Fluke and Sizing

[Merdude Ricky]

Hello good mers of the net. I come to you tail makers with a noobie question.

So, I'm getting ready to start ordering supplies to make my own silicone tail.
I'll be using monster clay to sculpt the scales and fluke
I understand the basics of working with silicone and the mold material, but I can't figure out how you connect the fluke to the rest of the tail.

I'm basing the process on Kanti Kane's YouTube tutorial, but I didn't hear her explain how you would put the fluke and scales together.

Do I just sculpt the fluke along with the scales and set the mold as one whole piece?
Or is their a simple way I'm over thinking?

[Atlantisblue]

I'm new to tailmaking myself, but from what I can gather is that you make the scale body and the fluke separate, and then join them by using more silicone.

[Merdude Ricky]

So, for the scale body, do I make a sheet and cut it to my size. Or do I make the scale mold my size? And How do you get the mono fin to stay in once place once inside the fluke.

If there's already a thread about this, can someone please direct me to it?

[Prairie Mermaid Jamie]

It depends on the person and how they want to do it. Some do patches, some do one full sheet, some do basic sheets and some do shaped sheets.

There are literally hundreds of threads on this and everything to do with it. Use the search bar and watch the magic happen :)

[Merdude Ricky]

-puts on explorer's goggles-

I'm on it!

[Prairie Mermaid Jamie]

-puts on explorer's goggles-

I'm on it!

Best response ever!


Personally I made a shaped scale sheet so I didnt waste too much silicone.

[Merdude Ricky]

so, on a scale from 1-10 (pun intended) how difficult is it for a first timer to make a silicone tail? I'm aware I'll probably make mistakes the first few times. But what advice would you give me?

[Mermaid Kelda]

Lots of mers here have made fabulous tails their first time around. Many of them were under 18!

http://mernetwork.com/index/content.php?135-Tutorials-and-How-to-Guides
http://mernetwork.com/index/forumdisplay.php?26-Making-Tails-amp-Accessories

^ Those two places are gold mines for tail making advice. Heaps of people have made tutorials and documented their experiences in their threads. There's no single piece of advice anyone can give you, and everything you need to know sits in those threads.

[Merdude Ricky]

Well, that gives me confidence for my tail. I'll post my own progression pics if I see that it's going well for me. Thanks for encouragement and directing me to the right places.:highfive: