Heat setting Createx Airbrush paint?
 

Exactly how do folks heat set Createx Airbrush paint and when or how do you know the process is done?

I have tried various amounts of heating with my 1200W hair drier and I am still able to remove the paint with water and a little rubbing.

Can you cure it with heat where a molecular bond occurs between the paint and primer and the paint with itself?

Does Createx Airbrush paint ever cure to the point that you can't wash it off?

Can you cure it with a 1200W hairdryer on high moving it around the plug for 5 minutes or so? Is a 1200W dryer not enough? Or do you use low and hold it in place for a while then move on to the next spot? Or do you have a heated box or a toaster oven and hold some temperature for a given time?

Supporting information: I Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane seal, BIN red label can prime (not spray), and paint with Createx Airbrush paint.

Thanks for the help!

I used the oven at 150 degrees for 15-20 minutes and that worked great until my wife got pissed. Then I tried a toaster oven, but it seems to get too hot and drive sealer out through the paint. Lately I used a heat gun, but I don't think it does much either. Now I've decided to wait until my wife goes away for the day then burn some meat in the oven to cover the smell once I'm done. That way I can tell her I was cooking her a nice dinner, but screwed up, take her out to dinner, and maybe even get lucky when I get home. Building plugs requires innovation, you know.

What I've been doing is to set up a small space heater running on the plugs after I paint.

I do not heat set...no need and no problems.:)

I'm just worried about toothy fish poking a hole in the top coat and the paint dissolving and lifting the top coat.

shouldn't be a problem

Thanks to all. I'm new to the airbrush and have a bunch to paint and did not want to make a newbe fatal error to the batch.

Heats not "critical" but it sure helps. Innovate (ala numby) a hanger to hang over existing heat source. Just not too hot.

your epoxy may fail and your paint may wear off eventually but after you heat set the stuff it is very tough to get off and I can't imagine it washing off in any fashion. I still have it on my fingernails 3 days later and I wash my hands a lot a work. Here is a picture of a new plug that just saw this one blue. It ate right thru to the wood. The epoxy is still there and the paint too, just bare wood where he ate thru it. It was fished the rest of the fall and saw no further sign of deterioration. Plug is retired.

Let plug dry 24 hours before clear and they will wear like iron! Heat setting is only required on t-shirts!

i just blast it with a hair dryer for a few min between colors( like if i am doing scales) and then let em dry for a day or 2 before epoxy.

I'm pretty sure this system three stuff adheres better during application (ie less fish eyes) if the plug has been heat set after painting, though it adheres so poorly that ain't saying much.

:skulz: upol :skulz: as a scratch should help. ET works better IMO.
Ok > Heat plug for a time before spraying w/createx

I can sympathize with this one big time. I made a batch of lures airbrushed with Createx last year that I was pretty happy with until they peeled clean down to the primer layer after taking several nice stripers in a row one night during the spring run. When I say peeled, I mean sloughing off clean leaving behind perfect virgin primer that looked like it had never been painted over. To this day I keep one sitting on top of my computer monitor just to remind me so I don't make this mistake again....

When it happened it really set me back, since I did my research, carefully selected my materials, and thought I had this nailed. After the paint failed I can't tell you how much time I spent looking into this all over the place, emailing and even talking directly with the folks that make Createx, etc.

I even switched over to AutoAir because they claimed it was in a different base that supposedly air cures without heat. That may be true if you permeat it with automotive grade urethane clear coats to seal it as the makers intended, but I can tell you first hand if you put in on top of an oil based primer and then use an epoxy like E-Tex for your finish clear coat, the paint will soften and it will slip off your lure like a Coney Island white fish as soon as you get a nick in it to let the water in - the paint layer s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g up water like one of those freaking Sham-Wows!

The long and short of it is none of these water based acrylics ever fully cures unless you put heat to it, and I am talking 150F-200F for at least 30 minutes. You need heat to cross-link the molecular bonds in the polymer base, which is how the acrylic permanently sets and becomes waterproof. I did the dunk and soak test to confirm it, get it wet months later and it rubs right off. The manufacturer also confirmed it.

Good news is if you can bake it, it holds up like iron. To prove this I have a pencil popper I fished hard August-October with well over 200 stripers landed, banged it off the rocks, beat on it every chance I could, even soaked it in a bucket over many a night. It is now battered veteran, worn down to the bare wood in too many spots to count, and none of the paint has come off even when I try and rub it off.

Only problem I now have is this baking stinks up the house when I use the oven in my kitchen - Yeah, my wife isn't too cool about that either. Now I am looking for another way to do this, but I don't want to run 220V into the man cave for an oven....supposedly heat lamps like they use in autobody shops also work, but that seems too much like a fire waiting to happen.

Larry, I have to hand it to you - your work is primo. I love the action your BigFish lures put out, and your finish is second to none, but I have to say I just don't know how you get Createx to work as well as you do. After watching your airbrushing demo at Plugfest last year, I certainly respect your talent. It must be the primer you are using, or some other secret sauce I haven't figured out yet.

Cheers!

Thanks for the compliments but no "secret sauce" here! I do let the plugs dry for 48 hours before they get cleared. I have never had an issue ever, not once. I have a plug that was lost and found 5 weeks later wrapped around a potline in the water off Cutty. The plug was of course rock battered and most of the paint and primer had been rubbed off to bare wood by the rocks but not all of it! What remained was still hard as a rock! I have plugs in my bag that have fished 4-5 seasons now and they hold up well! The primer I use is simply the Zinseer Gold Cover Stain in the spray cans! Its great! Spray, let dry and sand.....then paint. Great adhesion for sure with the Createx! I bought some of the Auto Air Paint a few months ago but have yet to get a chance to try it.....how do you like it??

Some really good stuff in here.. No matter what I'm using for paints , (rattle cans ,,createx,,) I try to keep it thin .. I think some peoples different results might be the thickness thier applying the materials . maybe

I thought the Auto-air was supposed to be heat-set??? That's what I do when I use it.

I use a heat gun and am careful

for the regular createx I use a hair dryer

I see a couple of differences here which may be a source of problems for folks like me.

First, I use the Zinnser Cover Stain, gold can oil base, but NOT the spray can version. I cut it 60/40 Zinnser/Mineral Spirits, then dip coat to prime, drip dry for 1 week. Second, it is posible the failed paint was a bit thick, since I was experimenting with multicolor different blending schemes.

It seems there is some conflicting info on the heat set issue. I have dug through all the "application guides" in painful detail, crawled through sites dedicated to automotive painting with water solubles, been back and forth with the manufacturer, etc., and it is true, they all need the application of heat to truely cure at the chemical level. The need to do so is somewhat application dependent. The top clear coat will soak into the paint like a sponge just like epoxy soaks into a sheet of fiberglass, and if the clear coat is water resistant so will be the paint layer, in theory anyway as long as it isn't put on too thick. Question is though, how much is "too thick".

On the surface AutoAir claims to be in a different water soluble acrylic formulation that can air cure without heat, but if you dig deeper both AutoAir and Createx need heat for the polymer chains to cross link and become fully water resistant. If left without a waterproof overcoat, after a good soak you can rub or wipe them right off even months after you spray them on. I know, I have tried this repeatedly.

So Larry, maybe without realizing it your "secret sauce" is just the combination of primer and clear coat you are using. Whatever it is, I do not dispute how well it works for you, for you surely do obtain first rate results!

By the way, I was using a heat gun to dry between coats even when this occured. I don't think it puts out enough heat to cure the lures based on the application guides I've seen. Still comes off in water if you soak it. I know a lot of other guys have no problem with the hair dryer method, some of the guys I know and have fished with have done it for years and they have no problems. Everybody's technique is a little different, kind of like fishing....I am just too paranoid now.

With my experience, it could be that I rushed it and the primer wasn't fully dry on that batch, maybe the paint hadn't cured long enough, or who knows what else, but it isn't something I want to have repeat. For now, it is a good long air dry between all coats (sealer, primer, paint, and clear coat) followed by a heat set for all of my lures. Nothing like seeing your nice paint job come off the lure like a model airplane decal slips off its transfer sheet! Once was enough for me.

Great suggestions for the different drying boxes. If I could afford it, I'd get a profesional made drying box, but not for now. I have thought through all the different ideas for making my own drying box with lights or a toaster oven in it for a heat source, but I worried too much about poor temperature control and the possibility of starting a fire.....

Is the spring run started yet???? I know I am ready.

togue a very nice, well explained reply.

Thats it is exactly how I understood the workings of createx after doing what you did, RESEARCH & READING

Nice job.

Didnt Krispy youse to say sumptin about reading...back when he said things

I'm in the same boat. The regular oven worked fine, the toaster oven very poorly (? too uneven heat), the idea of a heated box in the basement leaves me nervous. Been looking for a beat up lab oven close by (shipping them is costly). It never ends.

Looks like we think alike, I've been looking for a cheap used lab oven myself, but no luck so far....:agree:

Larry, as for the AutoAir, I like the color selction but it isn't as forgiving as the Createx. You need to cut it with one of their Flash Reducers, make sure you get the *Fast* version, not the *Medium* one. Watch your pressures and needle settings, put it down light and cleanliness is an issue as it tends to form waterspot spots. Also, it takes a lot of coats to do it right, you can't cover in just one spray.

..

I've got a Bravetti, tabletop convection oven that I think would be perfect for this. I use mine for food, but would be worth looking for at yard sales etc or any other 2 rack toaster oven. I know people who have a 2 rack toaster oven and they hate it because it never heats up and basically doesn't toast. Sounds perfect for lure curing.... Mine heats up really slowly and takes forever to heat up, but maintains nice heat way better than a toaster oven. plus the convection feature would be nice. It makes perfect cookies. It is about 18" wide and 16 or so tall, fits 2 9x13 brownie pans it it. Nice portable size.

Way cool Strike King! Hadn't seen that before. :thanks:

I like to hit every color with the hair dryer for about 30 to 40 seconds, especially pearl paints. Seems to help out and all i know is it is a bitch to get off my fingernails after. I have really never had any issues with the paint using this process , now epoxy, issues galore:af:.

Createx pre-auto air use to sell the bond all agents(parts a&b equal mix) and it really helped. When they came out with A Air (bonding agents premixed in) they discontinued the bonding agents to make you buy the A A regardless how much regular createx you had.