This is my first go at designing a full size printed Crankbait. I think the finished model and results (fish caught) where well worth the effort.

The bait is printed in two halves and then glued together. (I used super glue) Three small pieces of 1.75mm filament are use to aid in aligning the halves while joining. A single piece of wire (I used motorcycle safety wire) is bent (see pictures for shape) to form the loops for tie on and the hook mounts and fits in between the halves before gluing together.

I printed this one with a .25 nozzle and .10 layer height to keep things smooth so your results may vary. After gluing the halves together the only post processing I did was to sand the glue seams flush.

The lure was airbrushed following the YouTube tutorials by "Lure Me In Custom Painted Crankbaits". I highly recommend them as they are easy to follow. I tried to seal the lure with Miniwax spray on polyurethane but a two part clear epoxy would probably be better/stronger. The lure floated in the beginning of the day but but the end it was sinking which leads me to believe it's not waterproof with the polyurethane. (it was also easy to scratch.)

I went back and coated these with EnviroTex Lite Pour-On High Gloss Finish epoxy and it really brought the colors to life.

I used #4 Treble Hooks and #3 Split Rings on these.

Some initial tuning my be needed if lure doesn't run true. (Just bend the front loop the opposite way it runs.) Running depth is about 6-8' depending on retrieve speed. A rattle effect can be added by dropping a few BB's or bearings in the float chamber. (See Picture)

8-25-16 = Replaced the Stencil for airbrushing stripes with a better version, although this version does require supports it is a lot easier to airbrush with. It's not a perfect fit but it works well enough.

If you make one of these and actually catch something post your catch in the Makes.

Post Printing:

Sand seams, Paint, Seal.

Check out "Lure Me In Custom Painted Crankbaits" on youtube for tutorials on how to airbrush lures. His work is amazing and easy to follow. I followed the two linked below. I really didn't do them justice but I only had the basic primary paint colors to paint with so I had to do a lot of mixing to make the right colors and I was a little heavy handed on the paint. Pay attention when he says a little goes a long way. :)

"Assembly Instruction Link"