Melosyne
08-07-2017, 07:36 AM
Thanks to all the amazing tutorials and progress reports on this forum, I also made my first full silicone tail with a competitor monofin inside.
While I was quite happy with the result (with room for improvement ;)), I had some issues with the silicone I used.
It's an addition cure platinum catalyzed silicone from a local producer. Definitely nothing cheap, and similar to Dragon Skin...or so I thought!
I took the tail to Greece and after a few days and very hot weather, the black rubber from the monofin leaked an ugly brown color through the silicone, most prominently on the ridges. :mad:
http://www.codos-cosmos.de/bilder/mertail/discolor.jpg
It got even worse over time. So back home, I tried everything to clean it, but not even chlorine bleach would do the trick (yep, I was THAT desperate).
Since the ugly brown color (that didn't fit at all into my color scheme) would have also leaked through new layers of pigmented silicone, I had no other choice but to hide the discoloration in a black pattern.
http://www.codos-cosmos.de/bilder/mertail/cover.jpg
On the blue backside there is also brownish discoloration from the underside of the foot pockets. But it's not that prominent, so I simply left it like that.
Right now I'm working on the next tail, and obviously I want to avoid at all costs that this happens again!
So here's my question:
Did anybody here (tail makers and tail owners) have a similar discoloration problem with the combination of a Competitor monofin and Dragon Skin silicone?
If it's not the case, I will simply switch to dragon skin on my next tail(s).
I've been thinking about working in some kind of barrier between the fin and the silicone. Maybe acrylic paint?
But I'm not sure if that would be a long term solution, since there is a lot of movement and stretching in the rubber parts of the foot pocket.
Oh, I also had a problem that the silicone wouldn't cure properly on the edges of the fluke, which are covered into some kind of plastic.
So the seams between the two silicone layers ripped open again and again, and I had to sew them together with ...fishing line. :lol:
I was at a camping site and had only limited tools available. :p
So from my experience I strongly advice to make curing and discoloration tests between the monofin parts and the silicone, especially if you use new silicone or a new fluke, so you avoid running into the same problems.
While I was quite happy with the result (with room for improvement ;)), I had some issues with the silicone I used.
It's an addition cure platinum catalyzed silicone from a local producer. Definitely nothing cheap, and similar to Dragon Skin...or so I thought!
I took the tail to Greece and after a few days and very hot weather, the black rubber from the monofin leaked an ugly brown color through the silicone, most prominently on the ridges. :mad:
http://www.codos-cosmos.de/bilder/mertail/discolor.jpg
It got even worse over time. So back home, I tried everything to clean it, but not even chlorine bleach would do the trick (yep, I was THAT desperate).
Since the ugly brown color (that didn't fit at all into my color scheme) would have also leaked through new layers of pigmented silicone, I had no other choice but to hide the discoloration in a black pattern.
http://www.codos-cosmos.de/bilder/mertail/cover.jpg
On the blue backside there is also brownish discoloration from the underside of the foot pockets. But it's not that prominent, so I simply left it like that.
Right now I'm working on the next tail, and obviously I want to avoid at all costs that this happens again!
So here's my question:
Did anybody here (tail makers and tail owners) have a similar discoloration problem with the combination of a Competitor monofin and Dragon Skin silicone?
If it's not the case, I will simply switch to dragon skin on my next tail(s).
I've been thinking about working in some kind of barrier between the fin and the silicone. Maybe acrylic paint?
But I'm not sure if that would be a long term solution, since there is a lot of movement and stretching in the rubber parts of the foot pocket.
Oh, I also had a problem that the silicone wouldn't cure properly on the edges of the fluke, which are covered into some kind of plastic.
So the seams between the two silicone layers ripped open again and again, and I had to sew them together with ...fishing line. :lol:
I was at a camping site and had only limited tools available. :p
So from my experience I strongly advice to make curing and discoloration tests between the monofin parts and the silicone, especially if you use new silicone or a new fluke, so you avoid running into the same problems.