First mertail, in Black and Gold... partial silicone mermaid tail

[merwandering]

So- were you able to work on the tail this weekend? Hope all is well!

[moniee]

Yep I was!
I managed to make the two fluke halves identical so they lay nicely on top of each other.
I also made my mind up which fluke half I want as my front one!
Put a final coat on my back fluke half.
Painted an another layer on my front fluke half - I love it so much more now!
I also repainted all 4 pelvic fins as they turned green and were not pretty. I was happier with how they looked before, but the green and general darkening really ruined them. Now they're okay.
The tail body has seen some significant progress too, which I am a happy bunny about!

My silicone backup order should be due soon then I can finish off the fluke coats, and sandwich my monofin between them.
I also just realised that my heel fins and dorsal fins are to be made too D: Way to go then I guess...

As for the mesh top, nope, I don't want to order that one but to make it myself. I have some leftover tulle fromt he ballgown I made a few months ago and I want to dye it to match my skin colour. Then I want to mix caulk with some foundation powder (the makeup thingy powder you smash on your face not sure about the right name) and cover the boobsie area on the mesh. I want to reinforce it with some additional fabric from inside.

My only problem is, why I'm a bit drawn aback is I don't know how to reinforce the boobhsies.

Thanks for the comments guys!

[moniee]

I have a question:

As I'm close to finishing my fluke I'm getting more worried by the day about the thickness of the fluke halves. I thought I was very careful when I was making them but somehow they came out thinck I hink! Since I'm using 2mm Lexan I'm worried about it giving up. I hope I won't slice my feet up... How thick is too thick do you think?

[PearlieMae]

Since your fluke is relatively short, thickness might not be too much of an issue. If you had a long, flowing fluke, the stress on the thin lexan might be worse, even if the fluke was thin. It's kind of relative.

[moniee]

Thanks Pearlie! I'm relieved now. I hope I can manage swimming in it as well then I'm gonna be a happy bunny!

[merwandering]

My fluke is too thick and I cut the monofin too small. My daughters fluke is even bigger in comparison to her fin, and very long. She has multiple times swam without her feet in the pockets at all, which puts way too much stress in the very center of the fin instead of distributing it evenly and keeping it flat. We used the dreaded polyzap. But so far have swam over and over with no break- I wondered if the thickness of the fluke actually is lending some support to the lexan, but I don't know. Only time will tell, but with how ridiculously large our flukes and how disproportionate to the fin, and how well mine still works(and hers when she uses it correctly, but we used a smaller fin specifically because she wanted it extremely flowy) I think your fluke will be both much more durable and have much better propulsion, without having a ton of silicone pulling it in another direction

[moniee]

That's great news Merwandering - I'm so glad it holds up so nicely! I'm very much counting on my Lexan hero, too. My fluke is very short and stubby and yeah not sure if it will be flowy at all but we'll see! I'm very happy with how it's progressing, I love how the black veins turned out down the sides. I'll post a decent image soon, I'm planning on working on it today! Getting veeeeeeery excited!

[moniee]

Fixed the paint job and coated half of fluke (ran out of silicone )

[Mermaid Summerlilly]

OOOOooo nice!

[Lili]

Ahh it looks so pretty in natural lighting

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[merwandering]

Yay!!!!! It's so close! And so shiny!!

[moniee]

[moniee]

GUYS I ASSEMBLED THE FLUKE
Omg now I can really feel I'm so close!!!

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[Mermaid Livou]

cuuutie fluuke oh its finshed soooon soon )

[moniee]

I know ! So close to offishially become a mermaid!

Now I have to figure out how will I attach the fluke to the body. I don't have space for a duct tape dummy and it makes measuring ten times harder! I need to make an extension to my tail then figure out a way to attach the two. Aaah!

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[merwandering]

OMGOMGOMG!!!!I'm so excited for you!!!! Yay!
Really, finding someone to pin it in place would be better than a dummy anyway- if I were a bit closer I'd offer! Lol
it really looks beautiful!

[moniee]

Haha thanks merwandering! I would love if you could help too! Right now iim waiting for the top coat to dry on the back of the tail.

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[moniee]

I can't believe I'm this lucky! My landlady and the family are still away so I had the chance to cover the ffirst half of the tail body with the top coat, too!

It takes DAYS for the thinned caulk to dry though, but that's the easier part to manage. From now I just hope no-one sits on it while it's drying in the toilet! Oh the joys of house sharing with little kids

I'm now busy repainting my colour-busted pelvic fins and I also want to make some heel fins, a pair of dorsal fins and some waist fins.



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[moniee]

My monofin wiggle! It moves like a silicone fluke - so happy!

[The Water Phoenix]

Love it!