March 1, 2023

Storm Lightning Shad Replica

STL’s for this lure are available for purchase from Cults3d.com

This is a Replica of a discontinued Storm Lightning Shad that I am trying to bring back from the dead.  I very rarely take requests but George reached out to me to in September 2022 to see if I can make one of these because it was the only lure George and his uncle were having luck with while pike fishing over the summer. Again I normal don’t do requests because of my lack of spare time but I always loved the Storm Wiggle Wart so this Storm Lightning Shad really intrigued me and thought it would be a good challenge because of the lip design so I told them I’d at least give it a shot although it might take some time…

George found a used Shad on eBay and had one sent to me to work off of.  Lucky it’s kind of a transparent one so that helps. These Storm lures were not the best quality (this one has some dents where the hangers are) but hey if they work they work… right?  I know people hate this saying but…. I’m more about catching fish, then catching fireman.

I don’t know what size these are considered but the size is right up my alley and what I normally fish with so that was a plus.

About a month later I finally found a bit of spare time (on my lunch breaks at work) to start in on the design and this was the initial design done in Fusion 360’s sculpt environment… unfortunately I didn’t get to far into it because my work computer doesn’t like the sculpt environment so much and I couldn’t find any other time to work on the project because I had larger projects going on at home that consumed my time.

Well about 4 months later I finally finished what I was working on at home… at least enough to get back into this so I cleaned up the design a bit.

I tried to match the internals as close as I could with the stock lure.

I designed two different versions when it came to the eyes.  The first just like the original and the second to take .25″ eyes.

The first test print.

Notes

Layer Height = .10
Top Solid Layers = 4
Bottom Solid Layers = 2
Perimeter Outlines = 2
Infill = 80%

Normally I don’t print with supports but in this case I did use them for the internal body cavity, but not where the hook hangers go as its to much of a pain to clean up afterwards.

Supports removed.

Before I went any further I weighted the stock lure and it came out to 15.18 grams.

Trying to match the original (with what I have on hand) I used (3) #6 hook hangers & filament pins, (2) .1875 & (3) .125″ Stainless Steel Balls.

With all of the pieces and parts mine weights in at 12.11 grams so far.

After super gluing the two halves together (but before sanding) it’s up to 12.39 grams.  Paint and epoxy sealer will hopefully make up the difference.

So far this is where I am at.  (as of 3-1-23) I’m not sure how close I got the lip but I’ll have to see how the actions compare before I get to crazy. I haven’t even see the original in the water yet.

After a little sanding with 80 & 220 grit sandpaper it was ready for a quick paint job.

I kept the pattern like the original because I really do well with perch type patterns where I fish and I could bang it out in like ten minutes.

After paint and clear it was just a little shy of the originals 15.18 grams weight.

The dressed original weighs 17.90 grams…

… while my replica comes in at 15 grams. (I did use smaller #4 hooks though.)

Here is the finished lure. It was cleared with a 2 part epoxy with a heavy coat of glitter mixed in.  (it really shines in person)

It should really have some added flash in the water too.

Over all it’s not to bad for a quick finish job.

the lip isn’t a perfect match but we’ll have to see how it works.

Top view

Compared to the original.

Kind of a top view comparison.

On to the float test…. the original sits with a nose down attitude.

While mine sits a bit more horizontal.  I may make the front ball chamber a slight bit bigger to take a .25″ ball to see if I can match the original. Other that that the rattle sound is different of course too because of the different type of plastic used.  Next I need to do some action comparisons before I go any further.

3/26/23 – I did give it a quick swim test and it seemed to swim well with a good action but I still haven’t compared it to the original or figured out what depth it swims at yet.

To be Continued…

---

All Information, Pictures, and Material is copyright © 2023 by Stephen Thone and may not be used for any personal or commercial purposes without the consent of the author. All rights reserved. The Author makes no guarantees or warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of, or results to be obtained from accessing and using the Information herein.