My Slightly Reconfigured Micro-Plopper Components
I finally got the new batch of components done. With any luck I'll be able to assemble them for testing by next weekend. I've scaled the body of my Micro-Plopper lures so that they are wider from top to bottom. Previously they measured .64" from at the widest point from top to bottom and lengthwise they were measuring 1.12" long.
Now they measure .75" tall and 1.2" long. The width has remained the same at a half of an inch. I'm hoping that this will give me just a bit more resistance to the torqueing that the little propeller was imparting to the lure as it ran through the water.
I also altered the configuration of my little cast urethane propeller by adding a length of curvature that runs from the front of the propeller shank and curves in to compliment the slight curvature of the propeller blade itself. It's hard to describe with the written word but I've uploaded a CAD rendering of what I'm talking about.
My propeller blades spun OK before but I feel like they were also creating to much resistance as the water pushed them rearward while they spun. This no-doubt caused the propeller shanks to bind on the little wire axle at the front and rearmost points of the propeller shank.
During the course of making these changes I think I figured out how to properly use the scaling-feature of my SolidWorks modeling software. I mention this because I now believe I can scale down the new propeller mold I just made up to fit the smaller sized bodies of my previously tested Micro-Plopper lures. I'll hold off on that till I've tested this new batch of lure bodies. If it works, then I'll scale down the propellers as well. I think this will allow me to salvage those previous smaller bodied lures I made up. I much prefer the smaller bodies but they tended to torque to much if I reeled them in at any more than a very slow pace.
Here's the pics. Let me know what you guys think.
HollowPoint
Final Micro-Plopper Prototypes and Atom-Ploppers
I finished assembling the second generation of prototypes last night. I'm fairly sure this will be it for these Micro-Plopper lures. I already know they'll catch fish so I just needed to refine the shape and adjust the internal weight I was using so that they run upright and straight in the water. Because I now glued the weight to the inside wall on the right side the lure now sits in the water with a slight clockwise tilt. This is to counteract the counterclockwise torque that the propeller imparts as it runs through the water. This was the solution I came up with to mitigate the counterclockwise lean that my first batch of prototypes was experiencing.
I also took the plunge and scaled my models down a bit further to get to where originally wanted to be in terms of size for these tiny Whopper-Plopper knockoffs. Since I've named my first attempts at scaling down the Whopper-Plopper the Micro-Plopper, this smaller-still version will be called the Atom-Plopper. It's still a work in progress. I haven't yet figured out the exact amount of internal weight to add to get them to run true in the water as the propeller spins.
The paint jobs are still on the laughable side but I've come to believe that the fish we catch with our fishing lures really don't care as much about paint scheme as the fishermen and women who use them.
HollowPoint