Tail no 4 is underway...

[LouLouBelle]

And yes, it's yet another butterfly! 🦋

I'm using this little dude for colour inspiration:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170508/b7cb3f5ae001418dd169ac7344fb093a.jpg

After an amazingly fun but painful weekend at Brixham Pirate Festival, I've decided I need a more comfortable tail for sitting around in. And so I'm going for a complete custom fit - right down to the foot pockets.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170508/f02ca8a52f333343774a85958845eba7.jpg



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[Mermaid Wesley]

Woo! Custom foot pockets do sound nice! Lol


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[Mermaid Livou]

:swoon:

[Khaleesi Daenerys]

Ooh can't wait to see this :) that butterfly is beautiful and custom foot pockets what a great idea

[LeeniusUnicorn]

Oooh very exciting!

[AniaR]

very innovative!!!!

[LouLouBelle]

Thanks all!

The butterfly is a purple spotted Swallowtail, and I read somewhere that it's also known as the purple passion, which I absolutely love! I think it looks like a galaxy inspired butterfly.

Raina - I know this is a bit random, but we met a lovely couple at the Brixham Pirate Festival (I'm the worlds worst when it comes to names!!) They're from Nova Scotia and told us they knew you - they seemed like really nice people and spoke very highly of you.


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[LouLouBelle]

Looking for opinions...

I'm caught between three different ideas for the tail body.

1) black body with purple/greenish stripes

2) turquoise/green body when a lilac sheen, and black stripes (Pearl ex green-purple duo, as shown below)

3) pinkish colour with purple ish sheen and black stripes (Pearl ex red-blue duo as shown below)

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170530/b81d4e6f5bc26d902363a6485f91fc03.jpg

Any opinions will be welcomed - the more I think about it, the more I keep cycling between all three!

(Fins will be pretty much identical to the butterfly wings.)

[Azurin Luna]

I think version one would be cool, not many black mermaid tails around, and with the vibrant colors, I think they will really stand out.

Good luck choosing ^^

[Aurelian]

I agree with Azurin Luna. A black tail would look awesome. :)

[LouLouBelle]

Thanks - both of you!

I'm now thinking about doing it pink down the front, fading to green at the sides and back, then covering it in black stripes like my orange tail. Maybe. Not quite sure!! [emoji85]


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[LouLouBelle]

I've not done much on the tail for the past few weeks, but got back to fin sculpting today.

A little trick I've discovered for getting smooth clay...

For my dorsal fin, I drew out the shape on card and made a fin shaped tray.

I then heated the clay till it was completely liquid and poured it in.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170708/1c877e39ee5852c7a377879bca7a6d5a.jpg

You need to make sure all the clay is liquid (be VERY careful when heating and handling it!) and pour it in quickly, because it starts to harden again very quickly and you can end up with a rippled mess. (Guess how I know?? [emoji23])

Once you've got the hang of it, it works really well.

As you can see here, the clay is completely smooth:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170708/d87126be3418e569fb6dd8d91158d740.jpg

(The dark wavy lines are just colour differences in the clay - not ripples!)

And it makes sculpting a nice neat fin soooooo much easier:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170708/8aaa9a03e55d8b8641c68f5fa36caabc.jpg

I hope some of you will find that helpful!




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[moniee]

That is such a cool idea! How do you heat the clay? Over boiling water maybe? (I take its an oil based clay?)

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[LouLouBelle]

That is such a cool idea! How do you heat the clay? Over boiling water maybe? (I take its an oil based clay?)

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I'm using the soft monster clay. First time I used the oven, but it took ages... so I used the microwave last time. It says on the tub to be VERY careful if using the microwave, so I kept doing a minute at a time then poking and mixing it with one of my sculpting tools.

In the microwave, the bottom will melt first. The top will still look solid, but if you press it down with a tool, the liquid stuff comes squirting up.


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[Mermaid.Mikayla]

Looking for opinions...

I'm caught between three different ideas for the tail body.

1) black body with purple/greenish stripes

2) turquoise/green body when a lilac sheen, and black stripes (Pearl ex green-purple duo, as shown below)

3) pinkish colour with purple ish sheen and black stripes (Pearl ex red-blue duo as shown below)

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170530/b81d4e6f5bc26d902363a6485f91fc03.jpg

Any opinions will be welcomed - the more I think about it, the more I keep cycling between all three!

(Fins will be pretty much identical to the butterfly wings.)
I like the first one.

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[LouLouBelle]

I've still got fins to attach and details to paint on the fluke, but I took this tail a test swim today and was thrilled with how it went!

https://instagram.com/p/BXbmFLJB33P/

It's monofinless and the custom moulded foot pockets make such a difference. It just feels so incredibly comfortable!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170806/7ab5089788d515612e6f34d7f5ea7305.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170806/9c0c6d3eaa9074fc348b41b80af4a3a4.jpg

We're monofinless, we have colour shifting pigments, and...

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170806/c51ec1c0c255dcdf359d49aa71666b3e.jpg


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[Mermaid Whisper]

Wow, what a stunner! Fintastic work!

Lovely swimming video as well.


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[LouLouBelle]

Wow, what a stunner! Fintastic work!

Lovely swimming video as well.


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Thanks! I'm so happy it turned out to be swimmable - just need to finish the fins now!


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[LouLouBelle]

Tail now has a few more fins (photos to follow when I finally get around to taking them!) and I’ve made my first silicone top. Specifically to go with this tail.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171023/a98ca706565138b1f6a25ecf4de42609.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171023/c57bf1e9e26e76fe06644fef2f309b23.jpg


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[Khaleesi Daenerys]

Tail now has a few more fins (photos to follow when I finally get around to taking them!) and I’ve made my first silicone top. Specifically to go with this tail.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171023/a98ca706565138b1f6a25ecf4de42609.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171023/c57bf1e9e26e76fe06644fef2f309b23.jpg


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That is Fintastic!!!! I absolutely LOVE IT!!!! :swoon::swoon::swoon::swoon::jelly::jelly::jelly:: jelly::jelly::jelly::jelly::pearl:

[LouLouBelle]

That is Fintastic!!!! I absolutely LOVE IT!!!! :swoon::swoon::swoon::swoon::jelly::jelly::jelly:: jelly::jelly::jelly::jelly::pearl:

Thank you!


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