Andrew's Tail Making Journey

[jukumerboii]

AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING omg u will be over booked in the times to come when making tails man!

[AniaR]

he really will be, especially when Im done photoshooting for him ;) <3

[Mermaid Marla]

That is a pretty fintastic tail you have made Andrew! It almost looks like one of those leopard sharks when you're underwater! Looking forward to seeing what you create for Raina!

[Black Akira]

The colors are awesome however it's bunching up a little, and I could see your briefs.

[Dr. SeaWeed]

^_^ Thankyou everyone:)

Deep Sea Siren - You are right it could stand to be taken in a tiny bit, I thought I had subtracted enough from my measurements to keep it tight, oh well luckily this first one was for me so no harm no foul, you live you learn right? better to have something a little too big that I can adjust rather than it being too small.

[AniaR]

better to have something a little too big that I can adjust rather than it being too small.

that's what Im saying. LOL. Same thing with length. After my experience the first time around I'd rather have the thing come up to my neck than down past my butt crack LOL

[Dr. SeaWeed]

throwing some of my still pics up on here ;)1347134813491350

[Black Akira]

Dr. Seaweed yes it's good that it isn't too small as it would suck, a simple re measurement would work, but the coloration of the tail is nice.

[AniaR]

I still can't believe this is your first attempt at a tail. It really blows my mind. But I think it really helped that you ran so many test swatches!!! You'll know when you're ready to sell that your product works and lives up to expectation! Plus you've got the sample vids to prove! My BF did the same thing with his company. Instead of telling people the lights he creates can withstand crazy stuff, he shows em. There's video on youtube of him throwing them off buildings, shooting them with fire hoses, earth quake tests in a shake machine... all kinds of awesome! I think doing all that background work and sharing it really creates a great professional transparency that'll do nothing but good things in the future :)

[Mermaid Shelly]

This is the most amazing tail and development process I have ever seen... you are a true artist and a Dr. of Seaweed and scales and so much more! Truly a magnificent piece :) And if this is your first tail, I cannot even begin to imagine what the future will hold for you! Just so excited to see this amazing journey unfold... congratulations on this amazing feat!

[Dr. SeaWeed]

thank you guys so much <3 you really know how to make a merman blush (#^.^#)

I am really happy with how it turned out aswell, even if it does have some flaws.

[Maple]

Andrew - the tail is so amazing and lovely and I cannot compliment you enough on it.

Raina - You are a lucky mer my dear! Getting one of his first tails! It's going to be beautiful!

[Dr. SeaWeed]

Thankyou Maple !! :) you are too kind :)

I have been getting A tonne of emails from people interested in my tails and I am just overjoyed.
Because there is so many , I have quickly realized I had better make more molds of sheets of scales so I can turn out tails quicker.

Some of you may remember the "push mold" of a single scale that I made to make the scale sheet originally. (1st page of this thread)

It works great but it is so tedious push molding each scale 1 by 1.....
so I am trying to make another "push mold" but this time instead of a single scale, it will be of a small patch of scales.

That should allow me to make huge full body sized sheets of clay scales for molding a lot quicker than the single scale technique......

I was snooping around Michaels, and saw some cool stuff called: Clear Polyester Casting Resin, and decided to try using that, to make my new push mold, instead of the glue I used for the original one.

anyways I made a little video of me making the new push mold and wanted to share it, so here it is:) wish me luck!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOegOT_dgAc

[Mermaid Saphira]

looks great so far ;)

[Mermaid Lorelei]

I actually have that exact resin sitting on my shelf. Let me know how it works out?

[Dr. SeaWeed]

Thanks Mermaid Aqua,

Mermaid Lorelei- It appears to have turned out great! the resin solidified but it is still a little sticky to the touch, so ill need to let it sit a little longer. some air that was trapped under/between the clay scales escaped and the bubbles floated to the top of the resin, but the resin was deep enough luckily that the bubbles are not touching the actual detail on the inside of the mold.

here a little video showing the "push mold" after I took the clay scales out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WqcBbx83-I

[Mermaid Saphira]

I'm sure you'll be able to get some tails out quick with that mold :)

[lynsea]

What exactly is that mold of the scales made of?

[Dr. SeaWeed]

What exactly is that mold of the scales made of?

Clear polyester casting resin, that I found wandering the aisles of Michaels.
The video before this one shows a quick shot of it.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Is the mold at all flexible, or is it a solid block? It looks really good by the way.

[Dr. SeaWeed]

Is the mold at all flexible, or is it a solid block? It looks really good by the way.

Its pretty much solid, but it does have a slight flex still... that could be because I used the entire container and it just needs more time. (it still smells a little like curing) or I could of had my catalyst ratio a little off.

Either way a slight flex doesnt bother me and can actually be beneficial when trying to get the corner of a piece peeled up so u can get it out of the push mold.

[Dr. SeaWeed]

was in an experimental mood tonight.... extremely racy starfish pasties in the works? hehe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1PZekzmY94

[koiboi]

Love your vids, thank god someone finally documented the whole process. love your tail andrew!

two questions:
1. what latex did you use for the actual tail/what paint?

2. how did you fuse the latex to the neoprene?

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Koiboi - Question 2, He used liquid latex (such as you can find at halloween stores) as a glue between the latex sheets and the neoprene. The liquid latex dries both pieces together. :3

[koiboi]

Koiboi - Question 2, He used liquid latex (such as you can find at halloween stores) as a glue between the latex sheets and the neoprene. The liquid latex dries both pieces together. :3

Thanks so much doll!

[Mermaid Shelly]

Starfish!! Oh how cute! You are amazing Andrew, truly astounding! I adore your works :)

[Ilonka]

How much clay did you have to buy for the entire project? Will the 5 lbs block that monster makers sell be enough to sculpt a large fluke?
Also, how much Shell Shock did you need?
Im trying not to buy huge quantities of things and then have allot of materials left over (it almost always happens to me with anything i buy XD )

[Kanti]

I guess it would depend how thick you want the fluke. I only have 10lbs of oil-based clay
(basically same density as monster I assume) and I've been able to make a rather large
one-sided fluke (about 1" thick at the deepest part) with about 4 blocks of clay (4lbs)
My fin is probably 24x24 at MOST. So that SHOULD give you an idea I suppose xD

[malinghi]

I've wanted to make a pdf version of this thread to post in the site's how-to section for a while. Here's a draft of a PDF version of this. Its really long though, and the file is huge. What do you guys think? I'm particularly interested in feedback from Dr. SeaWeed.

http://mernetwork.com/imgs/ATJ.pdf

[Triton88]

Hello everyone , this is Dr. Seaweed. I couldn't remember my old account info so I've created a new one. I apologize for my absence but it was unavoidable and I'd rather not get into it....life has quieted down now and For any who care still i just wanted to announce I have finally begun selling my tails (in silicone only) and though the website is still under construction I have begun taking orders and have left contact details on my new Facebook page : Mermart , so those too eager to wait can do so. I've missed you all ❤

[Triton88]

Here are a couple pics of what I've been working on lately https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170402/8585ec2b4e3b4debd1c1e29be77786bf.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170402/db42c7c31ab43e5b0270967652fca59b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170402/bd475d83e141b5750e8dae986930177c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170402/2fc1f6089015d44fd4e03c9fc0bac050.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170402/b0ce3adad0e98ff663da539d9dcd3d58.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170402/a459f1175fbc3530f298ba4ff06b5c58.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170402/4f916ff3c4100cab39c2def7a8a75c24.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170402/19d4a50c31595263ccb32eaed6a5413e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170402/78caba722429be8356b5f652010effaa.jpg


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[AniaR]

welcome back dr seaweed!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 I got your email just been busy today, will respond soon!!!

[Triton88]

Thankyou so much my dear❤💙 And no worries take all the time you need 😘

[Marinus Mortimer]

I went through that loosing my account a few times. Great work btw


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[Triton88]

I went through that loosing my account a few times. Great work btw


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Thankyou so much [emoji170]


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