Reinforced-plastic mold, elastomeric

If the prototype needs to be molded in an injection, compression, transfer, or blowmolding process, it is possible to create a hard cavity shell by first coating the silicone rubber cavity with a release agent and then metal spray plating the cavity surface. When the plated coating is sufficiently thick, it is removed from the elastomeric cavity and backed up with liquid epoxy and appropriate reinforcing stiffeners to create a prototype mold that, with care, can be used to mold parts in the plastic intended for final part. Time from art to part may be merely a few weeks, as compared with the several months generally required for conventional machined steel production molds. 

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