Silicone Fin Repair...HALP!!!

[Aurellia Gyldenscale]

My current tail is a lovely and beautiful FinFolk creation. It has been wonderful to me, but over time, my right pelvic fin has come up almost completely. Its still attached...but just barely.

I want to repair it to the best of my ability but I'm very new to the repair world and don't want to royally screw up.

So. Method. Any guides out there? I'm assuming I'll have to use a silicone based glue...other epoxies I've tried don't adhere at all.


Primarily I want to fix it before it completely detaches.

Thanks in advance! <3

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[AniaR]

get yourself some pure clear water proof silicone caulking. line the tear on both ends sparingly, then pin it in place over night and you're good to go.

[AniaR]

I've repaired torn fins a million times. you can buy some pigment and mix it in with the caulking. you can even get the caulking straight from smoothon

[Mermaid Lorelei]

You can use Raina's method or use more dragon skin silicone in the same way. You can order small amounts of it, so don't worry about it being a waste. You can also sew it down with a bit of clear fishing line before gluing it. The fresh silicone will be less likely to peel away with the fishing line holding it in place. Lastly, MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN IT THOUROGHLY. Any grime will cause the fresh silicone to resist either curing or holding fast.

[AniaR]

yup clean with alcohol. I have also sewn them with fishing line first I forgot about that haha!

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

I fixed mine with more dragonskin but it didn't stay because old silicone doesn't always like to stick to new silicone. The girls have recommended a product called silpoxy by smooth on so I'm waiting for that to come to see if it works better.

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[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

I love your tail btw! I hope it gets fixed too. Mine really needs some love so I can't wait for the silpoxy to come!

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[Mermaid Jaffa]

Have you tried Sugru? I read somewhere that its silicone based and seen another mers fix their tails with it. I think it was the Weeki Wachi mermaids that used it.

[Winged Mermaid]

This is covered in the Tail Care and Maintenance thread (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?3108):)

[Winged Mermaid]

Also I've used the method in the thread I linked cause one of my fins tore completely off (happened during a move, I guess someone mishandled it.. nearly had a heart attack when I found out). Using platinum silicone didn't work, it peeled right off after the repair. The GE caulking however has held solidly! Be sure to clean it well first as outlined in the thread to make sure it sticks well.
I know it's nerve wracking to repair a tail, but just take your time and it will be fine! I didn't use pigment (cause I didn't have any) and you can't even see where it was reattached unless you look super close. Use as many sewing pins as you need to line it up right. I was nervous about using them, but they don't leave holes and are SUPER useful for getting it in the right position to bond. Good luck! :)

[AniaR]

Raven actually discourages people from using dragon skin. She said most people don't get the mix quite right and end up making a bigger mess and it doesn't work.

[Theobromine]

Well, I was the one who actually did the repair on Iona's fin with Dragonskin, I know I mixed it properly and it cured fully, but it didn't adhere completely (and I've been working with it for a while now so I know how to work with it). I've been doing more testing lately with fresh dragonskin and scraps of old silicone and past a certain point, it really does fail to bond, which is frustrating. (I can get it to bond well after the recommended 72 hours, but after a few weeks or so, it seems to lose its bonding ability. I haven't pinned down an exact time frame because I haven't wanted to use up too much silicone, but I'm continuing to experiment with different methods). I have also had to repair some of the fins on my Finfolk tail a few times, namely the heel fins since they take quite a beating when I stuff my butt into the tail (yay supertight tail, looks great but is a pain to get into). The new silicone cures fully and it does stick, but it doesn't BOND fully like it would if the tail-silicone was still fresh. I also had one of my pectoral fins peel most of the way up when the tail was only a month or two old (I think mainly from the tightness and my being inexperienced at putting it on properly and not using enough lube), but I actually got Abby and Bryn to fix it for me; they siliconed it back down and it's stuck tightly ever since. So I guess back then the tail was still new enough for that to work properly.

I've also called and talked to the Smooth-On technical help a couple of times and asked them about using Silpoxy vs. actual dragonskin to repair or adhere already-cured dragonskin, and they told me the Silpoxy works better for that purpose, because "that's what it's made for". They couldn't really tell me more than that, and once I started asking about the individual chemical compounds in the various silicones and adhesives, they actually got a little confused :P I CAN tell you what I discovered through reading the Silpoxy MSDS which is available on their website; the main active component in Silpoxy is the same chemical as in GE Silicone I. Finding an MSDS online takes only a couple minutes of Googling. The main thing I took away from it is that Silpoxy also contains an accelerant/catalyst, which makes it cure much faster than the cheaper GE brand silicone, but I don't think the accelerant necessarily makes the bond any STRONGER. (I tried to ask specific questions about this, but the tech help guys actually said they didn't know anything about the actual chemistry, thanks a lot tech help guys). I'm thinking of actually writing up a post on some of the things I've discovered about silicone and adhesion, but I still need to do more research first so I can cover certain things more thoroughly.

[AniaR]

I wasn't saying that against you. Just quoting what she said. I believe raven has figured out a trade secret cus she's totally remade my tail at the two year mark and nothing came off ever. And all the tails we own right now have been remade multiple times with no issue

[Yulia]

You can make your own sugru by mixing caulking with potato starch.

[Theobromine]

No worries Raina, I didn't think you were bashing me, just clarifying (I can see why Raven might say that, my point was just that I DO know how to work with the stuff and it still didn't bond). I agree that she must have a trade secret for getting new silicone to bond to old silicone, because it won't do it readily on its own. I also don't think Silpoxy or GE silicone is the ultimate solution, but it seems to actually do the trick for quick fixes, better than dragonskin itself. And I still haven't figured out exactly WHY, because the MSDS for Dragonskin doesn't actually list its ingredients (they typically only have to list potentially hazardous ingredients, of which dragonskin has none, and clearly they want to keep their trade secrets anyway).

[Aurellia Gyldenscale]

Thank you for all the help friends! This definitely helped! Got it all fixed up with the help of a fellow mer who lives near me. :) <3 to all!

[Merman Arion]

Thank you for all the help friends! This definitely helped! Got it all fixed up with the help of a fellow mer who lives near me. :) <3 to all!

I love your FinFolk tail. I'm sure people would love to see more of you in the forum (pictures, videos, etc..). Do you have a Facebook page? :)