Painted fabric tail - Taz's first tail

[Taz]

Here I go. Definitely a little nervous to be posting this! Its my first tail making experiment. After much research, I have decided to go with a hand painted fabric tail. I will continue to hunt down a material that is safe for the ocean, so I can swim in it. This tail is meant for out of water photo shoots and activities. The paint and material are waterproof, but I do not have the money to invest in a monofin. If all goes smoothly, perhaps I will be able to convert this into a swimmable tail. Its all a learning experience! I love making costumes and have worked with latex and silicone before for props, but I am wanting to find my own way of coming up with a tail that is realistic and safe for the ocean; I will in NO WAY compromise the ocean for my tail looking cool.

Anyway! Here is what I have so far~



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/gotthelife/itbeings.jpg

This is the back of the tail. The scales on creatures dorsal sides are usually bigger than those on the ventral side, hence the large row of plated looking scales down the center. The scales will be smaller on the front.
I have not found suitable netting or mesh, and started to hand paint the smaller scales as well (bottom right of tail stock) .... not really what I was hoping for!

[AniaR]

looking great so far

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Excellent work! I look forward to seeing the finished results!

[Maple]

That looks so good! The scales look great :)

[Mermaid Saphira]

FIN-TASTIC!!!!!! It looks great so far, is this your first one? I feel really nervous now about painting mine....:$

[Mermaid Sirena]

It's looking beautiful so far! I can't wait to see what it looks like when done! Random thought, I know Silicone doesn't decompose but I know once cured it's in no way harmful to the ocean or any creature or environment. Just a thought :)

[LindseyLu]

This is looking great Taz!!!! Awesome job!!! Can't wait to see it whan it's all done! What kind of monofin do you have in there? I love the fluke shape and fringe! :)

[LindseyLu]

Uh...scratch the monofin question ;) Just saw your answer in you post!!!

[Taz]

It's looking beautiful so far! I can't wait to see what it looks like when done! Random thought, I know Silicone doesn't decompose but I know once cured it's in no way harmful to the ocean or any creature or environment. Just a thought :)
Is that so? :O I was asking a hardware store employee about it, and he said it degrades in salt water. But there are so many types of silicone right? They can't all be created equal!! Thanks for your input, i'll look into silicone more seriously now. I suppose the big problem with silicone is painting it ... I don't think many silicone products take well to paint. Wahh!

Thanks so much everyone for your kind words :)

[taom]

I think you have to mix the paint into the silicone to make it stick. Apparently, nothing sticks to the stuff once it's cured, not even other silicones. Which is really annoying. XP

Taz, your scales are fantabulous, btw. I am totally in love.

[Mermaid Sirena]

As I know that fact only holds true for Platinum silicon (also known as Dragon Skin), all others are mildly toxic and not suggested for use in tailmaking or anything that involves exposure to people or things other then bathtub and caulking.

I know every thing I've read says silicone (if it's the same type) will stick to it once its dry. And yes you do mix the color with the silicone it's self, there are some tutorials on youtube that are great!

[Mermaid Nyla]

paint looks great! what kind did you use?

[MermaidRaegan]

That looks amazing! I can't wait to see the finished peice.

[Nim]

This is beautiful!

[Mermaasai]

oOoO love the scales. And black and blue is such a nice combo!

[laamberry]

Looks super gorgeous!

[Mermaid Dottie]

Oh! I love the shapes and texture. So nice. You could try purchasing a monofin from MermaidParties. Stephanie is being a doll and making one for me, even though I'm not buying a full tail from her.

[Bellasea]

Very pretty! Make sure you upload the final result. :)

[Spindrift]

Aww, what happened to this tail? :(