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The lure blanks were built by Icon Poly and were sponsored by Alabama Power. I had agreed to make two lures and the first two designs of mine selected were the Clown Lure and the Old School. Old School is primarily a painting exercise except for the conversion of the eyes from "inies" to "outies" and the construction and insertion of an aluminum diving bill.

 Here is a back shot of one of the blanks. I got more than one or two stares as I drove home with two of these in the back of my truck. Especially since they were on their backs with the "hooks" in the air.

Here is the basic modification required for the "Old School" design. Converting the inset eyes socket to an out protruding eye to simulate the glass eyes used on some of the lures made in the early to mid 20th century.

The  pink material is a polystyrene foam that will take the fiberglass resin without dissolving as some other products will do. Once built up, all of the foam will be covered with a fiberglass resin that contains chopped fiberglass in the resin. One of these products with longer fibers is called "Kitty Hair" - when pulled out of the can it looks like a big wet hairball...

I tried using a projector to layout the design on the blank but I couldn't get it dark enough in the studio, and I didn't want to wait for nightfall, so I took a pencil and roughed out the design directly on the fiberglass blank. Here are some shots of the foam pieces being applied to the "Clown Lure". Because the surface of the blank is always a compound curve, each piece must be hand shaped and formed to fit the surface before it is glued to the form. Additionally the foam board comes in 2" sheets so anything thicker than two inches must be glued together over night to get the required thickness.

The hat is under construction and not yet attached.

Each tooth is hand formed with the back carved first to get contact fit required to glue to the form.

Fish dental work under construction.

Orthodonist's Dream August 7th 2007

Finishing touches to the hat before I glass it. 8/12/07

At 101to 106 degrees each day, fiberglass resin wants to set up immediately (so far it is 9 days of 100 or more and as such it is an all time record). Finding a place to work in the cool is a real trick. After that, I have to find a place out of the wind to paint...

Many thanks to Chris at Wetumpka Paint and Body, Beverley Miller at CarQuest Paint and Supply in Montgomery, and all the folks at B&S Supply in Millbrook. They have contributed greatly to my fiberglass working education and therefore to this project!

Links to more details and pictures on making "Clown Lure" a.k.a., Charlie and "old School" or Wilfred.

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