Guys, it's happening. Making a silicone tail.

[Ashe]

I am screaming. Mentally of course, but holy crap. I just got the ok from my parents to begin my first silicone tail over the summer (do they even know of the cost? Meh). IT IS HAPPENING. I, KALANI WILL SOON HAVE A SILICONE TAIL.
Production probably won't start for a while as I am working on finishing illustrating a book, going on vacation, and family stuff.

I will use this thread like a little journal to prepare myself for everything. I have a journal on my computer that I am keeping, full of random and picky little things, but the information worth sharing will all be here like design, colors, material, etc. :)

Here I have my general checklist. Overtime, I am going to edit in more information until I have my entire gameplay set up.

() design
() buy stuff
-monofin
-silicone
-clay
-release agents
-mould stuff (resin? plaster?)
-paints
() create moulds
() cast negatives
() cast silicone
() create leg dummy
-make smaller than legs
() seam
() connect to fluke
() paint
() holy shit you made a tail


Here are some colors I'm thinking of...
30392 30393
Again, collection will grow.

I have this thread here (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?11073-Silicone-tails-Sealing-the-monofin) asking about sealing a monofin, could anyone help?

Alright, that should be it. I am so excited to start this journey. I know that there will be a lot of frustration, but there will be a lot of triumph. I really hope all you fantastic mers will be willing to help out and follow me on this little adventure :)

[Mermaid Freyja]

Good luck, we'll all be cheering you on!! The colors are beautiful *swoon*
:D

[Mermaid Tisse]

Congratulations Kalani! All your tails I've seen around the forum are INCREDIBLE. I can't wait to see this tail finished, you'll do a fantastic job! :)

[Ashe]

Thank you, thank you :)

[Ashe]

Aright. So I've heard of some tails using only one gallon of silicone in all (how?!) and some using 4 to 5. I want my tail to be nice and durable, but not insanely thick. I may add them later, but I plan on not having any fins on this tail. I'll likely be using my Conpetitor monofin, or my old Wave but make a fairly big fluke. As an estimate, how much silicone should I plan on buying?

I've also been considering using the PearlieMae individual scale method. There's pros and cons... PearlieMae says her tails run thinner than most, but wouldn't the scales use a lot of silicone? Gah so many questions :p

[Raayvhen]

I think 2 would be a safe bet.

[PearlieMae]

Get two gallons.

And no, I use a lot less silicone making my scales and adhering them!

[MermaidAine]

Yay! I will be watching your progress!

[Ashe]

Get two gallons.

And no, I use a lot less silicone making my scales and adhering them!

Never would have guessed haha! In that case, I think I'll do a few tests using both methods. Pearlie, if I end up liking the results, could I give your technique a try? It just looks so nice :)

[Mermaid Wesley]

Congrats! Just take it slow
And steady, set yourself a very doable deadline, make a timeline, and stick to it! You remind me of me when I bought my silicone and then didn't open it for a year because of little problems along the way and a timeline would have helped a bunch with not getting discouraged! Plus it's kindof fun.


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[Ashe]

Thank you for the advice :) It's definitely going to be tough for me! I get so excited and rush things, but I'm determined to not do that now. I think the fact that I want this to turn out amazing will help, cause it's really my dream :)
After vacation I'll add a timeline in the original post so you guys can yell at me when I get too ahead of myself :lol:

[Mermaid Wesley]

Awesome!!


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[malinghi]

Good luck!

Btw, I'm also curious as to how much silicone typically goes into a tail. I think the amount of silicone used is even more confusing because the "one gallon" units of dragonskin are one gallon of each part, so they're actually two gallons.

[Ashe]

I think the amount of silicone used is even more confusing because the "one gallon" units of dragonskin are one gallon of each part, so they're actually two gallons.
Geez, never even heard of that. Gah! So much to research!

[PearlieMae]

Okay, buy two gallon 'sets'.

You're probably going to use a little more than one of the sets (which, not to be confusing, one gallon set is less than two gallons but more than a gallon). I'm a size 16 (US) and I used less than two sets, and I was experimenting and wasting silicone left and right.

The Pearlie Method is catching on! Just remember, it's a LOT of tedious work and if you want a tail fast, you might consider doing scale sheets.

[Ashe]

So in all, I should plan on buying two part A's and two part B's. That will give me two full gallons of silicone. Correct?

[Ashe]

＊cackles＊ The designing process has begun! I'm thinking of so many things ugh, so hard to choose. I made one with really bright colors inspired by the galaxy that I posted above, but I only liked it for a few hours :lol: Still liking the colors though.
If I could, I'd love to have a tail just like the lionfish that Finfolk did, but I don't think I would be able to do white on this tail. I think the cast for that has to be really thick or else it will be see through...

Anyways, I brought up a discussion concerning monofins with my dad, wondering if he could give me some input on whether I should seal in my shoddy Wave monofin or use my Competitor, but not seal it in. He then popped in the idea of just getting a whole new Competitor so we can seal it in and I can still have my other one to take places. I was like :O_o: For real? We started talking about silicone and the process and how he wants to help me get connected with the Special FX industry as he's in the film industry as well. Its just really nice to feel that kind of support, you know? I feel like once my mom figures out the prices of everything, she might be a little flaky about the project, but I am confident that this is going to work out! Anyways, just Kalani rambling :p

[SeaGlass Siren]

those colours :swoon: loads of swoon worthy tails recently i tell ya!!

[PearlieMae]

So in all, I should plan on buying two part A's and two part B's. That will give me two full gallons of silicone. Correct?

Depending on the cure speed you want, when you add to your cart, enter 2

You can't order just Part A or B

30422

http://www.smooth-on.com/Silicone-Rubber-an/c2_1115_1129/index.html?catdepth=1

PS: Your dad is in the film industry? Cool!

[Ashe]

I cannot give you enough thanks Pearlie, you're so amazing!

[Rett]

Awesome! Look forward to seeing your progress! A Pearlie-method tail is on my bucket list. I plan on attempting one sometime in the next couple of years :)

[Ashe]

Probably the hardest part of making a tail.
I made some amazing designs using the galaxy picture... but I felt like it wasn't 'me'. I think I would get tired of the bright vibrance after a while so I turned back to more natural colors. I used the first picture of the little cherry blossoms as a color reference and created a collage. What do you think so far?
30438
30437
The tail to the far left is from Merbella
The middle two are Finfolk
The tail to the right is Mertailor

I saw the Merbella tail and thought ehhh, maybe... but I don't know how well that turquoise is going to work. I'm really liking the idea of dark red and gold and the touch of dark maroon purple. I am truly in love with the two Finfolk tails and I think those will be my main inspirations. I also think I may do gold-tipped scales like Finfolk as well...

The creamy gold white really brings the tails together, but I'm afraid that it will be hard to pull off without it being too see-through. I've heard of issues concerning that. Would I just have to pigment the scales using that color and then a few extra layers of paint?
If anyone has time to waste and wants to help me out with some designs, that would be pretty cool :sweat drop:

[PearlieMae]

You could pigment the silicone to the color you like, then, pigment some silicone with white (Pearl Ex Macro Pearl is fairly opaque) and coat the inside of the tail under the areas where you might have translucency issues. That way you won't have to build up a lot of layers on the outside of your tail and have it look overly painted.

[Luna Dreamtide]

Love the natural autumnal tones you've chosen. Can't wait to see what you create, no doubt something gorgeous!
*also if you still want help drawing out designs as you mentioned, I'd love to help! Drawing is my favourite thing to do, especially drawing mermaid tails!:D

[Ashe]

I am so in love with these colors oh my gosh :swoon:
30446
I have my design pretty much planned out, but I am so afraid that someone will steal it haha but that's just me being paranoid :p

Not sure sure whose tails these are, but they are lovely! If you're on here and are wary of me using your tails as inspirations, please DM me :)

[Yulia]

The left one is Marissa's, the other one not quite sure.

[PearlieMae]

You can't steal colors. Besides, it's the mer inside that's important!

[SeaGlass Siren]

Well you could always ask to be tail twinsies :P

also, i love what you have going on so far! can't wait to see the rest of it!

[Ashe]

Thank you everyone!
Oh, and my fluke is a tribute to one of my biggest inspirations, Mermaid Linden :)

[Ashe]

This is so frustrating! :gah: All of my designs look so close to Marissa's tail no matter how hard I try to find something different but still try to like it. It's tough when someone has your dream tail. It's mainly the fluke. The layout of the colors is identical and I have brown spots... The back is really close, too, but I don't have the gold. I want the gold though!
Haha oh well :sweat drop:

[Mermaid Wesley]

Maybe draw up what you want to do, contact her and show her and then ask her if it would be ok for you to make it. I'm sure she would be okay with it if you asked and stuff
:)


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[Ashe]

OKAY. So I had a little stress episode a week ago when I was struggling to find a design I liked within that color scheme. I took a cruise up to Alaska and I was able to clear my mind and let nature (this sounds so cheesy) inspire me. Although I still like it, I completely scratched my old color scheme and went for something totally different. Definitely thinking about this...
30803
Look at how pretty... :swoon:

[Mermaid Alea]

I love your new color scheme! Take your time to decide on the design. I think the hardest part for me would be choosing a design I would stay happy with.

[Ashe]

Thank you! I originally got the idea after watching one of Mermaid Melissa's videos, but her teal is more of a mint green. It looks amazing in the water though :)
And I've decided to go with the individual scale technique for a few reasons, I think it will work out nicely! I am hopefully going to order my clay and negative cast material (still deciding on plaster or resin...) this week :)

[Mermaid Kate Silverfin]

Gorgeous colours!
For your mould material, I would definitely recommend a resin for the individual scales, as plaster won't hold up to lots of castings. It would be fine for a fluke though (but super heavy). Good luck!

[Mermaid Alea]

After reading that the individual scales use up less silicone I definitely see why you would go that route. Good luck I think it will be fun experimenting with the scales! I am picturing one way you could do some of your scales is having them blue with golden sparkly pigment swirls. Something like this photo: http://www.hollanders.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/l/blktmp2486_1_2.jpg

[Lili]

such lovely colors..I wish you best of luck on this project, these colors are gorgeous I can see why you are obsessing over them

[Dancing Fish]

Blue/copper is a wonderful color scheme! ;)

[ShyMer]

I really like the touches of gold, turquoise, and mint in your inspiration photos, too. Lovely colors<3

[Ashe]

Thank you everyone for the compliments!! Work will be super slow for a while... I am working on illustrating a book, a buttload of summer work for an honors class next year, and getting my license. Grrr! Still having fun planning everything out though, wouldn't want anything to be rushed or overlooked!!