Skin Thickness of Whopple Plopper

[luccio]

Hi.

I was watching the video of the whopper plopper's construction.
I wanted to know the approximative thickness (In inch or mm) of the hard skin of the whopper plopper.
Can someone help me ?
Thank you in advance.

luccio

[rocko]

Luccio
I have made some nice ploppers with a combination of 20 grams of alumilite and 10 grams of 610 foam. Not sure of the thickness, but it's pretty thin and I would guess the ratio would work well for the size of your bait.

Good luck!

[rocko]

http://s1252.photobucket.com/user/rocky ... sort=3&o=0

Hopefully this link works to view my version of the plopper. Again, good luck with yours. Follow Larry's instructions on his tutorial and you can make a great bait.

Rocko

[luccio]

Rocko,thank you for your reply.

Beautiful works!

Your whopper Plopper you have done is very nice.
So you do not know the thickness of the body.
How did you make the molds of the body and tail?
To make the body empty you've used the same method that uses Larry in the video
or did you use some other system to make it empty?
When you retrieve your own whopper plopper, the triple hook in the belly remains underwater or on one side?
If your WP swims with the triple hook in the belly, did you add weight on/into the body?
If yes, how did you, in what part of the body you've added weight?
Excuse me for all these questions, but the Larry's video shows that the Whopper Plopper swims outstretched on one side (with the treble hook on one side).
If you have a tutorial and / or further explanation or some pictures to see how you make them, please add them.

luccio

[rocko]

Luscious,
No need for another tutorial, I followed Larry's exactly. I used a Poe's Giant Jackpot lure to make the body mold. I simply placed it in an empty tube and poured in RTV silicone the designated depth. Add a cap with a hole in it and your set. Remove the master when the silicone is hard. Add your screw eyes and wire to the empty mold. Mix up your resin, pour it in, add the cap, and gently roll the mold. A few minutes later your shell is hard and you mix and add the foam. It bubbles up and you cut it off at the end of the shell. I epoxy up the end of the lure, over the open foam to toughen it up a bit.

I made my tail with sculpey clay and a pre-bent blade inserted. It will likely take several attempts to get it at the right angle and cup shape. I added a little sculpey to the baled to thicken it up just a little. Again, just make a one or two piece mold , insert a brass tube, and pour the rubber urethane. Place it over the wire, snug it up and bend a loop. I added a bead at the back end of the tail, so the brass would not rub against the wire.

The thickness question is tough to answer. Trial and error is reAlly the only option, as it depends on the density of the foam you are using and how high in the water you want your lure to run. I would recommend starting with the quantities I provided if your plopper is similar in size to Larry's commercial version. It works good for me.

My version really doesn't have much roll to it and the belly hook stays under. I needed no ballast to keep it upright.

If you browse the photo bucket album, you can see another plopper bait I make and actually prefer. I use the same slush molding technique, but the plopper blade is in the head and is thin stainless steel. I molded a collar around the blade to hold it in place and help keep it from bending or moving out of tune. Just another option and always fun to tinker.

Rocko

[luccio]

Thank you again,Rocko.

I just have to make few and nothing else : ) : ) : )

luccio