Molding a tail question

[rogers954]

Hey guys, so i just started my first build, just trying to replicate a slammer with some of my own details added in, and I’m in the process of gathering some additional tools and equipment. 
 

Been searching all over and can’t seem to track down an answer for what to do to mold my own tail. I plan to hand carve the tail out of some poplar that i am going to resaw on my bandsaw to get it thin enough out of a store bought plank. 
 

My question is after i make my silicon mold for it what materials are you guys using to actually pour the tail? 
 

any help will be much appreciated i wouldn’t mind the tail being about the same consistency as the existing slammer tails as long as it will hold up to the abuse. 
 

also what silicon do you guys like to use to form your molds???

thanks all 

[azfisher]

I've used medium plastisol for soft, floppy tails, saltwater plastisol with hardner added for a little stiffer glide type tails.  I've also used Alumilite Flex urethane from 30-60.   I poured the Flex stuff in silicone molds. The plastisol I've poured into a silicone mold and also injected it into a Alumilite Vac-50 mold I made for a 5 pc fin/tail set. I've made both types of molds with POP also, but they never held up well. The tails I made out of salt water plastisol with some hardner added seem to be close to the consistancy and flexability of a Slammer tail to me. I use Smooth On  Mold Max for the molds.   Hope this helps...

[danthefisherman]

Beat me to it...but I concur

For a softer tail I'd use saltwater grade plastisol or add hardener to standard soft plastic that you've remelted. A more durable tail you can mix with urethane, but this may be too rigid for good action depending on the thickness of your tail. If you opt for a pin connection for your tail I would suggest pouring them with mesh incorporated into the base to help keep it in place.

Edited January 21, 2021 by danthefisherman

[rogers954]

48 minutes ago, danthefisherman said:

Beat me to it...but I concur

For a softer tail I'd use saltwater grade plastisol or add hardener to standard soft plastic that you've remelted. A more durable tail you can mix with urethane, but this may be too rigid for good action depending on the thickness of your tail. If you opt for a pin connection for your tail I would suggest pouring them with mesh incorporated into the base to help keep it in place.

What hardener are you adding in to make them stiffer? 

[Socalswimbait]

I use dead on plastics. Just changed over from alumisol. For tails I use hardener also to achieve the desired stiffness. Manufactures of plastisol will make also make hardener for their product. Check out dead on plastix, smooth on and alumilite to see which you would like to play with. I use alumilite mold material to make molds. But plenty of different mold material you can use. I use what’s readily available to me so I don’t have to wait for shipments of material. 

[rogers954]

Really appreciate all the replies, tons of really helpful info 

[rogers954]

1 hour ago, Socalswimbait said:

I use dead on plastics. Just changed over from alumisol. For tails I use hardener also to achieve the desired stiffness. Manufactures of plastisol will make also make hardener for their product. Check out dead on plastix, smooth on and alumilite to see which you would like to play with. I use alumilite mold material to make molds. But plenty of different mold material you can use. I use what’s readily available to me so I don’t have to wait for shipments of material. 

So I knew about dead on from insta, and I’m guessing that most guys use the white floating feather since it won’t mess with the weight balance of the bait.  they have it in different hardnesses I’m guessing that for a tail on a smaller style bait that you would want the craw/tube = medium/hard blend since it says it’s for a bigger swimbait profiles. Although in there black version they have it in saltwater = hard. Probably wouldn’t matter for a slammer since the whole bait is going to float, but eventually i would like to craft some subsurface wood baits so finding a plastic that will work on both would be ideal. 

Edited January 21, 2021 by rogers954

[danthefisherman]

5 hours ago, rogers954 said:

What hardener are you adding in to make them stiffer? 

I use all saltwater grade plastics now, but as @Socalswimbait mentioned suppliers will all normally offer their own hardener or softener compatible with their product.

[Socalswimbait]

16 hours ago, rogers954 said:

So I knew about dead on from insta, and I’m guessing that most guys use the white floating feather since it won’t mess with the weight balance of the bait.  they have it in different hardnesses I’m guessing that for a tail on a smaller style bait that you would want the craw/tube = medium/hard blend since it says it’s for a bigger swimbait profiles. Although in there black version they have it in saltwater = hard. Probably wouldn’t matter for a slammer since the whole bait is going to float, but eventually i would like to craft some subsurface wood baits so finding a plastic that will work on both would be ideal. 

Well one of the reasons I switched over was the ability to have floating material. The alumisol with hardener sinks so I wanted to try it out floating plastic on my new builds. Very happy with it.

 I have also used alumisol hardener with dead on plastisol. Worked fine.