Help with vinyl paint

Are there special brushes that make it easier to paint on vinyl paint? Really having a problem getting a smooth even layer of paint. It is really sticky, can I thin it out? Thank you in advance for any help and advice.

Don;t know about brushes, I use an air brush with no problems, I use a thinner made from Johnsons Acrylic floor wax and water 15% wax, 85% water. Note: this is for water based vinyl paints, not the solvent based ones. Check your paint label to be sure

I think they make a thinner for your paint. I would go to the craft store and get some good artist brushes.

Thanks for the input guys I will get some thinner and artist brushes and report back.

Could You just mix some paint and thinner and dip the heads? That would give them a smoother finish. I use powder paint and have no experience with vinyl so I'm no expert. I see where they make dipping trays and Janns netcraft sells them for dipping numbers of jigs in vinyl paint all at once.CF

I used to dip them but even with a mask the smell gave me major migraines and I switched to the powder paint. I know redear does alot with the vinyl but he's been really busy with work and hasn't posted in a while. you could try sending him a PM.

Will it help to heat it a bit to make it smoother? What does the instructions on the paint say if any. Most vinyl paint I seen go on is drippy and can be neatly cleaned of the "gravity ball" on the bottom of lure with a piece of paper or cardboard to desired vinyl removal. If it is chunky and will not gravity fall then it needs to be thinned either by heat or thinner like said.

Thinner site...
http://www.mudhole.com/Lure-Building...t-Thinner-1oz-

Vinyl paint video...
http://www.mudhole.com/Lure-Building...Lure-Jig-Paint

I thin my paints with the thinner sold by CS systems. Also, dip my heads instead of using a paint brush.

Here is what you need. Get a rotissary motor for a grill, make a bracket and cut you a foam wheel to attach to it.
http://www.mudhole.com/Fly-Tying/Fly...urner-AC-Motor

ok here it is, there are little tricks to using the vinyl paint from cs systems, and I'm sure there are ways that I haven't tried but here is how I do it. first of all I buy the paint in the little 1 oz. bottles, I think they are 1 oz. anyway. I buy most of the paint at barlows tackle in texas, they have a site. you will need to thin the paint almost every time you use it, and especially when new, sometimes the new bottle is so thick that you will have to pour some into another bottle in order to give yourself enough room for the thinner. I buy the thinner by the pint can and use an eye dropper to get it out of the can and squirt it into the bottle, this gives you great control over how much you are using. first of all don't use a brush, but hold the jighead by the hook with needle nose pliers and dip the head into the paint, and when you withdraw the head from the paint do it slowly, this helps the maximum amount of the paint to run off the head back into the bottle.

after withdrawing the head out of the paint continue holding the head nose down and the paint will begin to form a drip in the nose of the head, you must dab this drip onto a cardboard box or such with just a little delicate dabbing not forcfully, the trick is this, you have to waite just long enough to let the head develop a drip before dabbing but if you waite 20 seconds too long to dab it, it will cause a messed up finish on the nose because the paint has already started to skin over, in other words the thinner in this paint evaporates so fast when you pull the head out of the paint that your timing must be right doing this dabbing step. this is why a brush doesn't work good with this paint, it just skins over so fast and also dries so fast on your brush. I know one guy that uses a brush on tiny 1/80 heads, everyone else I know dips them.

after I have dabbed the drip off once or twice, I hold the nose of the jighead upward for a few moments, and this causes the paint thickness to even out all around the jighead, in other words gravity was pulling the paint towards the nose to begin with then after holding the head pointing upward gravity pulls the paint back the other way as it dries, and it dries fast, it doesn't harden fast mind you but it sets up fast to the point where it doesn't move around. everything I have described just takes 1 minute per head maybe a little more. I then take the wet head and stick the hook into the edge of a cardboard box with the head pointing downward, and as I dip the heads I'll line them up all down the sside of the box, so my cardboard boxes all have drying heads hanging off their edges and alot of little paint spots on top of them where I used them to dab the heads with. please use a respirator, not a dust mask but a respirator, the thinner solvent is really toxic stuff, so I do it out in the shop with both doors open.

If it is a very humid day the paint won't act right, it will haze up and won't be glossy because the thinner won't evaporate fast enough. another thing is this, always paint the heads with the vinyl white first, especially when planning to use a lighter color, or flourescent color. you will get the best results by using 2 thinner coats of paint than 1 coat of thicker paint, that goes for the white base coat or the color. I always come back and clear coat the heads too with the vinyl clear coat or the vinyl head cement both from the same company as the paint, this gives a beautiful glossy look. there are advantages and disadvantages to both powder and vinyl paint and you need both in your arsenal.

powder is what you want to use when you need the heads painted now, vinyl is just the opposite, You can get beautiful vibrant colors with it, and perfectly painted heads, that have more durability than the powder painted heads but it will take 2 days to paint the heads with 2 coats of white, 2 coats of color and 1 or 2 coats of clear, then a couple of weeks for the heads to cure all nice and hard, but to me it is worth it. If you are wanting to paint hundreds of heads in a day, or are selling jigs the powder is realy the only good answer, and I still use powder when I want a head right now to use tommorrow.

another thing is this, to do vinyl right it is expensive alot moreso than the powder and the shelf life of the vinyl is crazy, it gels up on you quick especially when it's cold, and sometimes new bottles will already be gelled up, they can be thinned back down over a couple of days of working with them but it takes alot of thinner.