Tami's first attempt at a silicone top.....

[Mermaid Tami]

After many many months on the network I made a neoprene sequin tail which I'm extremely proud of. After that I decided that I wanted to make a silicone tail. After a lot and I do mean a lot of research I decided that I would probably be best off buying a tail so I ordered a tail and top from Mermaid Kariel. However I still have the desire to try to create something with silicone so I have decided to try to make my own top to wear more as a fashion top not necessarily something to match my tail. I live in Ohio so fall/winter are setting and I need a project to keep me sane! I've read so many of the threads on here but I'm sure I will still have plenty of questions so please bear with me as I start this! I have decided to go with a scale sheet. I'll be making it out of craft foam. I know tons of you have done this so please feel free to jump in with any bits of helpful hints that you discovered along the way that you may not have bread in the forms. I'm playing to use Dragonskin silicone for the top. People have used so many different things for the actual mold, I'm not sure where to start with that I guess I'm gonna start with a little bit more research! Thanks and advance for everyone's help! I'll post pictures as I go.


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[Princess Kae-Leah]

Good luck with the project!

[Mermaid Summerlilly]

Yayyy! Another top making thread!

[Mermaid Tami]

I'm wondering if the sample pack of Dragonskin will be enough for a top? I know I saw in a thread some where that it doesn't take a lot of pigment to color the silicone, wondering if I could also order sample packs of that?


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[Mermaid Tami]

I called smooth on, they recommend Shell Shock for the mold. Does this sound like a good option and has anyone used it? I've seen so may options!


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[Mermaid Tami]

I ordered my pigments!!! I got them from www.justpigments.com I'm planning to order my shell shock and silicone next week.


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[Mermaid Tami]

Working on my skill sheet today. I'm attaching the phone circles with Elmers glue and pinning them so that they don't move. I'll be attaching them to an additional piece of foam backing or light weight piece of wood. After that I will be coding the entire thing with modge podge to seal the foam and filling in cracks. http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161001/92de7f58cbc30806bc31a9f7dc7b1f06.jpg


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[Mermaid Tami]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161004/4b2f20a13cad398a117b9ad898dec7b8.jpg

My pigments are here!! I'll be ordering the shell shock and silicone this weekend!


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[MermaidNerenia]

Looking forward to following this!!!

[Mermaid Tami]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161006/79a96170dc1b62e60e01859988bf9721.jpg scale sheet is almost done!


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[Mermaid Summerlilly]

Nice!

[Mermaid Tami]

Shell shock and Dragonskin silicone are ordered! [emoji85][emoji1376][emoji1376][emoji1376]


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[Mermaid Tami]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161011/4620343cba2d3b4a611fc54ceab747de.jpg
My products are here!! I covered my foam scales with modge podge for sealing and will be using vaseline as a release agent. I have to the it dry overnight so I'm just waiting..... grrrr


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[Mermaid Tami]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161101/682be75b914872ad3a377eae670da7cf.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161101/65aed46f3152b70b8a74dced428b11c7.jpg

Ugh!!! I'm using Shell Shock for my mold. After months of reading reading more reading and more research I started mixing totally misreading! I ended up having to mix a huge batch the first time and put it on pretty thick. [emoji85] I bought the trial size, I've had enough to do another thin layer so far. Letting that set up a couple minutes before trying to get one more layer of if the leftover product. I have a feeling it's going to be way to thin.


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[Mermaid Tami]

Help! I have a crack in my Shell Shock Mold! How do I fix it? (I'm out of Shell Shock)
Here are the de-molding pics of my top.http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161102/bfc045abbb4638152d75fd5d123cc5d5.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161102/47e184ecf13283accff75ed93922da0b.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161102/43eff0fa0085a933bb2b4436736ee86d.jpg


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[Elle]

I don't know much about shell shock to be honest, but if you're looking at making another mold in the future can I suggest you create a barrier around your foam circles so you don't end up with too much waste. Also if you're looking to reinforce the mold, see if it's compatible with fibreglass cloth.

[PearlieMae]

You might be able to stick it back together with some superglue or epoxy.

[Mermaid Tami]

Thanks everyone I figured I would start by calling smooth on today, if that doesn't help I was thinking I could probably reinforce the mold with plaster of Paris and fill in the cracks with some clay. If that doesn't work I'm going to redo the mold using plaster of Paris this time.


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[Dancing Fish]

I've had good luck smoothing out mold rough spots with clay. :) good luck!

[Mermaid Tami]

So I decided to use a Dremel to remove the overhang and to smooth the rough spots it worked extremely well! After that I used a toothbrush to go back in and remove loose dust. Then I washed everything with soap and water and went back to remove little bit some pieces of foam circles. After that was done I scrubbed everything with soap and water again and dried with air compressor to make sure all the random dust pieces were gone. It worked well!!
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161102/df0e61e4557ff66e2695b75e3358d00b.jpg
I built a clay wall around the mold.

Then............ Ekkkkkkkkk
I tinted and poured my silicone!!!! Ahhhh the suspense!!! http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161102/a37a2ee9705e18317f1007f72b3e3733.jpg


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[Hydra1337]

That color is soooo pretty! I can't wait to see it pulled. :)

[Mermaid Tami]

That color is soooo pretty! I can't wait to see it pulled. :)

I'm soooo nervous it's not going to turn out! I've never used silicone before! *nail biting*
Thank you, i love the color and it really sparkles!

[Elle]

I'm soooo nervous it's not going to turn out! I've never used silicone before! *nail biting*
Thank you, i love the color and it really sparkles!

Just don't pull it too early. Whatever the curing time is, give it that much time - a little bit more if it's cold or wet out as that can mean it'll take longer to cure

[Mermaid Tami]

I've decided to leave it overnight. It was really warm earlier today now it's cooled and is raining!


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[Hydra1337]

From what I learned about silicone that sounds like a good idea.

[Mermaid Tami]

It worked!!!!http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161103/1e5ff1cdba8fc38199bac6dafc7d6883.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161103/bc591755de72f2be54ae808056c1ce95.jpg

Now I just need to clean my silicone sheet. I'm assuming I can use soap and water right?
Here is a better picture of the color and sparkles.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161103/2a124df19653e24662ff6d29b3cdd2aa.jpg

[emoji223] Mermaid Tami

[Mermaid Keena]

Omg soooooo sparkly!!! 😍😍😍

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[Mermaid Tami]

My scale sheet is super thick at the bottom, it's really heavy too. Not sure how on earth I'll wear it as a top! Also do to making my sheet first and buying the bra second, I think my sheet is going to be a little to small. Ah well forging ahead LOL we'll see what happens. Maybe I cad add some greenery or something.


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[Mermaid Tami]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161104/fcd899e44cbeeb3fcc8ab30d22037fbd.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161104/512a395cb1a45284015b35c494ac0b61.jpg


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[PearlieMae]

Damn, that's way thick! Maybe you can shave off some of the silicone from the back?

[Mermaid Tami]

That's what I'm thinking. The top section is much thinner! I was worried it would be really thin lol


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[MermaidNerenia]

What about a hot foam carving knife to pare down the silicone on the bottom, can you use that on sillicone???

[PearlieMae]

No, you'll need to use a blade.

[Mermaid Tami]

Even more bad news, lithe Scale sheet didn't stick to the bra. Grrrrr I tried using [emoji817] silicone caulking since I ran out of Dragonskin but it just peeled off the scale sheet. Stuck to the bra great though. [emoji19]


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[Mermaid hannahML]

1.get some e6000
2.did you only use 1sample pack ???