painting neoprene fins

[Delilah]

I am making a neoprene tail sans silicone and will be painting the neoprene directly. I want to add fins but im not sure what to do about using neoprene for that as both sides of the neoprene are different texture and color. Is the black side of the neoprene still paintable or should i get another fabric?

[Winged Mermaid]

Do a test swatch and see if the paint will take on the back side of the fabric. If not, you can glue or sew another piece of neoprene on so that they're back to back, OR you could glue or sew more fabric to the backside. For gluing you'd want Seal Cement (http://www.mcnett.com/Seal-Cement-Contact-Cement-for-Neoprene-P235.aspx).

[Nyxie]

what kind of paint would work on neoprene?

[Winged Mermaid]

Lots. Acrylic paint, jacquard paints, and screen printing inks seem to be the most popular for neoprene. You can use a textile medium (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/ceramcoat-textile-medium-31583/) to help with acrylic cracking and a no heat fixative (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/ceramcoat-textile-medium-31583/) for screen printing inks if needed. There's more if you dig around here (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?2633-%E2%98%86%E2%9A%A0TAILMAKING-REFERENCE-INDEX%E2%9A%A0%E2%98%86-Look-here-BEFORE-you-post-any-questions!) and in the rest of the tailmaking/tailmaking questions categories.

[lynsea]

I loved using acrylic. It's cheap and shows up perfectly.

[Mermaid Harmony]

But won't the acryllic fade off, or peel off or wash off?

[Coradion]

I used lumiere heat set paint for my neoprene tail.

[Coradion]

To make side fins you can glue two pieces together, I also did neoprene and silicone side fins for one of my tails. If you have the neoprene already it should only cost about 15 dollars to make them. Start by cutting the neoprene into a fin shape, then paint each side. Paint job doesn't need to be perfect. Once both sides are completely dry, like 100% take a tube of clear silicone and pour it on the fins starting at the base. A wet paint brush can be used to paint the silicone to coat and texture the fins without it clumping onto the brush. Make sure you do this over a piece of plastic. The color of the neoprene will show through the fin and adding an iridescent spray to the fins while the silicone is still wet can give it a really cool shine. Moonflower did a similar fin, but I think she used a white fabric base. Her tutorial is really helpful.