Best kind of mold for a silicone bait?

[Glideb8]

I bought some Ecoflex to mess around with and possibly make some soft swimbaits.  I tried looking, but couldn't find anything.  What's the best material to use for making a mold for silicone baits? 

 

Thanks in advance.

[Anglinarcher]

Funny you ask that question.  I was responding on using Silicone to make fins for fish lures recently.  LOL

First thing to understand is that silicone only sticks to silicone, so ANY MOLD material will work.  And because you are looking at soft swimbaits, you won't even need to worry about undercuts. 

If you choose to use a silicone mold, you will need to spray the mold each time with a good mold release, or coat it with petroleum jelly.  For my own use, that is ok, but for production, probably too slow.

ANY other mold material will work without release.  CNC aluminums, urethane plastic, POP, you name it.

Good luck, have fun, and remember the cure time of silicone before removing the objects.

[Glideb8]

Thanks for the info.  I didn't want to use a silicone mold even though I have one of those large buckets of the stuff.  I didn't want take the chance for it to be fused together even though I know not all silicones stick to eachother.

 

So, I had another question if you don't mind.  I'm obviously going to paint the baits with smooth on silc pig.  Do I need to coat the bait after its painted with a layer of melted silicone?  I know guys do that with plastic baits that are airbrushed, so I just wanted to ask.

Thanks!

[Anglinarcher]

I would suggest you contact Smooth-On about that.  I believe that they are the makers of the products you are talking about.  I have never found any paint that would stick to silicone, but found dyes and pigments that would work on the un-cured silicone.  If you have found one, then forward to hearing about it.

 

I sure would not want to try to melt silicone to "dip" it with, but ask them about this as well.

[Glideb8]

Man...I was up too late looking at the silc pic yesterday.  It's pigment, but smooth on sells this as well:

 

https://www.smooth-on.com/products/psycho-paint/

 

I was looking at the psycho paint last, so that's what I was thinking of.

[Anglinarcher]

Interesting idea, and airbrush application available. 

Let us know how it works, I can see potential.

[rcbv]

Google "painting silicone dolls", there is a bunch of information about what people use and how.

Apparently there's a whole cottage industry around silicone baby dolls.

[Anglinarcher]

The problem is that silicone baby dolls, etc., don't suffer wear like a fishing lure does.  Paint it on and it stays as long as it does not get used much.

I can see how the silicone based paint would adhere to silicone so that should work.  I am not sure why a platinum based silicone is advertised for platinum based silicone; all silicones adhere to all silicones in my experience.

I still have lots of questions, but now I see a possible solution for the future.

[rcbv]

The dolls are painted with a pigmented silicone thinned down enough to spray. After it's sprayed the thinner evaporates and the silicone cures bonding to the silicone body. No different than what's being discussed but maybe less expensive, just a thought.