Trex keels, 1.5” depth, with hole drilled, then long screws gorilla glued to decoy.
Tony
Old Herters
- Thread starter Tony hall
- Start date
Tony
I totally agree about release. I sanded the heck out of these, like till they’re “fuzzy” . The pva is supposed to come off with hot water and soap, but then the skin on the foam seems like the glue wouldn’t want to stick so I just sanded the heck out of it before glue. Honestly this is first batch I’ve done but my buddy did the same and we don’t treat the long line decoys very nice. So we will see if I’m an idiot or they workI dont want to intrude on this conversation, so take everything i say with a small grain of salt. I started casting foam decoys with old decoy unlimited molds. Have a bunch collecting dust as I have moved on to other ways of doing things. I found a release agent that is paintable and does not require sanding to take paint. Not sure how PVA is but you just spray the mold every 3 casts with this stuff (like spraying a pan with pam before cooking) and the foam pulls right out from the mold. If memory serves me correct though, it doesnt like titebond3 so this wouldnt work for you guys who like to restle coat. I am a painter and flocker of decoys, so I go a much different route. If you were to restle coat with rustoleum, instead of titebond, I think it would work just fine. Yes we have played with this and it does work, but im not sure it comes out as smooth as the titebond and I dont like how rough the decoy feels. I personally, never liked a restle coat decoy, but lots do and dont think for a second its wrong, just my personal preferance is all. I cannot remember off the top of my head what the release agent is I have now, and I can certainly update the thread when I get home. The absolute best stuff was Cammie 980 for a release agent in these types of molds but its been discontinued unfortunately. I went through MANY different release agents and landed on one that is very very close to the way Cammie 980 worked for me.
Also, for a keel, there are ideas. I think I have a fowl weather mold and, correct me if im wrong, but doesnt their molds have a built in keel that gets cast in with foam? Like a bulge on the bottom half of the mold? If not, I have tricks for this as well that can serve as a removable keel and currently what i do with my current decoys. But if there is a bulge built into the mold, I get composite square railing from Menards, cut down to size to fit in the bulge, and then cast foam around it. Adds that weight towards the bottom of the decoy and allowed for self righting. Menards sells them on the cheap too. Here is a link to the composite stuff I use on my decoys. Its really gone up in price. I remember when I first started buying it, these rods were like $2/rod.
UltraDeck® Rustic™ 42" Cedar Spindle
The 42-inch spindles are used with the top and bottom Rustic™ handrails to assemble straight rail section. Mix and match color and spindle styles to design a deck and railing combination that is truly your own. UltraDeck® Rustic railing is fade resistant and will not splinter, crack, rot, split...www.menards.com
. I believe fowl weather decoys you can get with the sucduck bottom or the keel. My buddies is the sucduck. I lucked out and a guy from work was adding onto a deck and changing colors so I have about a lifetime worth of keels piled up behind the shed.
I have a goose mold that I’m working on finishing 6 mallards, next time I make bodies, I will drill holes through bottom and screw internal trex keel so that I could use them on ice shelves and such..
Tony
So I take those rods from Menards, cut them down to about 1" x 1" squares and the place them in the rear and front of the mold. Pour my foam, and then it gives me something to tie the keels into. You can go one step further and use thread inserts into the blocks and then you can run a bolt into the thread inserts. This allows the keel to be removeable if you want. I will see if i have old pictures of what I was doing when I was casting out of the decoy unlimited molds.I totally agree about release. I sanded the heck out of these, like till they’re “fuzzy” . The pva is supposed to come off with hot water and soap, but then the skin on the foam seems like the glue wouldn’t want to stick so I just sanded the heck out of it before glue. Honestly this is first batch I’ve done but my buddy did the same and we don’t treat the long line decoys very nice. So we will see if I’m an idiot or they work
I believe fowl weather decoys you can get with the sucduck bottom or the keel. My buddies is the sucduck. I lucked out and a guy from work was adding onto a deck and changing colors so I have about a lifetime worth of keels piled up behind the shed.
I have a goose mold that I’m working on finishing 6 mallards, next time I make bodies, I will drill holes through bottom and screw internal trex keel so that I could use them on ice shelves and such..
Tony
When i get home, I will find that release agent I have and let you guys know. It was very very close to the Camie 980 and i had such good luck with that release agent. i could literally pull from the mold and start slapping on rustoleum and it would stick just fine. Foam wouldnt even be all the way cooled and it was slathering up the bodies and getting the first layer of flocking on. Absolutely 0 prep needed to take paint.
john f skipper
Member
That drake mallard is sharp.
Was going to say the same thing. I’ll make my way to super nice puddlers eventually!