Any tips on making a mold of translucent rubbery material (DIY drum machine pad)

Hi folks,
I need to figure out a way to have eight translucent rubber pads that are molded so that there is a series 2 1/2" square pads with 1/2" space between them of thin rubber.  Any ideas on how to do this?  I have a 12" square piece of rubber to mess with and I tried cutting it and milling it (haha) to mill out that channel between the pads but it's really jagged and ugly.  I need something that looks legit. 

Attached is a little sketch with two pads, but ideally, it will have 8 squares in a row (but even if I can only make one pad at a time it's ok). 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Any ideas on how to have some sort of liquid plastic that is translucent that I could pour into a mold and would remain rubbery?

hmmm....zombie kit anyone?
http://www.reynoldsam.com/Silicone-Rubber-an/c2_1113_1135/index.html

Silicon rubber molding will be your best bet. You can make you mold from machined wood with a nice thick sealer on it and plenty o' baby powder for mold release.

3d print the mold then pour some polymer of the desired durometer into it.
Many places sell polymers but the two I have had good success with are Smooth-On (www.smooth-on.com) and BJB (http://www.bjbenterprises.com/).

Both are excellent and will give you rapid results.

If you would like a hand with the 3d printed portion please let me know.

Cheers
Mac

Perhaps something like this?

Maybe you could use rubber, like used for rubber stamp.
This can be engraved and cut by a CO2 laser.
But not every kind of rubber works with CO2 Laser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnK-DOzCLbQ

I don't know, if there's also translucent rubber available.
Ask your local shop, that makes rubber stamps.
I'm sure, there are a lot in Austin.

...markus

I would make the mold by layering 3 sheets of (aluminium/wood/plastic etc) plates.
the bottom is left uncut.
middle layer is cutted with 2holes with size of the pads.
top layer is cutted as frame.

coat the mold with normal dishwash soap if needed.

I would first try with normal (vinegar smelling) silicone thinned with naptha/xylene/turpentine and few drops of glyserine for faster curing.
if you thin it too much it may get too "soft" and more you thin it more it shrinks.
I made some microphone capsule "legs"(dunno what's the name of the part thats under the saddle) with thinned silicone.

or you could try this; http://www.instructables.com/id/Worlds-easiest-silicone-mold/
this should also be quite cheap.

the smoothon way is more expensive but also lot better,
you can also pick differend hardness(shore 0050 etc.)