to create a VERY thin coat as the blank is pulled back through the small hole in the diaphragm. I have used the non-squeegee dip method with GREAT success. The only drawback is that you have to mix up a lot of paint, and if it's solvent based...then it's a waste of a lot of expensive paint.
The best method I have used is as follows: First find a quality WATERBASED urethane paint...preferably the aliphatic type that won't yellow. You'll have to dilute it with water to get it to the right consistency. Then get yourself a long piece of copper tubing (PVC will work with the water based stuff), and put a standard $4.00 ball valve from the local hardware store on the bottom of the tubing. Now mix-up the paint with water , and put it in the tube...dip the blank a couple of times to make sure it is coated evenly....draw it back out slowly, and let the excess paint drip off the bottom. Hang it up to dry in a dust free room. Now the neat thing is that waterbased paint is recyclable, so get a mason jar and hold it under the valve. Open the valve and drain the paint into the jar, and cap it off....now you have a jar of recycled paint ready for another dipping. rinse out the dip tube and you're done. I have tried a bunch of different methods of painting blanks and I finally realized that if you want professional results, you have to do it like the professionals, and that's dip or flow-coat.

Best Regards,

Andy Dear
Lamar Fishing

[thedude]

a lot of air-brush paints are solvent based (like testor's paints). Its my understanding that it is standard practice to use finish over testor's paints so i don't see why air-brush would be any different. If using acrylic paints, you would need to seal with krylon 1311 or the UV blocking version (forget the number) - which is commonly used to seal waterslide decals - so again common practice to apply finish over krylon.

I've done about a dozen marbling applications with the testors paint mixed directly into the finish and have not had any trouble with it setting up as well.

I like your idea.. a sexy shad rod paintjob would be slick.

also - i think i ran across a few airbrushed blanks/reel seats on the tackle tour forums.

[Bassn81]

Wow, thanks Andy. Can you recommend a source for the paint?

[George Roth]

Andy...

Thanks for all the great information! It has given me more ideas to thrash around in my melon! lol. I can see the advantage of using the dip / flow methods for coloring the blank. It wasn't my intent to use the TM as the paint base, but to cover the paint job, when it is complete. I've seen some rods where there is a presumably spray painted area in front of the foregrip...then it fades into the blank 12" out, or so. It makes and nice area to apply the label, etc. It also makes the rod "unique", so when you see someone fishing with one, you know what it is from a distance.

What I was considering was doing a screen print...if that is the correct term. Let's say that I apply the handle, tape it off, then I paint the bottom section of the blank chartruese, out about 10-12" in front of the reel seat. I let that dry then apply a purple on the top with a little fine glitter...painting over some fine mesh to create a scale pattern. My "assumption" would be that I'd need to apply a coat of color preserver over that paint, then I could apply the Threadmaster over that, once the trim wraps had been applied.

So, that brings me back to the original question of what paint to use in the sprayer. Is that where I need to use the automotive paint for its quality properties? I saw a picture in the Fishing Tackle Retailer of Tim Hughes' paint room and there were dozens of bottles of paint on the shelves that he uses to paint crankbaits. Can I use the same kind of paint?

Here is a problem that one of my clients ran into, painting some reel seats that I was to use for his custom rods. He used a rattle can...and I believe that it was auto paint. The only thing is that there was no hardner in that paint...cause you can't mix it in the rattle can. He applied several coats of primer, the paint, then he applied 3-4 coats of clear coat...I assume from a can, as well. I applied the reel seat to the rod and during the glue clean up with denatured alcohol, the paint came right off, down to the primer. I don't want to repeat the same mistake as he did. He has an auto-body guy that is going to tape off the reel seats and repaint them with a standard auto paint.

I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to the chemical make up finishes and paints, but I'm willing to learn. Again, I plan to paint the blank, then apply Threadmaster over the paint / wraps as I would typically do. With some practice, I'm hoping that I can come up with some unique designs.

Once again, thank you all for your comments. I look forward to reading your info.

George

[Andy Dear]

Ahhhh...ok, I misread your post. Oh well....now everyone knows how to paint a blank. What you're wanting to do should work just fine. Yes, you can use an automotive type urethane, however the one part cans available at AutoZone will fade and discolor pretty quickly. If you want to see some REALLY REALLY cool paint that I have used on fishing rods with good success (it comes in aerosol cans as well) check out http://www.alsacorp.com/
They make good quality solvent based urethanes in an aerosol can that work well on rods...and ThreadMaster will be perfectly fine over the top as a finish. Just be sure to let the paint cure for several days to make sure all the solvent has cured back out.
Look at the section labeled "Killer Cans" under the tab labeled Products...they have some awesome stuff on there that you could really dress up a rod with. One last thing, be sure to prep the blank surface properly prior to painting. Scuff the blank well with 7448 scotchbrite, and clean well with DNA to remove dust and contaminates.

Best Regards,

Andy Dear
Lamar Fishing

[Bassn81]

First off, Great to see you on the BBC Andy.

Second, thanks for the paint link. I have been looking for better paint for my reelseats for a while, that stuff looks like it might be it.

[Andy Dear]

Hi Scott,
Thanks for the kind welcome...and yes, ALSA definately has some neat stuff. I have used their aerosol candies, and metallics, and they are awesome. Just don't light a match while you're spraying them, or you'll blow yourself into the next zip-code.

Andy Dear
Lamar Fishing

[Bassn81]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Andy Dear &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hi Scott,
Thanks for the kind welcome...and yes, ALSA definately has some neat stuff. I have used their aerosol candies, and metallics, and they are awesome. Just don't light a match while you're spraying them, or you'll blow yourself into the next zip-code.

Andy Dear
Lamar Fishing</TD></TR></TABLE>

Dont worry about the fire hazard, I'm a firefighter

[BASSINJAYCT]

House of colors paints are the best you can get for custom finishes ppg radiance line is also a good paint system

[George Roth]

Andy...

Thanks for the great help! I'll check out their site and do a little creative dreaming! I have a St. Croix LE that I had to strip the handle off of...so that would be a good blank to play with since all the paint is GONE from the lower section.

Oh...you have a fire fighter and a physician assistant watching this thread...just in case you forget and light up while you are painting!

Take care......George

[bass-ackwards]

...I can hear my Wife now. ...."Dont tell me your going to do Rods now too"

[Bassman25]

great advice guys. Andy, its good to see you around here. Sure miss ordering directly from you though...

[Mickstix]

Off topic (sorry) and maybe a silly question.. Are most all rods painted? I always thought the color was basically just the color of the graphite or material used in the manufacturing process of the blanks?? Also, wouldnt painting the blanks add alot of weight to them and possibly deaden the sensitivity? Just wondering.. Great read and lots of cool info in this thread!!