Custom Monofin and Performance Tail

[Coradion]

So here are some samples of the tail I'm currently working on. The monofin is a custom Tabatafish, the picture is a progress shot since it hasn't been completed yet, accessory extensions will be added to the fin for length for shows, but the fin will be used as is for ocean dives. I wanted a monofin that was more rigid than a finis and had dimensions that fit what I wanted the tail to be so instead of having to hide it and worry about it showing I could just paint the piece itself. It's made out of fiberglass and an epoxy laminate, it's super durable in order to remove a stuck foot pocket it took a sledge hammer. It's fairly thick for the first foot and half coming from the base of the foot pocket and tapers to thinner ends at the tail lobes. This lets the fin flex so the water can roll off of it. The general tail design is based loosely on a mahi I'm debating the pattern and colors but there will be silicone added for texture. The clear fin is a silicone test accessory fin that will be used on the sides of the tail.


http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/129/4/3/tail_sketch_by_hirogoi-d4z4ppi.jpg

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/129/c/b/silicone_fin_piece_by_hirogoi-d4z4q3q.jpg
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/129/9/7/merman_tail_by_hirogoi-d4z4p4a.jpg

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Loving the arm fins, and the monofin progress looks great. :>

[LindseyLu]

This looks awesome!!! I like the shape you decided on for the monofin, have you swam in it yet? Wondering if it will give a good prupolsion and to hear about it's flexibility? And the side fin looks really fantastic too! Can't wait to see more of your progress! :)

[Coradion]

It should give good propulsion it's based on the fastest swimming pelagic fishes. I haven't swam in it yet as the foot pocket hasn't been finished but it's made out of the same materials as most commercial monofins and it's got a 30 degree downward angle like you see in many dive fins.

[jukumerboii]

those are arm fins are beast!!

[Kanti]

Very clever! :')
I like the whole angle thing you're doing with the monofin.
I assume it's going to be bolted to your foot pockets? Not really sure, though xD

Great progress so far!
The arm fins look beautiful~

[Coradion]

The platform for the foot pocket is attached in the pic. It just needs a rounded top and the straps to be added.

[malinghi]

How did you attach the foot plate to the rest of the fin? I love the angle. Looks like it should give a really nice profile to the tail, and hide your heels better than some other designs.

[Coradion]

Ryan from Tabatafish did it, fiberglass adheres to itself pretty well. It's just a fiberglass plate stuck to the blades and then coated in a resin.

[malinghi]

Ryan from Tabatafish did it, fiberglass adheres to itself pretty well. It's just a fiberglass plate stuck to the blades and then coated in a resin.

So the resin is the only adhesive needed to bond the foot platform and the fin?

[Prince Calypso]

the armfins are more than epic
how'd you go about doing it?
if you don't mind me asking

[Coradion]

The resin is used to coat the glass so it doesn't shatter. You take fiberglass then glass it in the shape of the blades, then sand it to the right shape. The platform is a second piece of glass which is then glassed to the blades. Then the whole thing is coated in a resin.

[Coradion]

The arm fins are painted silicone.

[Nemefish]

DUDE...... EPIC!!!! XD

[Coradion]

I'm altering the monofin, it works really well for deep water, but is not good for shallow or confined spaces. Since this will be used as a demo tail for a possible commission of ten or more tails/fins I'm having the fin cut and the blades reattached without the angle. It's actually not too hard to make the modifications. Here's the neoprene thus far. As you can see the scales aren't done yet nor have I finished the seam covering fin pieces. Waiting on a new zipper to be put in for that.

[Coradion]

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[Prince Calypso]

I am like dieing over this tail design its that freaking good.
love the scale pattern and i can't wait to see it all put together

[Bellasea]

Very nice! I agree with Calypso, love the scale pattern!

[Coradion]

Thanks, I wanted to go with a different style of scales than normal. Some older fishes eventually have skin wrap to cover some of the scales or separate them creating the spacing. I don't really like the look of molded or printed scales. I tried using a stencil but the looked too unnatural for my tastes. Most fishes have scales that get larger in the thicker sections of their bodies usually along the spine or the lateral line and then they get smaller as they move towards outer portions. Since a mer tail is dorso ventrally flattened instead of compressed or fusiform I went with the spine is going down the middle and continuing so that's how scales should vary in size. Nothing in nature is absolutely perfect so I wanted to steer away from using netting or a mold for the scales and just went with free hand painting them,

[Ilonka]

I was thinking about doing the size variations for the scales, it looks really cool. But since it was my first tail I didn't want to do anything that might have messed it up. Maybe next time

[Coradion]

I'm just painting the silicone on the neoprene so if there's a mistake I can use a plastic scraper and remove the whole scale if I need to as long as it's still wet.

[Coradion]

So here's the finished tail, and some pics of me in it. I think there will be a video eventually of me in Pac Beach's oceanarium swimming with the rays. Here's a couple shots of me in it, kinda not the best pics. We're doing more on monday though with an actual dive team this time.

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[Coradion]

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[Coradion]

This one's not the best, visibility was poor and I was too close to the camera/we weren't using a very good camera for underwater pics.

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[MerAnthony]

:jawdrop: WOW That is cool as hell. Fantastic work.

[Spindrift]

That looks awesome! I can't wait to see more!

[Mermaid Saphira]

Simply amazing :thumbs-up:

[Moongazer]

That looks amazing! I'd love to know when you open for commissions!

[Coradion]

I always think it looks weird when it's not on me. Like it seems disproportional, but once it's on it seems right. I was mixing POTC style with some of my favorite predatory fishes. I find with a lot of tails if the scales are painted or printed it usually looks weird to me because I can see every scale if that makes sense. With a lot of marine fishes you can see individual scales, but not all of them at once which is what I like about clear silicone scales. They give texture but only at certain angles, so you can always see scales, but you don't see every scale all the time. I also really like forked caudal fins and I haven't seen a tail yet that had a rigid forked caudal fin.

[Mermaid Harmony]

That is awesome!! Nice work

[Coradion]

Here are the other pics. You can see it a bit better. Harmony, the photographer who did these pics can do some for you too. He does it for fun, so yay free underwater photographer. He might be looking to do a mermaid calender to sell, he does sell some prints but he wouldn't sell pics of you unless you were okay with it and signed a model release form.

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[Prince Calypso]

Dude, you are truely talented and make one extremely sexy merman. you should consider modeling as well as going into the tail making buisness casue all i can say is DAMN

[starlite]

huge congrats and i adore the pic !

[Merrow Fair Isle]

Obsessed with the arm fins. 100% win!! Great work!

[Jadestone]

This looks awesome! I think the side/dorsal fins look REALLY cool. I love the translucency! How is the fin shape working for you? It looks very cool, more like actual fish tails than most :)

[Coradion]

The fin shape works well, I can swim well when descending or coming up in deep water, but it's harder to use in shallow areas. I think I should've made it more flexible and less rigid, it flexes a lot in the last third of the blades, but this was a prototype so I can alter future ones however I feel. The accessory fins were a lot of experimentation and like most fishes I wanted them to be transparent, the arm fins were an experiment in making the other fins. I'll probably do more refined versions on a later tail.

[jukumerboii]

this tail is freaking amazing and I agree with calypso..you are 1 sexy ass Merman

[Mermaid Wesley]

im drooling over here.

[Mermaid Dottie]

Talent!

[Mermaid Jessica]

That is one of the coolest tails I've seen!

[Coradion]

Thanks guys, :) I'll be experimenting with casted silicone parts over the holidays. We'll see how those turn out.

[Sammi Ray]

Only just found this. Wow that is stunning! Have you got a video of you swimming in it yet? :-)