Mermaid Claire's silicone tail in progress.

[Claire the french mermaid]

Hi everyone !

Here some pictures of my fourth mermaid tail, in silicone this time (the others were in latex).
I have created the mold for the scales and the fluke.
tell me what you think about it :)


My silicone's scales
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First coat of paint :
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[MerAnthony]

:jawdrop: WOW!! love it.

[Talise]

Gorgeous :)

[Claire the french mermaid]

Thanks :) I will finish to paint it this week !

[Mermaid Saphira]

It's looking good! I like the shape of the fluke :3 Can't wait to see it finished!

[MermaidFyre]

:drool: love that color blue!

[Mermaid Allie]

That's absolutely stunning! You made it yourself?! You go girl!

[Mizuko]

It looks awesome! :D Cant wait to see it fully painted! :D

[lasserine]

Looks impressive

[Blondie]

SO Fantastic!!!!

[Claire the french mermaid]

Thank you ! Yes I made it entirely by myself :) I will post a picture fully painted at the end of the week and next week I will start to work on the top !

[MermaidBrittany]

WOW thats fintastic! :P Have you had any previous experience with silicone before making your tail??

[Claire the french mermaid]

No, it's my first experience with silicone and molding. I took two months to get to this result ! ^^

[Patches]

WOAH this is really awesome. Especially since you've never made anything with silicone before.

[lynsea]

Any tips on your silicone process? What instructions did you follow?

[AniaR]

Lovely job Claire! <3

[Claire the french mermaid]

Thanks :)
I used some instructions of kanti (thanks to her !) in her tread "full silicone's tail tutorial", I made foam scales board and I carved my fin.
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Next i cast my fin with liquid plastic (I actually said in the thread that I did not like that material). So, I tested another material to mold my scales: the polyurethane, here a picture of my mold :
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and then I just had to get my silicone's prints !
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Of course that's easier said than done but it gives you an idea;)

[lasserine]

Wow, looks amazing.

[Mermaid Kassandra]

WOW!!! O.O ....it's.....I don't have words for this.....I LOVE IT!!!!! Can't wait to see it finished :)

[ShyMer]

Whoa, polyurethane for a mold?? I dont know that i've heard anyone using that for molds before. How do you think it would do as a fluke mold? Does it keep detail with multiple uses? Whats the process to make a mold with polyurethane? Where do you buy materials? i'd love to try a different mold making material, especially a lighter one that doesnt degrade after a few uses. Details, pretty please?

[Prince Calypso]

my only question is about the foam scale board. how do you go about making it or do you buy it or what
it seems a lot less time consuming then making a completely clay mold

[Claire the french mermaid]

@Shymer : I'm not sure but I think i'm the first mermaid who tried polyurethane mold ^^ I think its a great mold for scales and fluke ! if I had known this material earlier, I would have used it for my fin ! it's a flexible and resistant material, even after many uses (according to the instructions ^ ^).I live in Paris so I buy the material on a french website, but it's Smooth On brand material imported from the United States. Have you see the thread "tutorial for silicone tail" ? This could help you ! :)

[Claire the french mermaid]

@Prince calypso : i made the foam scale's board and I think it is as long to do that clay's scales ! You must cut the scales one by one into the foam and then stick them on the board, this is what took me the longest time to do !

[ShyMer]

I'm not sure which thread you mean, do you remember who created the thread? I'm having trouble finding the product you used on smooth on's site, could you post a link?

I'm surprised that no one has used this before.

also I assume you simply used a craft punch or a craft blade to cut your scales, correct? Cutting out the scales takes so long any way you do it, it seems.


Tangent alert- when i was in Spain for a few months a couple years ago, I was asked to bring some craft supplies because I was told they don't really have those stores. Other than a findings shop I saw once, i don't think I ever saw stores where you could purchase craft supplies.
I was curious if you have basic craft stores in your area in France, or would you have to order online to purchase things like craft punches or whatever. Maybe you have more specialized stores where you are? Just wondering how easy it is to find many of the materials we have here :)

[Kanti]

polyurethane just means the material you used.
generally theres urethane epoxy or silicone.
Im prwtty sure she just used a urethane rubber rather than a platic which is fine its just less lightweight and more flexible.
Shell shock is a urethane so it has basically similar properties its just thinner and lighter. Poly just means its multiple urethanes in one compound. Thiz usually makes polyurethanes more durable and flexible..

[Claire the french mermaid]

Yes Kanti is right ! My translation french-english was not complete, it is indeed urethane rubber, you will find this under this name :)
By the way, it's Kanti who did an amazing work about silicone's tail tutorial ;)

In France it's not easy at all to find material, and we are late on molding products compare to the USA.I spend a lot of time on internet looking for what I need. For the foam scales's, i'm not sure how you say that in english but it's a "perforatrice" and you can find that on scrapbooking's websites.

[Kanti]

You did a wonderful job, Claire!
It's a gorgeous tail and the scales are flawless. The fluke is also very cute looking. I can't wait to see some photos of you in it~

And yes I always hear that it is very hard to get the materials outside the US which is unfortunate, maybe soon they'll realize there's a market outside and try to start selling them in other places?
The "perforatrice" is probably just craft foam it sounds like. Craft foam is often used in scrap booking?

[Claire the french mermaid]

Thank you Kanti, it makes me happy :)
I do not know anything about scrap booking but it's on a specialize website about this hobby that I found my craft foam.

I finished my tail one hour ago !!!!! You can see a dorsal to hide a zipper :)
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[Mahi Mermaid]

how did you attach the zipper to the silicone? with more silicone?

[Claire the french mermaid]

Yes :)

[Mahi Mermaid]

and may I ask what zipper you got that wont rust in the salt water?

[ShyMer]

i love the fringe as well. I'm glad to see this turn out so well! looking forward to seeing it in action.

[MermaidAlaina]

Such an amazing tail! You did a fintastic job! :)

[Blondie]

Sooooo beautiful! The dorsal is gorgeous!

[spottedcatfish]

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Gorgeous! It looks really professional!

[MerAnthony]

:jawdrop: WOW!!! Fantastic job.

[Azurin Luna]

I totally agree with Anthony, very very very well done

[Claire the french mermaid]

Thanks everyone :)

@Krystal : It's a plastic zipper ;)

I just had an underwater photoshoot this afternoon, I will post the result soon !

[Mermaid Nyla]

how long did it take you to do this? it looks gorgeous!

[Mizuko]

Seriously incredible Claire! :D Its beautiful!

[Mermaid Harmony]

Wow. I'm in awe.

[Ariel-Starfish]

Sooooo beautiful! The dorsal is gorgeous!


Wiw! Holy crap! First silicone tail made = absolute perfection :jawdrop:

[Claire the french mermaid]

haha I haven't other words to say thank you ^^

Here a picture of this week-end, I posted the same and an other one in the thread : http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?2282-The-quot-I-just-had-a-photo-shoot!-quot-sharing-photoshoots-thread!/page17

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[Mizuko]

It looks incredible! <3 It makes me so eager to finish mine! XD I hope it can look half as good as yours!

[jazz2453]

beautiful work! I love the color!:) I just wanted to ask what polyurethane you used. Your mold looks so perfect!

[Jessica]

Claire,

you did such an amazing job! Your tail is beautiful! I'm working on a silicone tail and I'm so excited seeing how your turned out!

[Mermaid Veruliya]

Seriously amazing, beautiful dorsal technique!!!! Wow!

Are there two pieces of dorsal hiding the zipper inbetween?
Also how many gallons of dragonskin and shell shock did you use overall? I'm making my own silicone and neoprene, the fluke and fins being silicone, and I'm contemplating just going ahead and doing the whole thing silicone since I can't find smaller sizes of dragonskin, ect

[Lady Aurelia]

Beautifully well crafted! It's absolutely amazing, you've concealed the zipper so well with the dorsal. Well done!

[PaolaMF]

what type of paint you used? and brush or airbrush? thanks

[GalaxyKait]

Thank you Kanti, it makes me happy :)
I do not know anything about scrap booking but it's on a specialize website about this hobby that I found my craft foam.

I finished my tail one hour ago !!!!! You can see a dorsal to hide a zipper :)
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GORGEOUS! I love the idea of the dorsal fin hiding a zipper.

[The Water Phoenix]

GORGEOUS! I love the idea of the dorsal fin hiding a zipper.
This thread is 6 years old...

[the.tattooed.mermaid78]

Aww the picture shows as broken to me

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