Making drift bobber for steelhead?

[humble-hubby]

Larry, I am looking to pattern a drift bobber that is no longer made. Examples of drift bobbers are corkies, spin'n glows, cheeters, birdies, etc that are small, have a hole through them, are colored, durable and highly buoyant. This one will be irregular in shape like a birdie (but different), about 0.75" in diameter and I want them in metallic finishes of pink or cherise and metallic red. I'm looking to make a hundred or so for a trip north.
What products do you recommend to make such a lure?
Thanks,
Rich

[dahlberg]

i'd try either 610 or alumifoam, or maybe a mixture of the two. use a stiff stainless wire inside the mold for the hole. use either mold putty or quick set for your mold. their stiffness makes them a better choice for foam.
as you know, paint add to weight. I'd try a metallic lacquer as a finish you can also dye the foam and dust the molds to get an undercoat color for the lacquer.
good luck on the project, and on the steelheading!
L

[humble-hubby]

Can you suggest a lacquer brand and source to attain? Do I need to airbrush it on?
I went with the 610 due to it's likely higher buoyancy. I would put that over durability and I got white and red dyes. I will try the white dye to avoid an undercoat. It seemed like the available metallic finishes in powder wouldn't help me achieve metallic red or pink.
How do you recommend designing the mold: with a vent hole to allow for expansion? or with a fill spout to pour the 610 in (and allow expansion)? or just put about 1/10 or so 610 in the cavity and seal it up to set with no expansion vent?
rich

[dahlberg]

my plan would be to make a multiple cavity mold, split in two halves. I would leave purge vents on either end (vents can always be added later).
I would pour the foam in one half, then quickly close and clamp. Be sure to wait long enough for the foam to set. it will accelerate the process if you heat the mold a little. also, put some kind of mold release on your wire.
To paint metallic I would simply dip them in a metallic paint.
careful with the white dye, if you add too much you might get some over foaming. Also, a side note, if you compress the material and do not allow much room to vent out of the mold it will be slightly denser.
good luck,
L

[humble-hubby]

Larry, I'm having trouble locating metallic lure paint (beyond metal finishes). What I have located is car paints and spray paints in the colors I want. Do you see any problem in using a metallic spray paint from the hardware store?

[dahlberg]

No problem at all other than the waste. I'd look in the hobby department. you can use acrylics, but they are heavier than lacquer. I'd try and find some testors metallic lacquer in a small bottle. The negative with lacquer is it may require several coats or a base coat to make it pop like you want. Yet another option is to mix clear lacquer or clear epoxy with alumidust.
let us know how the project works out!
best
L