Over the past couple years I have been having trouble finding models for shoots. I am sure part of it is location, and how I word my castings. (This is not about no-shows and cancellations.) Additionally, when searching profiles I find models that I think would be a great fit, however, when I look at the profiles, there are no photos that are close to what I have in mind. I also read their profile. For example, when searching for nude models, there are a lot of results. However, a lot of the models don't have nude images, of if they do they are implied (nude but hands or something covering them). Or some are art models and have body hair.

I normally leave some of the details out of the casting and leave that for follow up messages as long as I don't see anything in their profile where they list what they are / not comfortable doing.

My questions, how much detail should be included in the initial casting?
If a model responds, however, has no nudes in their portfolio, how do I ask if they have any (or is that come across as bad taste)?
There are poses I want to do that are erotic, however, the intent is not to be porn (different people have different views on what that is). No extreme close-ups, no touching (except to cover)
Maybe MM is not the place to find the matches I am looking for? Have models moved to other sites (besides social media)? I have searched from time to time, but the ones I have found are outdated.

Any help / suggestions I would be grateful for.

Thanks.
Thomas.

Best to be upfront with respect to what you seek

However You dont need to get too wordy in communicating with models

Set up a Mood Board with respect to what sort of images you wish to shoot - and get their reaction to it

According to Dictionary.com, por·no  [pawr-noh] . pornography; sexually explicit videos, photographs, writings, or the like, produced to elicit sexual arousal

Since you want to shoot erotic and not porn, the model's body type and whether she is covered or uncovered is secondary. Primary would be the model's capability to emote and express the erotic feeling you want to portray through the image.

You can still find a whole lot of good models on MM (try expanding the search area) who would be willing to work with you. Please state clearly in your initial email the basic premise of the shoot (theme, date & time, location, moodboard) and compensation (if any & mode of compensation). You can ask the model if they have any available test image which can give you a fair idea of how their body is (imho this is moot if you want erotic), it's never wrong to ask.

Go ahead and connect with models, I am sure you will find a whole lot of muse out there to work with you.

P.S: If you want to work with models from Instagram, the rules still hold true

Just my 20 cents

Finding a reliable model on MM can be frustrating, and sometimes so easy. Easy when you happen to contact one of the reliable people on the site. But there are so many unreliable people here. This probably is true whether it is a model, a photographer, a make up person, whatever; we all have our view points.

I have a few reliable model contacts from this site, but some are traveling models who are not usually near, and sometimes you are looking for a different person to achieve an idea.

I used to try messaging models but got little responses (obviously not interested). Then I tried posting casting calls; more results came.

Here is how my last posting went, and I am in Brooklyn, New York.
I got about twenty six interested responses. Five of them could fit my vision. The others were fine but I felt not a good pick for my project. I messaged back the number one choice. No response. I messaged back the number two choice. No response. I messaged my top five and none of them responded back. Why did they respond in the first place? I have no idea.

I'm hoping to try again soon but I am expecting a similar outcome. I'm sure a modeling agency would be the best way but I'll try one more time.

Someone said, as in any endeavor, persistence helps.

I think keeping the initial message up to the point and very concise is rather good idea.
This is easy on models to digest and potentially INTERACT. In this way (ping-pong), no one invests heavily a lot of time in vain.
It's numbers game, unfortunately, and you gonna filter out 10's and 1000's human beings (every one of whom is unique and different in their own way) to come up with something POTENTIALLY valuable for both.
And some lengthy boiler-plate semi-automatic exchange is useless too, by the way.

The location and distance matter. Still, there are examples when awesome, stunning  models cross the ocean for a photo session. The above ping-pong (drilling into details step-by-step) sometimes makes it happen. There is a lot of miracles in many shabby corners of the world (scouting agents know that already).

If you're after the best marble for your (envisioned) sculpture, and have created various prototypes made out of tar/dirt/clay material, why not? Plus, you can do both..