Your tail making disasters and most hilarious epic fails...

[Sophie Dabat]

Hello!
I'm writing a novel about a girl who wants to become a mermaid and she doesn't have the first idea how to make her first own silicone tail. Sooo... she ends up with a lot of disasters.
I'd be greateful to read about your own misadventures to help me understand which problems you encountered and your fails.
I can also promise that I won't be giving names in my book, it's a fictional novel, but I'll thank at the end of the book all the people who give me precious informations.
FYI, I'm French and... I hope my English isn't too bad. Please forgive me if I make mistakes! (and do not hesitate to tell me!)
Cheers!

[Rett]

There's all sorts of things that can go wrong! Some of it really depends on the tail making method you are using though. Some general things that can go wrong is using something (like a release agent or pigment) that inhibits the silicone curing. That will cause runny silicone that never hardens. Another thing is if you use too hard a clay it can make sculpting your moulds very very hard. You can make your fluke unsymmetrical, you can try making your own monofin and have it snap, you can realize (after you've already started) that the colors don't go together like you thought and now it looks awful. That's just the tip of the iceberg there, I'm sure there are some members who would let you use real instances that happened to them. Good luck with your book!

[Sophie Dabat]

Thanks for your answer, Rett! You give me already all sorts of possible leads to misadventures for my character!

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Last winter, I decided to wear a tankini and fish pants (Fin Fun scaled bottoms) under my wetsuit. The fish pants style is a low cut pants and my hips are big...

As I swam and doved, I could feel the fish pants slowly creeping downward! I tried to grab it through my wetsuit to hitch it back up but it wasn't working. By the time I hit the showers to go home, only the wetsuit was keeping the pants from coming off my legs!

A tail making fail is, when I was so excited at crafting my first tail, I ended up with one printed side on the inside and one on the outside! I spent the next two days unpicking seams and being angry and stupid! It took a week to finally get it done because I was so mad, I didn't want anything to do with it!

[Sophie Dabat]

OMG, it happened to me when sewing a stuffed rabbit for my daughter! Can't believe I forgot it, it's a really good fail to tell! Thanks a lot (and big up for your pants)!

Last winter, I decided to wear a tankini and fish pants (Fin Fun scaled bottoms) under my wetsuit. The fish pants style is a low cut pants and my hips are big...

As I swam and doved, I could feel the fish pants slowly creeping downward! I tried to grab it through my wetsuit to hitch it back up but it wasn't working. By the time I hit the showers to go home, only the wetsuit was keeping the pants from coming off my legs!

A tail making fail is, when I was so excited at crafting my first tail, I ended up with one printed side on the inside and one on the outside! I spent the next two days unpicking seams and being angry and stupid! It took a week to finally get it done because I was so mad, I didn't want anything to do with it!

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Quite a few times since then, I've run out of material as I'm tracing the fluke. Especially at the fin tips, that's why some of my tails, don't have equal sized fin tips.

I made up a story that if kids ask why its not the same, I'd say a boat or shark nipped me as I swam by.

[Dancing Fish]

Oh! I have one! Silicone comes in two parts, A and B. They're liquid until you mix them. Unless...you forget to mix them, and pour your mold full of just A. Takes FOREVER to clean out your mold again!
Or how about when you overfill the mold, and it runs out all over the table and drips on the carpet. In slow motion. After you've left. (This also works for the mold-making portion, when you pour the liquid resin over your carefully sculpted fin/fluke, and discover there's a hole in your "wall" around the sculpture. Except you'll notice that immediately, and panic.)

And clearly, if you're using the individual scales technique...you'll inevitably discover you haven't made enough scales.

[mermaid mazu]

I have a thread in tail making of my first tail and it includes all my mishaps.

[Sophie Dabat]

Thanks Mazu, I'm going to read it!

I have a thread in tail making of my first tail and it includes all my mishaps.

[Sophie Dabat]

OMG! That's quite an epic fail! It's perfect for my story! I'll have a flood of liquid silicone in the flat my character lives in!

Oh! I have one! Silicone comes in two parts, A and B. They're liquid until you mix them. Unless...you forget to mix them, and pour your mold full of just A. Takes FOREVER to clean out your mold again!
Or how about when you overfill the mold, and it runs out all over the table and drips on the carpet. In slow motion. After you've left. (This also works for the mold-making portion, when you pour the liquid resin over your carefully sculpted fin/fluke, and discover there's a hole in your "wall" around the sculpture. Except you'll notice that immediately, and panic.)

And clearly, if you're using the individual scales technique...you'll inevitably discover you haven't made enough scales.