How to use Candy 2O
How should I use Createx Candy2o for lure painting fishing lures?
Createx Candy2o is a paint that needs an additive (a glue to make the paint adhere to the surface you want to paint it on).
This sometimes can be intimidating for beginner lure painters. In this article I will explain how to use candy2o for your lure painting projects and how easy they actually are to use.
If you rather watch then read my tips, please check out the following video instead:
So what's so special about Createx Candy2o?
Createx Candy2o is a water based candy paint. And the special thing about candy paints is that these are very transparent and have no pigments in them. These paints are a dye. So these paints will always show what is underneath them when the light hits them. This especially is very interesting when you like to paint over foiled lures or glitter. The effects with these paints are stunning.
Here you have an example of this effect:
Another perfect example of how the Candy2o nearly disappears when the light hits it and the glitter shines through. (Photo by Elfbaits)
How to mix Createx Candy2o paint?
Createx advises a certain mixing ratio, but my experience taught me that these are just guidelines and you can be creative with these paints. Candy2o straight out of the bottle is like a watery dye. It is very thin and has no medium in it (or glue if you like) So we need to mix some medium with the paint in order to make it stick better to our lures.
Createx sells 2 mediums you can use for this. 4030 Balancing clear and 4050 UVLS Gloss. 
My personal favorite to mix with candy2o is the UVLS 4050 gloss clear.
I prefer to use 4050 UVLS Gloss simply because it is a little thicker then 4030 and sprays better in my opinion from an airbrush. But 4030 will do the job as well.
What ratio do I mix? It all depends on what I want to achieve. Do I want the paint to be very dark? Then I mix a 50/50 ratio with 4050 and candy2o. This will give me a very saturated mix that will turn dark very quickly. With candy paints if you layer them a few times they can go VERY dark. That is another special feature of candy paints. But if I want to layer a lighter color you can mix more medium with your candy. Sometimes I mix even up to 10/90 (10% candy2o and 90% 4050). With this mix the candy will be very light and subtle.
How about thinner? If you are using a 50/50 ratio you most likely will not need any extra thinner, because the candy2o is already like water and will thin down the 4050 quite a bit. If you are using 4030 then you absolutely will need no thinner (4030 is not as thick as 4050). Most often for me one little drop of 4011 airbrush thinner is enough to spray it through my Iwata eclipse (0.35 needle) at about 30psi. Of course if your airbrush needle is smaller, or you like to use less air pressure you can add a drop or 2 extra to thin it down more. There is no wrong mixing ratio, so don't be afraid to experiment a little and find your sweet spot.
When to use Candy2o?
Candy2o thrives best on foils and glitter, where there is something underneath that we want the fish or fishermen to see. But the paint can also be used to darken a specific color in a lure, Create a ghost pattern or to let a pearlescent/ metallic paint shine from underneath.
Candy2o Black is ideal for a dark transparent back of a lure pattern, or transparent striping.
This video gives more info on why you should use Candy 2o instead of transparent paint.
Candy2o dirt track brown and black can also be used to paint fins or for shading.
Candy2o Blood red is one of the most realistic blood imitating paints I have seen so far. You can flick it on lure, brush it on or just let a few drops run down from your lure. It will dry and look like real blood (just don't forget to mix it with a little medium first before throwing it on your lure).
Here Candy2o Blood Red has been used to recreate blood.
Bleeding with candy2o?
What is bleeding? Bleeding is when another paint “tints” or seeps through another paint, changing that paint's color. Candy2o is a paint that bleeds through other paints.
When you use another paint (that is not a candy) on top of a candy, the candy paint underneath is going to bleed through and change the color of that paint. You can create cool patterns and let the bleedthrough happen on purpose. But if you do not want this then there are several ways to avoid it.
- Mid Coating: By applying a clear coat between the candy paint and the next paint layer, you will avoid bleeding, by sealing in the candy. You can use any clear coat for this or the the createx 4040 bleed checker.
- Using Candy2o at the end of your patterns, simply by avoiding any other type of paints onto your candy, you will not encounter any bleed through.
- Mixing Candy2o with 4050 seems to seal in the candy too in some cases, Not always though!
- Use Metallic or pearl paints as a next layer, as they do not let a candy bleed through and therefore can be used on top of a candy2o.
Conclusion
Candy2o paints are a real great addition for lure painting. Because they are extremely transparent, these work very well together with foils, glitters and pearlescent paints. And will give stunning results after clear coating them.
Here a Candy2o Lemonyellow has been used to make the foiled jerkbait blank yellow. As you can see it reflects the light very intensely and the Candy 2o paint does not tamper with the reflective abilities of the foil.
You can find our range of Candy2o in our webshop here.
If you have any questions about this feel free to contact us @ info@lureblanks.eu or on social media.
Thank you for supporting our small business!
Lure building regards,
Wannes