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after making a few durhams molds I have a few tips. use 1/4" carriage head bolts for index, if you push the head down just to the edge of the bolt head, leave until lower half of mold sets up the bolts snap out of the durhams easily and make a very nicely rounded locator. pop your mold halves apart while still warm, this gives you a little time to work on the cavaties ,clean up and cut your vents prior to full set up. I used a piece of plastisol for the sprue, if you use something ridged it better be exactly half way in the mold, the plastisol has a lot of give or stretch easily pulls out when mold has set weather half way in or not without deforming mold. I also used high temp engine paint to seal the mold, let it cure completely or it will stick to the other mold half and peel away. purchase a 25lb tub of durhams it will save money in the long run. 8 lb will yield 2-3 small molds. definitely make the mold thicker, too much is better than a broken mold. all in all durhams is easy to work with. thanks to all that have helped with my endeavor in mold making, I think I will stick with durhams rather than silicone or vac 50, it is cheaper.

I have always sealed with thinned devcon. No issues and no loss of detail if done properly. Tried various other methods... well still use the devcon method.

I like using minnow nets you find at fishing dept. in Wal-Mart, Bass Pro, Academy. I just cut the netting off the handle.

A mesh bag of used golf balls at Canadian tire. Loofa's. A mesh bag protecting oranges worked well. I got some good mesh from a bag at work from high voltage switch parts. All over the place! I have everyone in my family keeping their eyes open for me.

I dont use chunk style trailers often but saw a tip by Randal Tharp that I think could help with the plastic ripping. Take a toothpick and run it laterally just in front of where you plan to put the hook through. On a short bite the bait pulls on the toothpick instead of ripping through the front of the bait. Just clip off the ends so they dont stick out.

If you search "Didspade" on amazon you can get a variety of 5g samples packs (they make approx. 9 oz.). I had a couple bottles of Createx clear coat that I mixed them into and had real good results. The attached picture is 3 or 4 light coats of "riddler" sprayed over black sealer.