Neoprene to latex GO!

[Firemaid]

HELLO!! After quite a bit of lurking I am posting!! YAY!
So I have a neoprene tail, that I mostly love.
the old paint job has faded and I was thinking of re-painting with silicon!!
What do you guys think? is this crazy? Should I just start from scratch?
What product do you recommend as far as silicon goes?
What about pigments?
Also what do you all do about butt crack and floaty fin?
As long as I am re-doing my tail I might as well fix those problems while I am in it!
Thank you in advance!
I love all you other mermaids out there so much!!
-Maria
3809

[Ilonka]

As far as the buttcrack goes definitely add a belt to keep the waistlines tight. The floating fin it depends, neoprene is very buoyant and since your fluke is all made of it and your feet are the lightest part if your body it will float reguardless. If you can make your fluke out of silicon and remove the neoprene this will help allot that's what I did with mine. My tail isent silicone , its special fx latex so I can't help you with the pigmentation and choosing silicone. Good luck!

[Winged Mermaid]

That's a beautiful paint job! I've seen you around facebook and always loved the look of your tail- admiring your handy work and all that ^_^ What kind of paint did you use originally? <-Important for what will and won't stick to the tail at this point.

I know screen printing ink essentially "dyes" the fabric what you paint it- it's what Hannah uses on her neoprene tails (like the famous blue one).

You could also use createx paint, then coat the whole thing in tin cure silicone. This seems to be a popular option. You can pick from different brands, but GE Silicone (of course in clear) seems to be a tested popular option. If you decide to do that you can even add texture such as scales or fluke texture if you decide to over the paint job. I'm not sure that if you used acrylic paint before or to do the new paint job if the silicone would stick at all after that. You'd have to do a swatch test to be sure.

As for "butt crack and floaty fin".. *giggle*... *ahem*! Anyway, uh, butt crack if it's an issue of keeping the tail up, but not so far up it's above where you want, you could install elastic into the waist. You can use a wide elastic belt on the inside of your tail, with the clasp at the back so it's in the crook of your back. Or just sew wide elastic that you can by buy the yard in and make your own clasp via hook and eyes or what ever else you may see fit. This is also a tip taken from Hannah! You can see pictures on this thread (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?443-Hannah-Fraser-s-Tails). That way it will stay snug to your waist or hips (wherever you want it).

I take it by floaty fin that your fluke is buoyant? What kind of fin do you use? Are there any other materials inside your fluke?

[Firemaid]

As far as the buttcrack goes definitely add a belt to keep the waistlines tight. The floating fin it depends, neoprene is very buoyant and since your fluke is all made of it and your feet are the lightest part if your body it will float reguardless. If you can make your fluke out of silicon and remove the neoprene this will help allot that's what I did with mine. My tail isent silicone , its special fx latex so I can't help you with the pigmentation and choosing silicone. Good luck!
A belt! Genius!!! How do you keep it hidden?!?! Glue it to the neoprene? what kind of glue would you use? or sew it and then paint? fill me in PLEASE!!!!
Tell me more about this special fx latex you use!! I'm not attached to silicon, just wanna upgrade with what ever material is best!!

[Firemaid]

That's a beautiful paint job! I've seen you around facebook and always loved the look of your tail- admiring your handy work and all that ^_^ What kind of paint did you use originally? <-Important for what will and won't stick to the tail at this point.

I know screen printing ink essentially "dyes" the fabric what you paint it- it's what Hannah uses on her neoprene tails (like the famous blue one).

You could also use createx paint, then coat the whole thing in tin cure silicone. This seems to be a popular option. You can pick from different brands, but GE Silicone (of course in clear) seems to be a tested popular option. If you decide to do that you can even add texture such as scales or fluke texture if you decide to over the paint job. I'm not sure that if you used acrylic paint before or to do the new paint job if the silicone would stick at all after that. You'd have to do a swatch test to be sure.

As for "butt crack and floaty fin".. *giggle*... *ahem*! Anyway, uh, butt crack if it's an issue of keeping the tail up, but not so far up it's above where you want, you could install elastic into the waist. You can use a wide elastic belt on the inside of your tail, with the clasp at the back so it's in the crook of your back. Or just sew wide elastic that you can by buy the yard in and make your own clasp via hook and eyes or what ever else you may see fit. This is also a tip taken from Hannah! You can see pictures on this thread (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?443-Hannah-Fraser-s-Tails). That way it will stay snug to your waist or hips (wherever you want it).

I take it by floaty fin that your fluke is buoyant? What kind of fin do you use? Are there any other materials inside your fluke?

My original paint is plain old spray paint! It's gotten a bit faded over the years, and I would love to re-paint with something latex/silicone like if I can, but if I have to I will start from scratch. :(
My fin is neoprene old swim fins, some kind of hard plastic and a lot of glue, and its really buoyant. (thats a good word thanks!) it's always floating away when I swim.

[Winged Mermaid]

How do you keep it hidden?!?! Glue it to the neoprene? what kind of glue would you use? or sew it and then paint? fill me in PLEASE!!!!!

Well the less permanent and more popular way of doing a belt is to just have a mermaid belt accessory. They are usually made out of netting with shells and faux sea flora attached. Some people just use the netting. Some people use belly dance belts! Some people make belts out of curtain fringe (sold by the yard at fabric stores). If you go to the accessories section you'll see plenty!

The other more permanent way is to put an elastic belt on the inside of the tail, as I stated in my post. It's best to get a belt of elastic material (or make your own with elastic by the yard and some closures sewn on) then sew it into the inside the waist line- that way it's hidden! If you can use a zig zag stitch or other stretch stitch so the thread stretches with the elastic. A straight stitch will do, but it may need to be re sewn later down the road, since straight stitches don't stretch with the material they can break eventually.


My original paint is plain old spray paint! It's gotten a bit faded over the years, and I would love to re-paint with something latex/silicone like if I can, but if I have to I will start from scratch.
My fin is neoprene old swim fins, some kind of hard plastic and a lot of glue, and its really buoyant. (thats a good word thanks!) it's always floating away when I swim.

Hum, spray paint. Not sure how that will handle other things on top of it. When in doubt do swatch tests on a separate scrap piece of the same type of fabric or a small less noticeable part of the tail- test make sure it stays on in water and any other conditions (like scraping pavement ect), and if it doesn't stay on don't use it on the rest of the tail.

You can coat the tail in the silicone I mentioned to keep it from fading any more. You can also re do the paint job painting over the old one with newer paint or just re do the parts that are most faded (I'd guess the darker areas)- basically touch it up. If you use tin cure latex it will cover all of the paint and you'll have to repaint the whole thing, and you will have to do touch ups over time as paint comes off of the tin cure as it scrapes on things.

You can't really use silicone or latex as paint on a neoprene tail to my knowledge. You can mix the stuff with pigment or paint to make it colored, but if you're going to put in on the tail you'll need to cover the whole thing. Otherwise it'll probably just peel off. I don't know for sure becuase I've never done it myself. If that's what you'd like to do you can always do a swatch test and see if it will hold up :)


Unfortunately fins can be very floaty :/ The glue could be giving it extra buoyancy as well. I would suggest either switching to a monofin, or putting something inside of the fluke to help weigh it down. Just know anything you put in it to weigh it down is probably going to create a lot of drag when swimming.

[Ayla of Duluth]

A belt! Genius!!! How do you keep it hidden?!?! Glue it to the neoprene? what kind of glue would you use? or sew it and then paint? fill me in PLEASE!!!!
Tell me more about this special fx latex you use!! I'm not attached to silicon, just wanna upgrade with what ever material is best!!

I've seen on a few neoprene tails where the elastic band is on the inside of the neoprene, so it keeps the waist tight but doesn't show. If there are any wrinkles or pleats at the waist after the elastic band is sewn in, you can either take out the band, take in the tail at the seams and try again, or use a mermaid belt accesory to hide the wrinkles. I wouldn't recommend gluing elastic to neoprene, I'm not sure how it would handle the stretch, if it would flake apart and come off or what.

[Ilonka]

Water and glue doesent mix, it will eventually unglue, so make sure to sew your elastic band in! The latex I used was from monstermakers.com really good stuff, comes in one and fivrle gallons and they have the paints too. Special fx latex is super strong and durable and the paints will not flake, crack or fade. Since monstermakers latex is a paste instead of liquid you can spread it on your neoprene or, make moulds for your scales and fluke.
I suggest you make a new fluke out of latex and cut out the neoprene, that way it won't float anymore, but you have to make sure to seal in the whole inside with latex so it doesent fill with water!

[Spindrift]

That tail is beautiful! Where can I see clearer photos?
As for the paint job, why don't you just repaint it with regular paint/spray paint (your old way) and then seal it with silicone spray so that it won't fade? I'd hate to see a tail like that lose it's artistic aesthetics.
You can always make a second tail out of silicone. :)

[Mermaid Dottie]

Spindrift is brilliant. I would always take spin's advice into consideration.

[Spindrift]

Spindrift is brilliant. I would always take spin's advice into consideration.
Haha you flatter me Dottie! Thanks for your vote of confidence! :D

[Firemaid]

So I was thinking paint the whole tail with silicon/latex, whatever product works best? (What do ya'll recommend)? I guess sew a belt in first, that way the new skin will cover the sew job. Def gonna make a mermaid belt for my next gig, it's in less than a month and I would hate to have a 1/2 finished tail.

[Firemaid]

That tail is beautiful! Where can I see clearer photos?
As for the paint job, why don't you just repaint it with regular paint/spray paint (your old way) and then seal it with silicone spray so that it won't fade? I'd hate to see a tail like that lose it's artistic aesthetics.
You can always make a second tail out of silicone. :)

You can add me on facespace. Lots of pics there if, but warning: you'll have to sift through all my normal life stuff :)
http://www.facebook.com/maria.russo.904750

[Firemaid]

OK so I'm just going to repaint the old tail, and make a new one silicone one!
Im pretty excited. I met a special FX guy in my city and he is going to let me use his shop and hold my hand. How cool is that?
like 10, I know!
I will take pictures and tell you guys about the whole process.
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[Winged Mermaid]

That's really freaking awesome!!! I'm so excited for you!