filling the inside of the tail where the monofin doesnt reach?? help please

[JesseaP7488]

Hey Merfriends
so i just got a new tail and its gorgeous but the monofin is pretty small and the rest of the Fluke is large so around where the monofin doesnt reach all of it. its all floppy and it looks cool under the water but when im above it just doesnt make it look realistic and it flops all over the place especally on the outer sides of the fluke any sugestions on what i can fill the sides with to make it a little stiffer??? meaning the fluke sorry guys im just trying to think how to fix this w/o having to put a larger monofin in and having to cut it and everything you know? my other tail have a oceanika and i absolutely loove it but my new one only has a small monofin.

[Winged Mermaid]

I take it it's a fabric tail? What maker?
Vinyl is a good choice for this. It gives it some stiffness, but still moves in the water instead of being completely stiff. You can get clear vinyl for cheap in different thicknesses by the yard at JoAnns and other fabric stores. My first tail was fabric and had vinyl sewn right in the tail, and the monofin went in between the two layers. It also helped to hide the monofin ridges! Other options would be foam or rubber inserts, but they create a lot of drag and are really floaty.

[Mermaid Fenicia]

I use boning (like the ones for hoopskirts) to add to the sides of my fabric flukes ;)
http://mernetwork.com/index/album.php?albumid=273&attachmentid=5299 <= here you can see the tunnel where the boning is slide into ;)

[Lyna]

if it's fabric, what about the thin plastic sheets made for overheads? if it anyting else, of course this won't be strong enough to lend any support. maybe lex...oh what is that stuff called...you can make monofins out of it. you can saw a skeletal structure out of it. and since it's already in use as monofins, you know it will be safe to have hanging around your feet (versus plexiglass)

[Merman_Shawn]

maybe lex...oh what is that stuff called...you can make monofins out of it. you can saw a skeletal structure out of it. and since it's already in use as monofins, you know it will be safe to have hanging around your feet (versus plexiglass)

Lexan

[Spindrift]

I like the rubber idea. There was a girl on YouTube who put rubber inserts at the edges and it looked great in and out of the water. I can't remember the title of the video right now, but I'm pretty sure I've posted the video to the forum at some point.

[Winged Mermaid]

I actually dug up that video and put the link in the "Monofins, the official thread" sticky (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?2909-MONOFINS-THE-OFFICIAL-THREAD) under "monofin shaping additions". Quick link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNLqf7ZritI