Mandarinfish tail? Lionfish tail? Sea slug tail?

[Mistnoth]

Whoo... I just registered for this site a few hours ago after looking at it for days and days dreaming of mermaids and tails and whatnot and I'm really happy to finally get up the nerves to talk to people who share this interest with me.

I've been wanting to make a tail for about a year and a half, and only now have some money to make it (hopefully). I was just wondering if I could get some opinions for some tail colors and concept ideas that I am mulling over.
So the tail I originally thought would look nice was going to be a coppery green tail. I thought it would make a nice, more natural looking tail. Also it would be simple.
Lately though I've started wondering if I should be a little more bold with my colors and patterns. That lead to the internet, which lead me to some striking beauties that I hadn't thought of before. They mostly include the mandarinfish, the lionfish, and sea slugs or flatworms (I know they aren't fish, but they are super pretty). I was mostly just wondering what some of you guys thought about these guys. I'm going to try to draw up some rough drafts tomorrow and hopefully post them on here if I can. Well thank you for reading this!

[Mermaid Shayna]

I've never thought of seaslugs for color design, but I think it's a wonderful idea! I'd love to see your sketches! What material do you plan to use? I'm working on another one with silvery-black fabric and I cut my monofin- kinda like a freshwater minnow idea I guess. And mandarin fish a beautiful, but very intricate. I suggest a simpler fish for you first tail, maybe a blue tang if you could get the black symmetrical on the sides?

[Mistnoth]

I decided that a mandarinfish and a lionfish would be a little more advanced than what I would want to possibly do, so I did scrap the idea for now. I may come back to them later though. :) I decided to look at butterfly koi for the more "fishy" of the 2 tails I drew. I will be able to post them later when I'm not using a slow little netbook and can resize the pictures, but for now I will just describe some of my template ideas.

I thought a butterfly koi would be nice because several pictures of them show that they are very smooth looking with only a few patches of large pearly scales. I don't know if that's how they are supposed to look, but the effect was pretty so I thought of ways I could mimic it. I thought about getting some neoprene in a light beige-gold fabric and adding some glittery paint to make it look smooth and glossy. For the larger scales I thought about using some clear vinyl fabric and embossing it to mimic a scale pattern, then painting the underside of it with some iridescent pigments and either sewing or gluing it onto the tail in patches down the front, back and sides of the tail. For the fluke I want to make a clear monofin with lexan and layer it in a way that would create some spines. I also thought about adding some clear rubber tubing and vinyl to mimic the flowy tails and fins. Also I could put some strong wire in the tubes and then seal the ends with glue to help the side fins hold their shape.

I did also draw a flatworn style tail. It doesn't look like it would be too hard to do. Mostly I would have probably some sort of shimmery spandex and not really cut out the mermaid shape but just sew it up in the middle of an oval of fabric. Then I would like to make a wavy edge around the edges by sewing a pocket around the edge and putting a lot of plastic tubing through it until it started bunching up. That way even when I swam it would have that ruffling effect. I would probably have to find some stiff fabric to help make the outer fringe stiff and not be floppy against me in the water. Maybe some more plastic and wire tubing. I think I will have to go get some scraps of fabric and sew some baby test tails to fully get the idea of what I think would help make this tail look nice.

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures, but I hope this still intrigues you. :)

[Mistnoth]

Well nevermind... Paint let me resize my pictues. Whoo-hoo! Yeah so these are the butterfly koi and the flatworm mermaid tail concepts I made with the help of the template by (Koral???) Hope you like.

[MerEmma]

Wow, super gorgeous<3

[Mistnoth]

Thanks Emma :)

I ended up drawing even more tails at work. They are similar to the teal one above but at least one of them is much better.

[Aino Revontuletar]

Oh my gosh I'm in love with the bottom one (sea slug?) it's gorgeous!!! So unique too :D

[Mistnoth]

Yeah I tried looking at different fish to get inspiration, but I can't help but love all the colors and patterns of sea slugs. If you liked the blue one I think you will like this pink one even better. Its nice to me because the flower at the end would hide your heels. Also its just pretty looking.

[Aino Revontuletar]

wow that's awesome I love it!! I love the ruffles on it, I'm making a tail with a lot of ruffles too, though not quite the same as these (if you're interested the design for it is in my photos, and I also have a tail making thread) The flower looks awesome, it looks almost like some exotic tropical coral or something

[Mistnoth]

I just looked at it. Its super pretty! I hope it comes out well.

[Aino Revontuletar]

Thanks! I would really love to see one of your sea slug tails come to life too, they would look amazing!

[Mistnoth]

Me too! They would look lovely in spandex or sequins... the flowery bit would probably have to be silicone or some other rubbery thing... maybe. Man now I don't know whether I want to aim for making my koi tail or a slug tail. :/

[Aino Revontuletar]

Slug tail slug tail slug tail!!! :D Oh I could just imagine one of your slug tails in all sequins, that would be brilliant! I will be using silicone for my tail

[Mistnoth]

I wish I could make a silicone tail, but I am way to broke and also I have no real tools where I live to undertake such a project. :)
And yes I think a slug tail would be cool to make... Now to go through all the slugs and find one with a color scheme and 'accessories' that I like. I will post some of the ones I find here so people can look and help me pick.

[Aino Revontuletar]

Awesome! And yeah, join the club, I am currently in the "saving up for supplies" stage of my silicone tail journey. I have also never used silicone or anything like it before so I don't have any of the tools and supplies yet either.

[Mistnoth]

I've used latex before for zombie makeup and helping a friend make a small horror film, but I don't think the process I used for those would apply to making a tail.
Anyway I found some pretty little sluggies for us to look at.

Also... for sequins... how do you think buying some clear vinyl or something similar and cutting and painting them to look like whatever shape of scales you would want? I think it might be cheaper than buying so many sequins plus I could customize my colors and layers. It I find a way to coat it too do you think that might work?

[Mistnoth]

Forgot these 2...

[Aino Revontuletar]

They are all so pretty, I wouldn't know which one to pick! I love the second one, but I really love the ruffles on the fourth one, and the flower thing on the fifth. Maybe you could pick different elements from each slug and make it into one big slug-fusion, hahaha XD And yeah I guess you could make scales out of vinyl if you wanted, but it would take so long cutting them all out and painting them all! But if you could find a paint that could work, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to do it that way

[Mistnoth]

I know I definitely would want the ruffles and either the spiky things or the flower, just to help show that its not really a fish tail. And yeah, cutting them out individually would be lots of work, but I think price wise its the better solution if it works. What fabric would I even use for this monstrosity?!?!?

[Aino Revontuletar]

That would be the difficult thing, as you would want something that would look like ruffles in the water. I would probably go for spandex or something similar for the main body of the tail, but I am really not sure what you would use for the ruffles

[Mistnoth]

I could probably use spandex for the ruffles. I had thought that the best way to do it would be to put some thickish plastic between the layers of spandex to toughen it up and then around the edge sew a pocket kind of like on hoodies where the string is, but put some thin plastic tubing and overfill it kind of to make it bunch up in the ruffle pattern. I could put some wire inside the tubing and seal it with glue or something too then it might help hold the shape and protect the fabric from the metal and the metal from the water.

[Aino Revontuletar]

That sounds like it would work, actually. You may not even need the wire, if you just use plastic tubing or something similar that could work quite well on its own, and hold the shape while not being too stiff and rigid.

[Jadestone]

SEA SLUGS <3

I love all these designes and inspirations so far ahh!!! They are lovely :)

Might I also suggest this nudibranch species as inspiration? Glaucus atlanticus--I've seen pics of it going around lately and it's stunning:

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[Mistnoth]

I do like the little blue dragon guys, but I found one I liked. I couldn't find his picture but he looks kind of like this guy except with striped down the middle of him and with lots of little black spots between the blue and yellow middle and the white fringe. I'm working on the design now but I will post it when I am finished... since I'm too excited to be sleepy like I should be.

[Mistnoth]

I do believe this shall become my slug tail.

[Jadestone]

That is STUNNING!! I absolutely adore it! I'm so excited to see what you do with this :D I love nudibranches a lot.

What are you planning to make the tail out of?

[Mistnoth]

Spandex most likely. I want to paint the pattern onto white spandex and make the flower and hip feathers out of plastic tubing and vinyl and paint. I also want to try to make a monofin for it out of a rubber mat and watershoes like I found on youtube somewhere by I forget who, but it looked like it would work ok and if it is too floppy I will hardwire some bracers into it.

[Jadestone]

Awesome!! Will the bottom be plain white? I'm really looking forward to seeing this come together :)

[Mistnoth]

I'm not entirely sure yet about the bottom. I like the idea of leaving it white, but I may get some pearly paint and netting and give it some texture.

[Kanti]

Wow I absolutely love the designs!
I love nudibranchs and sea hares! Theyre so cute and pretty! Especially the nudibranchs, they always seem to have the most beautiful colors @_@
A tail for a nudibranch wouldn't be that hard, or impossible, you'd just have to do some general shaping.
I assume creating ruffles with silicone is the same thing as creating ruffles in fabrics, so meh shouldn't be anything IMPOSSIBLE, or really even that hard to do.

I'm sure if you take this design to a tailmaker they'd be a bit confused xD

[Mermaid Arianna]

for the ruffles, cut the fabric into circles with holes cut out then sew them together, maybe using shelf liner for this would work? I can make a mini version if you want to see what I mean. :)

[Mistnoth]

Yes please, that would be very helpful. :) I'm not very experienced with sewing.

[jvry8c]

the sea slug idea is really cool! I always thought a eel mermaid tail would look really unique and interesting.

[Mistnoth]

Yeah! Eels are awesome. We have 2 in our aquatic campaign for D&D. One's a big moray named Lockjaw who eats everything and the other is an electric eel named Guarde who acts like a puppy.

[Aino Revontuletar]

Oooh I love it! It's going to be awesome!!!

[Mistnoth]

I tried the circle ruffles with some wax paper taped to my notebook Arianna. They look really nice. Mostly I'm struggling with how to cut this rubber welcome mat for my fin. I think I want it to be a little thinner and more rounded than the traditional fluke. What do you guys think?

[Nymue]

Love the blue/yellow slug pattern, makes a very unique tail <3 The painting part will be a real challenge I guess, but the result is worth all the work !

(And that little blue Glaucus is so cute !!)

[Mistnoth]

It shouldn't be all too hard. I painted my sister's Toms to look like Van Gogh's Starry Night with a Dr Who Tardis on it and it came out pretty well. Mostly I will have to worry about blending the colors into one another and smudging.

[jvry8c]

you should post pics when its done. I think off the beaten stream tails like that are awesome. Having a trout, salmon, eel, sea slug, or or other aquatic animal that you don't typically think of when you think of a mermaid is cool.

[Mistnoth]

I will try. Right now I'm locating where I can go to buy the materials I need. Does anyone know where I can get this E 6000 glue I've heard about on here?

[spottedcatfish]

I will try. Right now I'm locating where I can go to buy the materials I need. Does anyone know where I can get this E 6000 glue I've heard about on here?

They have E6000 glue at Michaels, or Jo-Anns fabric stores. I can't wait to see this design come to life!

[Mistnoth]

Cool! There are one of each right next to each other about 5-10 minutes away from my house!

[Mistnoth]

:D I just ordered my monofin! I hope it is exactly as awesome as I think it is.

[Mermaid Caspiana]

I like the slug in post #17 the 1st one, the pink, blue, purple, and white one. Also for the flower you could buy soft silicone sea anemone from the pet store and bind them all together toile one big flower thingy. That would look cool. I am using those for some hair pieces and tops. They are so soft and squishy and flowy in the water too. :) good luck! And ps I have lots of drawings in my one album of tail drawings I made. I am planning on making a business out if it, so if you would like some designs you can go to my album and read the info on it and such. :)
Happy mermaiding! Just keep swimming just keep swimming!

[Mermaid Caspiana]

And your drawings are great too! :)

[Mermaid Melanie]

Hey Mistnof - I ADORE nudibranchs - they are my love for diving ! Ive decided to start a nudibranch thread in the environmental thread and will post pics and info on em if you want more inspiration :P btw neoprene would work well - here we have diving hoods made to look like nudies and it shapes very well ! x

[Mermaid Sparkle]

I LOVE these ideas so much! I'm doing all of this thinking on how you could make them look like your pictures and I just love all of the materials and ways that they could come to life. I wanna make that sea slug tail so bad. SO BAD. I'm thinking about how I would gather the fabric to make the ruffles and... whee! I love it.