Half-finished Silicone Tails?

[Mermaid Akiko]

Hey everyone! I used to post here way back when. I'm sure you can find my thread in the rubble of tailmaking, I made the ugliest and most unredeemable latex-neoprene tail ever. I could't even put it on, it was too small. I basically ragequit for 2 years, but I'd like to get back into mermaid-life.
I'd like to have a silicone tail to do mermaid gigs in within the next few years. I've come to the conclusion that I probably shouldn't attempt to make my own silicone tail because I messed up so badly last time and I don't really trust myself with that anymore. However, the most I'm really able to shell out is $2000.
My idea at the moment: buy a solid color custom tail, paint it by airbrush with createx paints, (carefully) slosh the whole thing in dragonskin to seal it. It seems too easy, do tail makers even do this? Do you know of any? How much would not painting it knock off the price you think?
It seems impossible to even get a slot with the popular tail makers, much less have them jump through a bunch of hoops just to say no. I definitely wouldn't mind going through a lesser-known artist as long as their creations were still trustworthy.

[Mermaid Wesley]

hey welcome back! silicone can not be painted with regular paints. You would have to mix pigment into the dragonskin and paint it on, usually with an airbrush. I don't think it would save you very much in the long run though. You would have to get a quote.

[Coradion]

Createx can't be used to paint silicone, you wont' be able to seal it without the layers separating. Send me a PM if you need a used tail, I may be cutting down my current silicone tail and making it smaller in the next couple months.

[Mer-Crazy]

MerNation do a single colour silicone tail for $1700, but as people said you can't paint it with regular paints. I'm not sure how much it would be for the silicone and pigments you'd need to paint it yourself though.

[Winged Mermaid]

What the others said. Also, if you did manage to get a unpained silicone tail, you'd have to paint it within the silicone's green period. Otherwise the silicone/paint won't bond and will peel off over time. I believe the green period is about a month? Someone correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while since I saw info about it.

[Mermaid Akiko]

Erk. I knew it wouldn't be that easy.
I think you're all right, the effort and costs wouldn't really work out to be less. I guess I forsee a lot more saving and waiting in my future. Thank you so much for the wisdom!

Createx can't be used to paint silicone, you wont' be able to seal it without the layers separating. Send me a PM if you need a used tail, I may be cutting down my current silicone tail and making it smaller in the next couple months.
I'd love to buy a used tail, but if yours is already too big, it probably won't work for me lol. I'm 5'8" and my waist is 26" and my hips around the butt are 34". If that's pretty close, I actually may be interested.

[Calizaire]

Syren Studios offers silicone tails for around $2,000. http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?10778-Syren-Studios-do-you-hear-the-syren-song&highlight=syren+studios
She's making my tail and I believe she's created around 6 or so others with satisfied customers.

[Mermaid Alea]

Welcome back! If I were you, I would just save to get a fully finished tail.
The DIY person in me says to make my own silicone tail in the future, but the other side of me says, "Do you really want to spend that much time and money on something that you have no previous experience on when you can get your tail from someone who actually knows what they are doing?"
Don't cause trouble for yourself - let yourself be pampered and order a fully finished tail from someone. ;) That is just my thought.