HamptonsMermaid's Golden Koi Silicone Tail

[HamptonsMermaid]

36288 (Illustration by Mimi Yoon)

Hi Mers! As soon as I found out about this community I started devouring the tailmaking threads. Once I realized how creative and supportive this community is I knew right away that I would have to make my own tail. I loooove anything crafty and especially when it comes to costumes, there’s a very special bond created with your character when you make it completely from scratch. When I wear something I made myself I'm not putting on a “costume,” I'm wearing me! So as much as I admire the commercial tail makers (FinFolk is my personal fav) and even if I had the $3k, I knew I’d want to make my own and I’ve never been so excited about a personal art project!


I just put in the order for my mermaid materials tonight! I’ll be making a clay sculpted scale sheet and fluke. I've never worked with silicone or mold making before (help!!) but I've been researching throughly for the past 2 months. Special thanks to Pearlie Mae and Theobromine, who’s threads I’ve been drooling over/taking notes on. They very promptly replied to my questions with advice about pigmenting and mold making (respectively). I admire how their first tails came out so amazing and really respect their process (testing testing testing!) and I especially love their enthusiastic contributions to the community. It would be incredibly daunting to take on such a project without all of you! I’ll be including as much detail as I can in the hope that it helps future mers the way you all have helped me. And since this is a wall of text, I've underline my specific questions and would appreciate any help!


RenoldsAM.com
√ SILICONE: Smooth-on Dragonskin Shore 10A Medium (2) one gal units = $368
√ MOLD: Urethane Rubber Smooth-On ReoFlex Shore 30 (1) one gal unit = $105.43 (Is 1 gal enough?)
+ Shipping $43.58 + Tax $37.44 = $553.89 total
Really like the fact that I’ll be able to roll up and store the urethane mold since I’m constantly traveling and my art studio needs to either come with me or store easy. Right now I'm road tripping with bins and baskets of craft supplies for making my mermaid headdresses and shell tops (https://www.etsy.com/shop/hamptonsmermaid)!

For my monofin...After researching and deliberating between the Mahina Merfin and the Finis Competitor I decided to go all out and get the Competitor. The outward shape of the Merfin is not my favorite (though many seem to trim theirs). And I really want the extra power of the Competitor especially after my recent experience mermaiding in a rip current at Envision Festival in Costa Rica a few weeks ago! *Story Time Tangent: The only monofin I’ve worn so far is my 2Tails one, but I'm glad for what power it gave me as I am humbly reminded to respect the power of the ocean. I’m a surfer and a very strong swimmer, but to the distress of my poor mertender, suddenly I was sucked way out to sea with 2 other swimmers and even a surfer. The main thing with rip tides is to stay calm, conserve your energy and swim parallel to shore instead of trying to swim straight in. “I’m a mermaid," I told myself, “I don’t fight the ocean, I work with it!” So I worked out a method that got me back to shore with relative ease: I slowly backstroked while dolphin kicking, then when the swell of a wave came I flipped over and propelled myself as fast as possible underwater using the extra push of the wave, then I’d go back to a calm but steady backstroke while I relaxed my breathing and waited for the next push. By the time I was getting close to shore 2 lifeguards were coming out and I told them about the other swimmers and surfer, all of whom had to get rescued! My boyfriend/mertender was so relived to see me, he was beating himself up about letting his mermaid loose in rip conditions, but honestly the tiny 2Tails monofin saved me, as it would have taken me much longer to swim in without it. Even the surfer with his bouyant fiberglass board couldn’t break free of the rip! So moral of the story is respect mother nature and I’m getting a big powerful ocean ready monofin!


SwimOutlet.com:
√ MONOFIN: Finis Competitor M $275 + 10% off (email signup promo) + free shipping = $248
√ GOGGLES: Bling2o rhinestone heart shaped swim goggles, blue $22 + 10% off + free ship = $20
Omg I’m so excited for these bedazzled heart goggles! :swoon: I figured there’s got to be a more stylish way to see underwater so I started searching online and found these! They’re made for kids but I found a woman on Instagram who has them, when I asked she said they fit her just fine. I plan on decorating the band with shells and more mermaid bling!

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So that's $822 towards the dream so far! My goal is to get this tail made asap so I can start doing gigs to pay it off! Here are the materials I still have to source. Did I miss something or do you have any recommendations?

CLAY: Prima Plastilina
Blick (pickup in store, members can still use current 20% off coupon from website)
(2) 2 lb units = 4 lbs clay Will this be enough to do a scale sheet or large finis competitor fluke? (assuming I can reusing the clay, and I also want my design to be as lightweight as possible)

PIGMENTS: Pearl-Ex
Golds I'm considering: Brilliant Gold, Sparkle Gold, Aztec Gold
Whites I'm considering: Micropearl, Pearl White, Macropearl
My tail is inspired by the Golden Koi and I want a veeeeery glittery/shimmery liquid sun gold (not goldfish orange) with some mother-of-pearl white accents. I’d like to try to do it all with pigmenting vs. airbrushing. What are your tips for getting the maximum shimmer?

Other Craft Items:
Basic sculpting tools pack
Craft foam roll to make mold walls
Vaseline for mold release
Respirator Mask
Tongue Depressors/Stirring Sticks
High Quality Paintbrush (for smoothing clay with water)
Silicone safe gloves
Isopropyl Alcohol + Spray Bottle for cleaning

I also made the first draft of my design today! More on that later ;) For now I want to make sure I have my materials and orders lined up so everything arrives in good time. I’m on a road trip from NY to NC where I’ll be working on my tail over the next month. Are there any NC mers who'd like to meet up? I'd love to meet you and get a good look at some tails before I plunge into my design!

[Luna Dreamtide]

Looks like you've done your research! I'm excited to see how you go... :)
I feel a similar way about making a tail - I want to make my own even if I did buy one.

[Mermaid Keena]

Subscribed to follow this awesomeness! Cannot wait to see what you come up with :D

Sent from my HUAWEI Y360-U03 using Tapatalk

[Rett]

Looks great so far! Cant wait to track your progress!

For the pigment Pearl-ex is definitely my go-to. It (as the name suggests) has a pearly/metallic quality that shimmers really well (and then you could also add glitter in the top coat if desired). Also if you are doing an almost entirely gold tail, you would probably want to get at least two of the different gold colors (prob the lightest and darkest gold colors if you stick to just two) so you can have a little more natural color variance within your gold (so the gold isn't all entirely one shade of gold). I am not sure what the difference is between the three white colors (I have tried searching in the past and never could find the difference.) Maybe you could ask pearlie or someone else if they know?

Will you be using the Pearlie Individual Scale method, or will you be doing a scale sheet? I personally think pigmenting leaves more shimmer (plus paint can eventually scuff off where pigmented silicone will always be colored) but you can really only pigment using the pearlie method. Its not nearly as easy to pigment an entire scale sheet. You would have to airbrush with that method.

[HamptonsMermaid]

Thanks Rett,
I did ask Pearlie Mae some questions and she was very helpful. She said Brilliant Gold is a bright, smooth gold, Sparkle Gold is the same color, but chunkier/sparklier. Aztec Gold is a richer, deeper gold. I think I want them all! On whites she said Micropearl is a smooth pearly white, and Macropearl, like Sparkle Gold, is sparklier. (She didn't mention the difference for Pearl White).

I'm doing a clay sculpted scale sheet. I'm going try some tests to to add dimension to my gold with pigments as well as testing with some painting.

[Vela]

I am excited to see your progress on this! I love koi fish and I think this will be a beautiful tail! :)

[Theobromine]

I can't wait to see how this turns out!

A couple tips, now that I see your full supplies list: oil-based clay (like any of the modeling/plastilina/monster clay, anything waxy) you won't be able to smooth with water. But you CAN use Vaseline to smooth it, which I've found works really well.

For the urethane rubber, you miiiight end up needing more than one gallon, but it really depends on the size of your molds. Keeping them fairly thin will not only help keep your final casting more lightweight, it will reduce the mold volume as well. Bringing the mold walls in as close as possible to the edges of the sculpt will also help reduce the volume of your mold (don't forget a cheap little craft glue gun for sticking the foam walls down with!). Oh, and another trick to help strengthen the mold so you can keep it as thin as possible is to do a skin coat of urethane over the sculpt to capture the details, let that cure, then lay in some fabric (scraps and offcuts of spandex or mesh or whatever work great) and add just enough urethane to make the surface level. That way you can have a super thin mold without worrying about it tearing (though the urethane is pretty tough stuff and I haven't had an issue, but I did that with my fluke mold to ease my mind).

For gold pigments, it's really a matter of personal preference, but I found that my favorite Pearlex shade is Solar Gold. It's kind of in between Aztec Gold and Brilliant Gold and to me it looks like the truest gold color. But it's always good to have different shades to play around with and keep it from looking flat anyway.

Psst, you don't have to airbrush a whole scale sheet, actually. You can certainly pigment it. My preferred method is to pigment the silicone a base color, then hand-paint the details. I've never even used an airbrush!

[HamptonsMermaid]

Thanks for the tips Theo! I thought the water vs oil wouldn't make sense but I had a note somewhere that I think came from you about smoothing the clay, so thanks for correcting me.

I really do hope to keep my overall silicone use low to keep the tail lightweight, so fingers crossed I can stick to 1 gal urethane and less than 1.5 gal silicone. If anyone has tips for keeping weight down with silicone tails I'm all ears! The tricky part is that I don't want to have to cut my competitor monofin, so to get the shape I want the fluke might end up being quite large... Does anyone have an opinion on what makes more of a difference performance wise...having a full uncut monofin vs. having a smaller more lightweight fluke?

Picked up brilliant, sparkle and Aztec gold today. Didn't see solar gold at the shop tho. Plus all 3 shades of white. When I start testing I'll post some color comparisons.

Theo I love how you've mastered the difficult art of painting silicone and I'm excited to start learning myself. Since I do have experience in brush painting I think I'll be more comfortable with the hand painted if tedious details than a fancy air gun.

[Theobromine]

I think I may have been trying to explain something about smoothing clay in another thread and said that water for water-based clay or vaseline for oil-based clay...or something. I'm tired, I dunno :P

You can probably mix the brilliant and Aztec gold colors to get something similar to the solar gold.

Try not to make your clay sculpts (both fluke and scales) too thick, because that will mean you'll use more silicone and the finished tail will be heavier. You don't want them to be too thin either, though, or the silicone will be more prone to tearing and it will also look too floppy. It's kinda hard to strike that balance, but definitely try to keep your layer of clay as even as possible so you don't end up with areas that are too thick AND too thin.

The Competitor is pretty huge. I love the power I get from it, but it is heavy. As you can see in my user pic, my Finfolk tail's caudal fin is enormous; it only has a small notch cut out of it to accommodate the fork of the caudal fin. You could cut it down a little bit more if you don't want yours to be THAT big. If you look at Hannah Mermaid's original neoprene tails, she used a Competitor that she cut completely into the fluke shape and it looks rather nice. Fiberglass is heavy, though, so there's not really any getting around that.

[HamptonsMermaid]

I'd love to know some actual millimeter measurements of different scale sheets and fluke silicone thickness. I'm sure it can vary a lot but there's probably a standard range of ideal thinness vs strength. If anyone wants to measure and post their tail's thickness I can try to gather and analyze the data.

[HamptonsMermaid]

36324 Illustration by Diviant Artist brandrificus
(I've collected so many images of gold mermaids, I'm going to include one with every update :cool:)

My orders have arrived! According to tracking everything is waiting for me at my dad’s house, though I myself don’t get there until Sunday. Very pleased with the quick shipping. Monofin from SwimOutlet came in 2 days and Dragonskin + Urethane from ReynoldsAM arrived in 1 day! (I ordered Smooth On products but chose to order them from Reynolds instead of SmoothOn as their shipping was slightly less and they have a distributor in Charlotte which is very close.) Just have to pick up the clay and I can start testing as soon as I get home!
:mermaid kiss:

[HamptonsMermaid]

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Update Time:

Got to try on my new Competitor Monofin. The Medium fits my size 8.5 feet perfect, which worries me slightly as I'm not sure if it will be too tight with neoprene booties. Haven't taken it in the water yet, but will try to get some booties first just in case I want to exchange the size. What are your recommendations for when a monofin fits just right without booties? Also what bootie brands do you recommend?

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My Bling2o goggles were also in the box. They are a little small, since they don't have the usual adjustable nose section, but after bending the middle a little I was able to get them to suction well to my face and they were comfortable enough (for goggles). Will have to test in the water but they are so cute and look more like stylish shades than swim goggles!

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I also started working with my Prima Plastilina clay and my first batch of sculpted scale tests! So fun to learn how to work with the clay. It's very smooth and pliable, almost buttery, and came highly recommended by Theo (over Monster Clay) for its soft and easy to work nature.

I'm testing scallop shell textures with 2 different shapes: diamond vs round, and I have 2 different sizes so far. The larger one is the size of a quarter, but I think I want a variety of sizes to more naturally mimic the way a fish's scales change in size. (And larger ones will make the work go faster.) Can't decide yet whether I prefer the diamond (more biologically correct) or round shape (more classically mermaid)... Which do you like?

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It took me about 4 hours of playing with the clay, testing and trying different things out so far. But I hardly noticed the time as I've been listening to my Game Of Thrones (book 1) audiobook! Sculpting tons of tiny scales is perfect work for "reading" in the background. I know some Mers go nuts laying scale sheets or sewing sequins and I highly recommend a "page turning" audiobook to make the process enjoyable and the time fly!

[Luna Dreamtide]

Ooh I do like the diamond scales. Some are a little on the thick side it looks like though.

[HamptonsMermaid]

Actually they're the same thickness. The diamond ones are made from round ones with the edges trimmed. Though as I keep making more my technique is getting better so there may be some earlier ones in there that are thicker. What is the usual or recommended thickness?

[Luna Dreamtide]

Actually they're the same thickness. The diamond ones are made from round ones with the edges trimmed. Though as I keep making more my technique is getting better so there may be some earlier ones in there that are thicker. What is the usual or recommended thickness?
I thought that could have been it. I do quite like them. As for a suggested thickness I'm not sure because I've not done a silicone tail myself.

[Theobromine]

Just a quick note on the footpocket/booties thing: my Competitor fits me perfectly and I don't wear booties with it. The first few times I swam in it (it's in my Finfolk tail) I got mad blisters because my fluke is so heavy. But it didn't take long for my feet to toughen up and it's been over 2 years now and I don't need to wear anything with it. I tried neoprene booties at one point, but they made the footpockets so tight that they cut off the circulation and my feet went completely numb and I had to take the tail off and get out of the booties. So I don't recommend that because it can be dangerous to cut off all the circulation to your feet. If you're worried about rubbing and blisters, get lycra skin socks instead. They provide a barrier but aren't anywhere near as thick as neoprene. Finis sells them or you can get some on Amazon for pretty cheap.

[HamptonsMermaid]

Hmm thanks for the heads up Theo. I'm thinking about booties mainly for swimming in cold water. I usually don't last long in cold water, maybe 30 mins, so maybe the tightness would be ok in short periods or maybe it could make circulation worse... The ocean here gets warm enough around August that I can surf without a wetsuit but the rest of the summer any warmth would be helpful. Also, if I want to do gigs, you never know how warm someone's pool is going to be...

Hmm do you think I could try the fin in the water and still exchange it if it didn't fit right? I'll have to look up Swim Outlet's exchange policy. So excited to get started on this but want to make sure I really get it right.

[Shyren Shey]

I already love your little scale test sheets so I'll definitely follow your thread. I like both shapes, but am finding the round ones appeal more to me personally. Either way they're awesome though.

[HamptonsMermaid]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160412/c2264c3b713e630f67cc2eddedeeb50e.jpg

So I poured my first urethane rubber mold tonight...

Decided to go with the rounded scales, a more classic mermaid look for my first tail. Here are the clay scales with clay wall and painted with Vaseline mold release:
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160412/294ad3c1b1ea6caab4b9f807e0edf243.jpg

Also testing a lions paw shell that I want to use to make tops:
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160412/a1edb34447aaa046306a93e3659224a6.jpg

To measure how much urethane to make, Smooth-on recommends using water to get the volume. However I didn't want to risk adding excess moisture to the board/clay. I read somewhere that one could use rice to measure volume. I used a thin grocery bag so I could easily remove the rice, and to keep my mold from getting rice dust:
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160412/ff7be3ce3c16d501a7894120c2372e01.jpg

Safety Check: Organic Vapor proof respirator, goggles & Latex free gloves. Working in a large but enclosed room, so didn't skimp on the respirator and will have to air out the room after its done curing.

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Mold is poured! I rounded up generously with the rice volume test and had just enough for both molds.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160412/139c8a001fd19b6eafe169fe8aa6010c.jpg

Buuuut I can already see teeny tiny bubbles! Is this normal? :( I'll just have to wait 16 hours and see how it comes out, but I'm already worried that something's wrong.

Close up of possibly offending bubbles:
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160412/f626ffe74e71a4181067a7eff2e02170.jpg

Possible culprits:
-I may not have mixed it properly, I don't think I mixed part B as much as I should have...
-Smooth-on says moisture and humidity can cause bubbles. I was trying to time my pour with the weather for a low humidity moment, but I got pushed back and unfortunately it started raining right before I poured. I'm hoping I'm safe inside the insulated house, and I'm working in a dry, attic like room...but maybe there's still too much moisture in the air?
-Smooth-on also says too much mold release can cause bubbles... But the bubbles I'm seeing aren't even on the surface of the clay, they're right up at the top of the pour...

Maybe I'm freaking out over nothing and all is well. Anyways, it's my first time, and this is just a test. I have to remind myself "this is why I'm here," to get the kinks out and perfect my technique before The Big Pour! "Test test test!" as PearlieMae and Theobromine keep advising!

[Theobromine]

The bubbles are most likely from mixing. No matter how carefully you mix either silicone or urethane, you will still get bubbles. I wouldn't worry too much about it unless the bubbles are adhering to the surface of your sculpt, in which case you can pretty much eliminate that issue by brushing a thin skin coat over the sculpt before pouring the rest of the urethane (unlike silicone, you can't keep urethane in the freezer to use later, so you either have to do this all in one go or mix it twice).

As long as you aren't having issues with bubbles on the actual surface of the sculpt, it doesn't matter if they're encased within the mold itself. Most of them will rise to the surface and dissipate anyway. You can speed this process a little by blowing gently on the surface of the urethane before it starts to solidify, if they bother you. You can also pop bubbles with a pin or a toothpick. I don't usually worry too much about this (but it can be rather satisfying).

If you still think humidity is causing a problem, see if you can go to Target or similar (not sure what stores you have on that side of the country) and pick up an inexpensive dehumidifier. If you're working in a smallish room, that should help a lot. An air conditioner will also help (as long as it's the normal kind that actually removes air moisture, rather than just blowing it around).

And I learned pretty much all of this by doing small tests myself, so you're on the right track!

As for your feets, I'd err on the side of not cutting off circulation, because that can be dangerous as well as uncomfortable. Definitely check the return policy and see if you can test the fin and exchange it if it doesn't fit. For swimming, I wouldn't worry too much about the cold, honestly, because if you're moving around vigorously you'll be keeping your body pretty warm. Over there on the east coast, you have warmer currents sweeping up the coast from the south, while over here on the west coast we have currents that bring arctic water down from the north, yet there are still plenty of us who swim here with no extra insulation (and no, it's not just me who does this :P ). It's just all about keeping your blood moving. Can't really help you with the pools thing, though :P

[PearlieMae]

The bubbles are normal. If you are using wooden sticks to mix, the moisture in the wood can cause bubbles...It's not critical! Like Theobromine says, "As long as you aren't having issues with bubbles on the actual surface of the sculpt, it doesn't matter if they're encased within the mold itself." I have no issues with bubbles in my molds, but I make resin molds...same issues, though, as far as moisture.

[HamptonsMermaid]

Thanks for the support ladies, feels better to know that some bubbling is to be expected. I've studied some threads here where bubbles cause major issues but I'll try not to worry until I see the cured mold. I'll know soon enough!

I did use wooden tongue depressors to stir but they were individually sealed and sterile (my dad's a Dr and picked them up from the hospital) so I doubt it's them. I did have to wash the wood base board w a damp sponge (pollen season!), tho I tried to dry it well.

This is reminding me of the Chem labs I took in college, though it would be much cooler if we made mermaid tails in school! Wish I had access to all the fancy equipment tho!

[HamptonsMermaid]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160413/58f51bdd7069815ca5fee9120f114bec.jpg

Mold is cured! And no bubbles! Hooray! Detail seems there. Will see once I test silicone.

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The lions paw shell came out great too. Only issue with my scales is the undercuts/leaks were pretty bad... I had already anticipated this might be an issue and I had asked Theo about how to seal the clay scales down. She suggested painting in globs of Vaseline and making sure they're smoothed down enough, but I guess I didn't go far enough with it. The detail in the scales is so fine I didn't want to risk squashing it so I didn't press them down to seal enough.

Anyone have some tips on preventing undercuts? I may try just hot gluing the clay down like foam scales (assuming it doesn't totally melt) which was my first idea. Would brushing on the urethane first help? I've read there's some sort of spray sealant one can use? I also remember in art class we used to score the clay and use water (this was water based clay) to seal 2 pieces together...I could score and use Vaseline, but it might make for a very slippery scale sheet.

I still want some undercutting so the scales look a little more like individual scales. In the end I don't think it will be too much of an issue to trim them, but next time I will def put mold release UNDER my scales. I didn't do that this time so the undercuts were stuck to the board and the mold was very tricky to pull up, leaving behind quite a mess.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160413/f14a678c6951dafac4b94b572fd597cc.jpg

P.s. How does one clean their measuring tools? I dislike using disposables where I can avoid it. In my urethane bowls (wow that looks like "urine bowels" haha) the excess rubber peeled right off (may save this as a filler for future molds-that shell one used a lot of product!) but I have 2 measuring cups with remnants of unmixed part A and part B... Pretty toxic uncured so want to make sure I clean it properly.

[Theobromine]

I def wouldn't recommend hot glue. It will probably just melt the clay and not stick to it either, because oil-based. I think you just need to work on sealing in the cracks a little better. Glop more vaseline in there, or just be a little firmer about pressing them down (or both). Also, try seeing if you can mix some clay and vaseline together (similar to making slip with clay and solvent) to get a brushable form of clay that you can brush into the cracks if the vaseline by itself isn't working for you.

[HamptonsMermaid]

Trimmed and cleaned now:

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160413/97f1d8f3713d2e9ce5a78f7e62bf656d.jpg

Thanks Theo, hmm yes clay diluted w Vaseline sounds good. I'll try that!

[Mermaid Wesley]

Looks great! I was one of those people with hellish bubble issues so I'm glad yours were ok!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HamptonsMermaid]

Thanks! You know I learn more from threads where Mers had problems than from the threads by the experienced tailmakers. Their threads were just posts of gorgeous perfect molds and cures, while everyone "oohed" drooled, but there was hardly any advice bc everything was coming out swimmingly.

But whenever another less experienced tailmaker was having a major problem, the experts chimed in with tons of valuable tips and info! So thanks goes the experts for sure but also to us newbies for going through the issues so other Mers can avoid our mistakes!


Also, not part of my update, but I was doing some research on proper handling, cleaning and safety of resins (please take care of your health people, these things are nasty!) and came across this very well written safety document from Harvard, so I'm just going to leave this here for future reference:
http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k79752&pageid=icb.page726000

[Hydra1337]

I love your scales.

[HamptonsMermaid]

Thank you! It was hard to choose between the diamond and round, and when I polled people it was about 50/50. So I've gone with the rounded shell shape for a classic look and it's also a little simpler to make. Took me 1 hour to make 25 scales (small and medium) which covers 9 square inches... Working on calculating how long it will take to do the whole sheet, and it's going to be awhile! But my sister is mailing me larger shells from our home beach so with the size gradation at least half the sheet will go quicker!

[HamptonsMermaid]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160414/25d3b5b634ba71dbb84b1943d39ab3f2.jpg

First silicone test is poured! The silicone is much more viscous than I imagined (more than the urethane at least). Trying out Pearl-Ex Brilliant Gold and Pearl White. Can't wait to see how they come out in the morning!

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http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160414/ae02948432feec271f2b51207b0128f6.jpg

[Shyren Shey]

Ooo~ I love shimmery silicone so much. It will be gorgeous!

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

[Theobromine]

Ooh, I forgot to warn you about the viscosity of the silicone! That threw me off at first too! The little test kit of TAP brand silicone I used first was much runnier and easier to measure and mix, so when I finally got buckets of Dragonskin I opened them and was like "what is this glop" haha. Your scales are looking good, though! Excited to see how they turn out!

[HamptonsMermaid]

Pulled my first silicone test! It looks ok, but it's still very gummy/tacky/sticky so it seems it didn't fully cure. I feel like the details would look better if it cured more solid. Not sure why it's gummy? It was in the mold for 9 hours. I was pretty thorough with measuring and mixing. The window was open for ventilation but I forgot to check the humidity when I poured.

I tested 1/8 tsp of Brilliant Gold and 1/4 tsp of Pearl White in 50mL of silicone. And I was playing with a version of scale tipping, using a Popsicle stick to push one color into the undercut. Maybe I spent too long doing this and that affected the silicone curing? I esp like the very top white scale with the gold tip. More testing needed! Any ideas how I can get my tests to cure fully?

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160414/e96639d5f30584c5be1e91743c857522.jpg

[Theobromine]

I found this happened with my first pulls from a fresh mold. You can try letting the mold sit for another day or two after you first make it, but I found that it didn't actually cause any problems. I wiped the test patch down with alcohol (to remove mold release) and clearcoated it, and that cured fine. Try that and see if it works for you too. Then try casting another test scale patch out of the same mold and see if it still feels gummy. I never experienced that beyond the first casting, and even the first one was fine after I clearcoated it. Not exactly sure why this happens, but it didn't seem to cause any issues with my final product.

[HamptonsMermaid]

Ah good to know Theo! Though when you do the first pull from a whole scale sheet will it also be funny gummy and need a 2nd pull? That seems like a lot of dragonskin to use!

[PearlieMae]

The Smooth-On dude told me that a urethane rubber mold was not good for casting dragonskin, but he said that after I saw your success, Theo, so I knew he was talking out of his...um...uh...wheelhouse. Yeah, that's it.

Maybe your fresh mold needs a few days to de-gas. Messing around with the silicone, tipping and stuff, wouldn't have inhibited the curing, I've had silicone seize on me from manipulating it for too long!

I think it looks great! I'm not sure about your pigment amounts because I don't measure. I add pigment to part B until I get the color I want, then add a bit more to compensate for part A...but then again, with my method, I'm going for variegated rather than uniform. :D

[HamptonsMermaid]

Thanks! Yeah the mold only had about 24 hours since it cured...just so excited to get going. I continue my road trip back to NY on Monday so I won't have this roomy space as my mermaid studio. Trying to get the first rounds of testing done so I can just work on sculpting tons of scales until I have another artist space to lay out the scale sheet. Ah the gypsy life! It's tricky for an artist but I take inspiration from my soul sister Sophie who manages to work on wall sized paintings while in Gypsy mode!

Ooh just realized I may be passing by you Pearlie! (I think on the 20th) I'm sure you're very busy but would be so cool to meet you!

[Theobromine]

You don't need to do a "dirty casting", you can still use it if the surface texture is a little gummy, because if you just paint it or clear coat it, the gumminess will disappear. But yeah, I'd recommend just waiting a few more days before using the fresh mold if you're concerned. Technically (at least according to the TAP urethane instructions that I have) the urethane isn't FULLY cured for about a week, but they say it's strong enough to use after 24 hours. I think that may be the cause of the mild gumminess from the fresh molds. I keep hearing that Smooth On says not to use urethane molds for silicone, but...yeah. I don't think I've done too badly with it :p Their urethane can't be chemically that different from the brand I use, and I chatted with the employees at the plastics store extensively before buying it. They had a bunch of example molds and cast pieces in various materials so you could compare them all, and I discussed my project ideas with the store manager who was super helpful. Smooth On tech helpline can go honk itself, in my opinion :p

[Mermaid Wesley]

wow! looks super cool! cant wait to see them all together <3

[Mer-Crazy]

I love the effect you get from the two colours mixing together <3

Sent from my SM-T355Y using Tapatalk

[AnnaAbyss]

I can almost guarantee your silicone hasn't cured properly because of the Vaseline you brushed over the scales. You don't need to put it on oil based clay since you can pull it out easily afterwards. I've had loads of curing problems and Vaseline has been the culprit a few times. Also keep isopropyl alcohol on hand to wipe down your molds before and after you've poured your silicone. Hope this helps. :D

[HamptonsMermaid]

Yeah I realized I had left the mold sitting with Vaseline and didn't clean it until a couple hours before I poured the silicone so it really had no time to "breath." Also forgot about the isopropyl alcohol, just used soap and warm water.

Hmm I'm going to make another mold test to see if I can prevent the urethane leaking under the scales. I need to try "gluing" the scales together w Vaseline but maybe I don't need a mold release coating on top of the clay as you suggested.

[PearlieMae]

Are you making urethane resin or urethane rubber molds?

[HamptonsMermaid]

Urethane Rubber, the ReoFlex 30 Smooth On brand:

http://www.smooth-on.com/Urethane-Rubber-an/c6_1117_1143/index.html

[Theobromine]

I always use vaseline as a release agent (with my urethane rubber molds specifically) and never have any cure issues with it. You don't need it with oil-based clay, no, but I use it to seal all around the non-clay areas (for larger molds I make mold walls from craft foam, so that needs to be sealed). I often brush it over the clay as well, because it gives it a really nice smooth sheen and it does help it release more easily, even though it's not strictly necessary. I use copious amounts of it to help me get certain types of sculpts (like fin membranes) reeeeally smooth, and not once has it mucked up any of my molds, I promise!

Also, I think I mentioned this before (maybe in a PM) but DON'T use isopropyl alcohol on the urethane!! It is safe to use on the silicone, but NOT on the urethane! Soap and water work just fine for cleaning the molds!! Which, with a flexible mold rubber and mold release, you shouldn't even really need to worry about, actually. Trust me on this one though, alcohol doesn't hurt cured silicone but it will soften and weaken cured urethane. Found that one out the hard way. It didn't destroy my mold, which I still have and use, but it is noticeably softer than any of the others (and it's a stingray mold which I have two copies of, so the difference is very obvious). I do use alcohol to clean out cured urethane residue/films from my mixing cups and that works great because it actually dissolves the thin rubber film!

Edited to add: this is my personal experience with my molds made from TAP Plastics urethane rubber. I have not used the Smooth-On ReoFlex yet, but they're similar enough in chemical composition that I wouldn't take the risk. I would probably test it on some of the discarded trimmings from a test mold or something, though, just to make sure!

[HamptonsMermaid]

Ok I thought I remember something about not using alcohol on the urethane, good thing I haven't tried it yet! But I will try it on my measuring cups bc they're quite icky. Didn't realize one of the benefits of the "double mix and pour" technique smooth on talks about is that it cures all the residue material so you just peel up the leftover rubber instead of being stuck w 2 containers with uncured toxic residue.

In other news, more seashells arrived today! I had my sister go for a beach walk and pick up more sizes for me. These are all bigger than the current shells I'm using to stamp my scales so that should make for quicker work on the scale sheet!

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160415/37e11e4b724eefb5c500fe519e15f955.jpg

Oh and forgot to post the lions paw test I did with the excess silicone: tried painting up the sides of the shell but it ran down of course (this is why colors are kinda blurred). I think I need Dragonskin fast with a thickener to brush it up the sides. Or I'm going to try inserting the original shell back into the silicone, propped up with clay and sticks (to create a concave area for a boob).

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160415/76397f1d1a748feb5bf97848bfe607ff.jpg

Also, my swim booties arrived in the mail today. 2mm was the thinnest I could find in neoprene, vs thinner but less insulating materials. They're not skin tight but about the same fit as my surf booties. Once in the monofin they're quite snug. Still trying to decide if they're too snug. It's been about 20 mins w them on and it's tight but not yet numbing. I ordered a National Geographic brand from Amazon (I'm size 8.5 and ordered a S, but an XS would probably have been more of a skin tight fit). Still debating if I should exchange this M competitor for a L. I just know every time I surf w my booties on, I'm so grateful for the neoprene with that first step into the cold water.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160415/fe4b9b30fd1013511cfc7080367721ac.jpg

[HamptonsMermaid]

Yep... I think I need to get a larger Monofin. My feet are ok, but with the booties there is too much pressure on my big toenails. I once spent a summer wearing the most adorable little cowboy booties, they were so comfortable, but when I took my nailpolish off I found they had bruised my toenails badly and even separated the nail bed. They've never fully recovered so I need to spare them the extra pressure!

I can return it (Anyone know how much it is to ship cross country? :p), but I've also posted the Medium Competitor for sale in the Classified section. Here's the details incase anyone is interested:

NEW COMPETITOR MONOFIN MEDIUM FOR ONLY $247

I ordered a size Medium from Swim Outlet but have decided it's too small for me and will be placing an order for a size Large. According to Swim Outlet's return policy, I have to pay shipping for returns, so I figured I would offer to sell it to a Mer here first. I'd have to ship it from where I am on the East Coast all the way to California, so maybe there's a closer mer and the shipping fee would be less (to clarify I am covering shipping).

I bought the monofin with a10% OFF COUPON so I paid only $247 instead of $275. I will cover shipping (within Continental US). This is the best price I found after hours of scouring the internet. Also there is a chance I can personally deliver the Monofin to your home! I will be driving from central NC to NYC (Leaving NC April 19th, pit stop in DC, Arriving NYC April 21), so if you live somewhere along the I-95 route I can deliver right to you next week!

Monofin is brand new, never been worn in water, with original box. Payment can be made easily without fee over Venmo. This listing will remain active until about 5/20 when I will need to send it back to Swim Outlet if no Mernetwork takers.

(About sizing: I am a size 8.5 (sometimes an 8 or 9) and the monofin fits my bare feet perfectly, but it is too small with the 2mm neoprene booties I want for warmth.)

Hope it can find a good home! And would be fun if I get to personally deliver it and meet a mer!

[Mermaid Amelia Pond]

See I put too much vasoline on my sculpt and I've been working for like a week to get the excess off so I don't loose the detail or inhibit the casting cure.

°•○●°• Mermaid Amelia Pond •°○●°•

[Mermaid Amelia Pond]

Also I looove the diamond scales but more so I Loooooooooooove the two-toned scales very koi! Looks amazing I'm subscribing!

°•○●°• Mermaid Amelia Pond •°○●°•

[Mermaid Tami]

I love the idea of using real shells!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HamptonsMermaid]

Update:
Just pulled Silicone test #2. The result is still just as gooey/tacky on the surface as the first test. :(

Below are photos of Test 2. Still useful color comparison:
-Sparkle gold on the left (light, glittery)
-Brilliant gold in the middle (medium, pearly)
-Aztec gold on the right (dark, pearly).
-White Tipping is in Macropearl (glittery).
Golds were made with 1/4tsp in 30mL silicone.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160427/518f86f99d7e61ce529d7221b0f9cc20.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160427/a5684d9fcf165646b376415b2f357372.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160427/6bf00e2ca9b680435feeba09c6c68ecc.jpg

Hypothesis 1: the urethane rubber mold was too fresh. I poured test #1 right after it was cured. Now it's been almost 2 weeks so plenty of time for it to rest.
Conclusion: Nope.

Hypothesis 2: Theo mentioned that the first pull from new molds can be tacky. However test 2 came out the same as test 1.
Conclusion: Nope.

Hypothesis 3: Some suggested it may be the Vaseline inhibiting curing. I painted in a thin layer on the mold before pouring the silicone. However I noticed that drops of silicone that were on the Vaseline free edges of the mold did not cure and remained wet.
Conclusion: Unlikely.

Hypothesis 4: Though Theo has proven great success using urethane rubber molds, she uses the brand from TAP Plastics, while mine is ReoFlex30 from Smooth-on. Perhaps there is a difference between the brands? Mers have reported that Smooth-on agents recommend against using urethane rubber.
Conclusion: Possibly

Hypothesis 5: Something is going wrong with the mixing, measuring and pouring of the silicone. However it is only the silicone directly on the mold surface that seems uncured. The rest of the silicone inside the mold and the drops on the surrounding work area cured just fine. I even used the remaining silicone to paint Test 1. As Theo had said once painted with a top coat it's fine.
Conclusion: Nope.

Photos of Test 1 painted. The silicone is not thinned down and started curing towards the end, so some parts were gobbed on thick or uneven, but overall I am please with the super shiny glittery slick look of the top coat, which cured smooth with no problems
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160427/40fe82df23991c8efd4c233e47101bbf.jpg

The end product is fine but I loose a lot of detail with the gooey tacky surface and it's a pain to clean up the still sticky mold! I still need to figure out why the silicone is inhibited on the surface of the mold. At the moment I'm leaning towards ordering a sample size of TAP Plastics' urethane to see if it comes out better. Thought would suck if there's nothing I can do with the Smooth-on urethane. Anyone else see a possible solution I may be overlooking?

Photo of Test 2 on top and painted Test 1 below. I like the depth I get with the painting but not fond of how the Aztec gold looks orange when painted vs more deep gold when pigmented.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160427/b311d073b4aa9b103f5652621b744c73.jpg

[Theobromine]

That's a bugger! Must be that their formulation is different enough that you get more of that sticky effect. But you said when you did the top coat it cured just fine, right? That would be my solution, at least for now. How are you applying it? Dragonskin by itself is a bit annoying to paint with as it's so viscous (although I've done it, towards the end of my tail when I ran out of psycho paint and then novocs). You just have to use a firm brush and a firm hand. Thinning it with NOVOCS is extremely helpful, though. Easy to use, works very well, you can order it from Smooth On.

If you end up deciding to test the TAP urethane and need to get rid of the ReoFlex, I might be able to work out a deal with you, as I've been wanting to try testing that for various other applications. Wow, Smooth On just changed their website and I really hate it! Fuck you Smooth On. Anyway it's late and I'm tired, send me a private message if you want to discuss. Blergh.

[HamptonsMermaid]

Thanks for the offer Theo. Yeah I noticed the website looked different, and there's a Merbella's tail featured as the first photo in the gallery!

For painting I accidentally had extra pigmented silicone left so I just used the straight up dragon skin and gooped it on with a paintbrush. Not the cleanest job but starting to get the feel for it. I was looking at thinners...would you recommend NOVOCS over the Silicone Thinner?

Also I'm curious about other silicone accessories.
-Has anyone used the Thi-Vex thickener? I want to try brushing vertically for a top test.
-Also considering SLO-JO silicone retarder, I have 2 boxes of Dragon Skin medium but was thinking it would be useful to have longer pot life when it comes to painting lots of detail on a large scale sheet.
-Cryptolyte UV reactant additive also looks fun! My friend has a whole blacklight party room and it would be like having 2 tails in one! We played with my fabric tails in the blacklights and they glow so awesome! I bet he'll let me put some blacklights in his pool too ;)
Here's the full list of Smooth-on accessories. (https://www.smooth-on.com/product-line/platinum-silicone-accessories/)

Also, I forgot to mention that I ordered a bunch of 100mL Syringes that have been super helpful with measuring and keeping things clean!

[Luna Dreamtide]

Sorry you're having so much trouble with it! Your colours look gorgeous though!

[Theobromine]

You're welcome! Here's another idea I just thought of, now that I'm actually awake and stuff...if you wanted to try some of the TAP urethane but not worry about having to order a ton of it and mess around with shipping the Reoflex, you could try ordering just a small sample size of TAP urethane, which wouldn't be too expensive. Then use that to just brush a thin skin coat over your sculpts, let it cure, then pour the rest of the mold in Reoflex to bulk it out. The two different urethanes should, in theory, stick to each other, and you'll have a layer of the non-problematic urethane as the surface layer that will be actually touching the silicone. I'd still let it sit for a day or two, but...yeah. I make all my molds out of it and it works great, so I'm bummed that you're having so much trouble with the Reoflex :-/ Maybe later if I have time, I'll sit down and compare the MSDS of each of them and see if I can work out what might be causing the issues.

There's also this product called Inhibit X you could try...I haven't tried it yet myself though: http://www.reynoldsam.com/product/inhibit-x/

And yeah, I recommend NOVOCS for painting, rather than the silicone thinner. NOVOCS is a solvent specifically made for that purpose so you can thin the silicone down to the exact consistency you need, and it will evaporate off and leave the cured silicone with unaltered properties. Silicone thinner is an additive that changes the properties of the silicone. It makes it runnier, but also softer and weaker, and doesn't evaporate out. And it doesn't even change the viscosity THAT much unless you use a ton of it which isn't good for the strength of the silicone.

[HamptonsMermaid]

You're so clever! I'll try that and see if it helps. Either way I'll just start w a trial size and make sure my silicone comes out perfect before I order anything in bulk now. I just thought it would be more cost effective to just get everything in large quantities but I see the benefits of ordering the trial sizes to start. I'm still in gypsy mode and have to lug the huge boxes of material in and out of my car as I travel bc I don't want it to get too hot or cold ha!

[PearlieMae]

I love having scientists on the network! Theo! :swoon:

[Theobromine]

<3 you guys :group hug:

[Mermatron Athena]

You're welcome! Here's another idea I just thought of, now that I'm actually awake and stuff...if you wanted to try some of the TAP urethane but not worry about having to order a ton of it and mess around with shipping the Reoflex, you could try ordering just a small sample size of TAP urethane, which wouldn't be too expensive. Then use that to just brush a thin skin coat over your sculpts, let it cure, then pour the rest of the mold in Reoflex to bulk it out. The two different urethanes should, in theory, stick to each other, and you'll have a layer of the non-problematic urethane as the surface layer that will be actually touching the silicone. I'd still let it sit for a day or two, but...yeah. I make all my molds out of it and it works great, so I'm bummed that you're having so much trouble with the Reoflex :-/ Maybe later if I have time, I'll sit down and compare the MSDS of each of them and see if I can work out what might be causing the issues.

There's also this product called Inhibit X you could try...I haven't tried it yet myself though: http://www.reynoldsam.com/product/inhibit-x/

And yeah, I recommend NOVOCS for painting, rather than the silicone thinner. NOVOCS is a solvent specifically made for that purpose so you can thin the silicone down to the exact consistency you need, and it will evaporate off and leave the cured silicone with unaltered properties. Silicone thinner is an additive that changes the properties of the silicone. It makes it runnier, but also softer and weaker, and doesn't evaporate out. And it doesn't even change the viscosity THAT much unless you use a ton of it which isn't good for the strength of the silicone.


You make all your molds from the Tap plastic stuff? I had planned to go there tomorrow to get fiberglass to reinforce a finis monofin with. I will have to pick some up!

[Mermatron Athena]

Update:
Just pulled Silicone test #2. The result is still just as gooey/tacky on the surface as the first test. :(

Below are photos of Test 2. Still useful color comparison:
-Sparkle gold on the left (light, glittery)
-Brilliant gold in the middle (medium, pearly)
-Aztec gold on the right (dark, pearly).
-White Tipping is in Macropearl (glittery).
Golds were made with 1/4tsp in 30mL silicone.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160427/518f86f99d7e61ce529d7221b0f9cc20.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160427/a5684d9fcf165646b376415b2f357372.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160427/6bf00e2ca9b680435feeba09c6c68ecc.jpg

Hypothesis 1: the urethane rubber mold was too fresh. I poured test #1 right after it was cured. Now it's been almost 2 weeks so plenty of time for it to rest.
Conclusion: Nope.

Hypothesis 2: Theo mentioned that the first pull from new molds can be tacky. However test 2 came out the same as test 1.
Conclusion: Nope.

Hypothesis 3: Some suggested it may be the Vaseline inhibiting curing. I painted in a thin layer on the mold before pouring the silicone. However I noticed that drops of silicone that were on the Vaseline free edges of the mold did not cure and remained wet.
Conclusion: Unlikely.

Hypothesis 4: Though Theo has proven great success using urethane rubber molds, she uses the brand from TAP Plastics, while mine is ReoFlex30 from Smooth-on. Perhaps there is a difference between the brands? Mers have reported that Smooth-on agents recommend against using urethane rubber.
Conclusion: Possibly

Hypothesis 5: Something is going wrong with the mixing, measuring and pouring of the silicone. However it is only the silicone directly on the mold surface that seems uncured. The rest of the silicone inside the mold and the drops on the surrounding work area cured just fine. I even used the remaining silicone to paint Test 1. As Theo had said once painted with a top coat it's fine.
Conclusion: Nope.

Photos of Test 1 painted. The silicone is not thinned down and started curing towards the end, so some parts were gobbed on thick or uneven, but overall I am please with the super shiny glittery slick look of the top coat, which cured smooth with no problems
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160427/40fe82df23991c8efd4c233e47101bbf.jpg

The end product is fine but I loose a lot of detail with the gooey tacky surface and it's a pain to clean up the still sticky mold! I still need to figure out why the silicone is inhibited on the surface of the mold. At the moment I'm leaning towards ordering a sample size of TAP Plastics' urethane to see if it comes out better. Thought would suck if there's nothing I can do with the Smooth-on urethane. Anyone else see a possible solution I may be overlooking?

Photo of Test 2 on top and painted Test 1 below. I like the depth I get with the painting but not fond of how the Aztec gold looks orange when painted vs more deep gold when pigmented.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160427/b311d073b4aa9b103f5652621b744c73.jpg

Youre scales came out so pretty! I loved that you used a shell for the imprints. I'm planning and gathering for my own silicone project. Very helpful info here :)

[HamptonsMermaid]

Thank you. I got so much info from mernetwork. So great to have resources and guides. I'm organizing my process as I go and taking notes so I can offer a step by step tutorial to help consolidate the info like a chemistry lab instruction manual.

[HamptonsMermaid]

Hi Mers,
It's been a min since my last update but finally completed the moving process into the new pad after months of gypsying about. Last I left off my urethane rubber from Smooth-on was inhibiting the surface of my silicone, so I ordered some TAP urethane rubber testers to see if it makes a difference. As per Theo's suggestion, I tried brushing a layer of TAP over my current Smooth-On mold to see if I could rescue some of my material investment. But unfortunately the TAP urethane did not bond securely to the Smooth-On urethane, and the thin layer I brushed on peels right off the mold. :( Well it was worth a shot.

Next step is to use the rest of my TAP tester to make a new test mold and see if the silicone cures properly in this brand. If so I will need to reorder all my urethane rubber (1 gal kit), and find something else to do with the old urethane. Theo, you had mentioned that you might be interested in buying it off of me for another project...? I'm not sure if the shipping would be worth it but let me know if I should look into it.

In the meantime I've been making more clay scales whenever I find a moment.

Also have been working on my plans for my mermaiding career, including learning a lot about business in general. I actually had an amazing moment at a financial seminar I attended this last weekend, where I got to share on stage that one of my greatest successes is discovering my dream job of becoming a professional mermaid, and having 200 people cheering for me and giving me a standing ovation! It was so interesting going to an event where so many people are coming from a traditional business background, and here I am talking about being a flippin mermaid haha. People were curious and supportive and even met some women who were really interested in mermaiding!

[Theobromine]

Dammit. That sucks. I'm sorry to hear you've had so much trouble with that stupid Smooth-on urethane.

I have one more idea for something you could try before giving up on it entirely, though. Similar idea to the one before about the skin coat of TAP urethane, but this time do the skin coat, let that cure, and then do another thin layer of the TAP urethane but then embed something fibrous in that layer, such as that quilt batting stuff or polyester fiberfill or even some fiberglass matting. Then that will give the other urethane something to grab on to, which will help bulk out the rest of the mold and not waste the Smooth-on stuff you bought. Same principle as if you were doing a fiberglass mold, I guess, but instead of using gelcoat and then fiberglass resin, you're just using the urethane. Try it on something small first, in case it STILL decides to be a butt. Hopefully it will help, though :-/

Srsly tho, TAP urethane is my favorite thing ever. I now have multiple fluke and scale molds made from it as well as all my little critters and other random molds and it has never failed me. Iona could tell you....she watched me demold one of my smallish test scale patches. I said "hey, wanna watch me demold this?" and just peeled the mold straight off with one hand, like a bandaid, and she was like "wow...that was it??" I think I might have thrown it on the floor too, just for effect :P

[Luna Dreamtide]

Dammit. That sucks. I'm sorry to hear you've had so much trouble with that stupid Smooth-on urethane.

I have one more idea for something you could try before giving up on it entirely, though. Similar idea to the one before about the skin coat of TAP urethane, but this time do the skin coat, let that cure, and then do another thin layer of the TAP urethane but then embed something fibrous in that layer, such as that quilt batting stuff or polyester fiberfill or even some fiberglass matting. Then that will give the other urethane something to grab on to, which will help bulk out the rest of the mold and not waste the Smooth-on stuff you bought. Same principle as if you were doing a fiberglass mold, I guess, but instead of using gelcoat and then fiberglass resin, you're just using the urethane. Try it on something small first, in case it STILL decides to be a butt. Hopefully it will help, though :-/

Srsly tho, TAP urethane is my favorite thing ever. I now have multiple fluke and scale molds made from it as well as all my little critters and other random molds and it has never failed me. Iona could tell you....she watched me demold one of my smallish test scale patches. I said "hey, wanna watch me demold this?" and just peeled the mold straight off with one hand, like a bandaid, and she was like "wow...that was it??" I think I might have thrown it on the floor too, just for effect :P
Just curious Theo, do you use silicone from that same brand too? Or the standard Dragonskin?

[Theobromine]

I use Dragonskin. I've used the TAP silicone before and it works fine, but it's softer and not as durable as Dragonskin so I don't recommend it for tails, plus it's way more expensive.