Emma's first tail experience!

[emma11]

I finally started making my tail! I'm a special effects prosthetics artist, but this is my first project of this MASSIVE size, so I can't wait to get it going even more than I have. Currently I've finished the mold for the scales, and I just ordered my neoprene from Stretch House (dunno if that's a good place or not, I've heard mixed reviews but they certainly are the cheapest). So that's where I am! Her'es some pictures to tide ya'll over until I scan my design and all that. :]

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There she is! I was so nervous before I poured all that plaster on this baby.

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And of course, then I scared the crap out of myself when I realized I mixed the plaster super duper thick, so there was no pounded the edges to get the bubbles out. AT ALL.

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But she's beautiful. And perfect as far as I'm concerned, haha.


So yeah! I'll be updating as much as possible, I wont' be having anything new done really for the next week until I get the neoprene in, then I'll start sewing.

MY TO DO LIST
-Sew the Neoprene and all that jazz
-Figure out how to fix my monofin so it doesn't come off my feet. Seems like the only option at the moment is tearing off the footbeds and riveting on flippers to the monofin that work. Anyone else's opinions would be appreciated before I throw away my beloved flippers.
-Sculpt the tail piece
-Latex latex latex

[AniaR]

neoprene socks will help your monofin.

[emma11]

Mmm, I tried neoprene socks. Unfortunately it's not that my feet are coming out of the footbeds, or that the footbeds are too small. It's just that i kick the back piece off of my feet entirely when I swim? No matter what, my feet just slide right out. I think it's partly the way I swim, that a strap even wrapped around my ankles doesn't hold my feet in. Though a full footbed, like I've seen on the $250 dollar monofins, works perfectly.

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Cool be sure to share pictures as you go, can't wait to see it! :)

[emma11]

Just got my neoprene! Stretch House is really quick, it only too 2 days for it to get here standard delivery. That was nice! haha.

It's a blue neoprene, ought to be interesting to see how it sews. Very excited!!

[AniaR]

Make sure it's neoprene and not neoprin, they've been known to ship the wrong stuff. There's a few comparison threads floating around you can check out.

[emma11]

Yikes! That's not good. I checked out the neoprene vs. neoprin thread, and I look okay. There's definitely some dark stuff inbetween the two layers, and it doesn't stretch out and stay that way. I roughed it up pretty good, and it seems to be okay.

Thanks for the tips! Really really helpful.

[Disfusional]

This awesome, look'in great so far!. I am in the midst of making my own tail too and I'm around the same steps you are... however, I'll be using silicone!

[emma11]

Oh awesome!! I'd love to have used silicone, but I just don't have the money saved up. Liquid Latex is much more affordable, since I can buy it at my Home Depot around here. I'll be delving into Foam Latex into the fall (yikes), so I'll see if that might be an option for a tail in the future as well.

It's fun though!

[emma11]

Got some updates for you guys! My neoprene is all sewn, so I don't have to worry about that. Latex is coming on Monday (yaaayyy). So today I focused on sculpting that clay piece for the fluke! Managed to crank that out in one day, pictures below. Cast it, got super excited annnnndd.... Cracked it. Of course.

However, I did pull all the clay out in one piece (omg my heart), so I can mold it AGAIN tomorrow, and not use burlap this time, and just use a ton more plaster which is starting to get super expensive. Eh, no matter what, this baby will be done soon.

Swam in the neoprene tail, and realized it is very saggy around the waist, and pulls down incredibly easy. So I'm going to have to sew that a little tighter, and hopefully add in a belt of some kind. Hoping that will help hold it up..... Any ideas?


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[Mermaid Danielle]

Wow! Looks amazing! I'd recommend either sewing in an elastic band, or wear a belt around the outside. My elastic bands have worked well with my spandex tails, so I'm sure they would help with the neoprene. Good luck!

[emma11]

oh great advice! Elastic is actually what's holding my monofin on my feet right now. I bet I could find some extra of that material!

[emma11]

So there's a lot of experimenting going on with this tail, haha. First of all, I'm going to be attempting to mix acrylic paint with the latex. That leaves a lot more opportunities for colors, and fun stuff. SO! That's the experiment and if it doesn't work, then I'm waiting for the latex colorants.

As an update! I got a few *very* expensive acrylic paints at a local art store, and then decided almost 50 bucks for two colors was enough. Let's try A.C Moore. And lo and behold, there's some really fun acrylic paints there! Namely these.

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http://www.michaels.com/Pearl-Acrylic-Craft-Paint/cp0472,default,pd.html?start=9&cgid=products-craftpainting-paint

It's gorgeous stuff, and it's pearl. The fact that it had Martha Stewarts name on it made me super questionable but... It's worth a shot!

Latex has arrived, and I will be coloring and messing with it in about... 4 hours. Updates soon!

[jazz2453]

Oooo this is all super exciting!;)

[emma11]

;) I've been keeping an eye on your thread too! It's all pretty awesome, can't wait to see what we BOTH come up with!!

[Mermaid Saphira]

Your fluke shape is quiet beautiful! Good luck with the rest of your tail :3

[Mermaid Julianne]

THAT. FLUKE. :jawdrop:

[Jessica]

Your fluke is amazing! Great work...can't wait to see this finished!

[MermaidHyli]

hi there Emma,
I've worked with acrylic paints in latex and silicone actually exactly the martha stewart line because they are such beautiful colors. Sadly even when mixing the paint and rubber it tends to chip and prolong the curing process. Just thought I would give you a heads up. I too am in the market for an affordable alternate to the expensive dyes. Hope I helped but please by all means do a test swatch maybe playing with ratios and see what you can find =]

[emma11]

<3 thanks for the compliments everyone! Happy people like the fluke!

Mermaid Hyli, definitely got a little scared when you said that!!! But I did my own tests, not adding much paint, about 10 to 1, latex to paint. And that gave me some pretty good colors, and definitely some interesting results! So far, I've stretched it repeatedly for five minutes (passed it off around the circle with my friends), and it's still doing wonderfully. Completely water proof as well. I held onto it while I was swimming today for about an hour, with no problem.

I used a ton of different kinds of paint, though I will say for sure the BEST PAINT is Liquitex (which is apparently the same thing as Createx). That paint is the most vivid, gives the best color, even though it doesn't have a lot of shimmer.

A word to the wise, shimmer is not going to happen like this. No matter how much paint I added, that shimmer didn't happen.

Pictures!

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These are just test colors, I have a ton of them, but I wanted to see if any of the shimmers I picked up would work. The answer? Nope. Oh well, the colors are still nice!

[emma11]

Annnnndddd she's done!

it's an unofficial photo, taking the Mark II out for a run with the tail tomorrow, but I couldn't help but post a quick it's done!

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[Mermaid Allie]

That is SUCH a pretty tail!!! What kind of latex did you use? Also, if you don't mind me asking, what was the general estimate of how much money it took to make the tail?

[emma11]

Thanks! The latex I used was from monster maker's, the RD 407, and it worked wonderfully! Whether or not the paint will last, I'll let you know haha.

General estimate! I can actually give you a break down of what I spent and the materials I used.

Foam things- $20 (about, I bought 3 packets of 7)
Plaster- I don't have the money estimate for this, as I used plaster my father had left over. But we used probably.... 1 1/2 five gallon buckets full. At least.
Latex- 150, 200 with shipping
Acrylic Paint- 40 (lots and lots of tubes, mixed with pigment)

I think that's it? I'm going to be putting wiring in the tail as well, because unfortunately the latex is not stiff enough to hold up the ends of the tail, and my tail is much much bigger than the monofin in it.

:] I think that's it... Though if there's something I forgot, just ask I'll be happy to answer you. <3

[Jessica]

You did such an amazing job! It looks beautiful and I can't wait to see more pictures!

If you're looking or something to give your fluke more structure, you can use plastic tubing. I think it was ilonka that used it in a tail. It's flexible, light and cheap:

[emma11]

OH lovely idea jessica!!! I think I actually have some of that from an old fish tank left over as well!

[Mermaid Allie]

thanks emma!

[emma11]

You're welcome!

And another picture, the seam on the side was coming apart, but it's fixed now!

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[Jessica]

Your tail looks amazing! It looks even better outside! You did a awesome job

[emma11]

Thank you so much Jessica!! Going to try to take some underwater pictures soon. :}

[berryoh]

It looks so good! WAW!!!

[fawkes]

Mermaid Hyli, definitely got a little scared when you said that!!! But I did my own tests, not adding much paint, about 10 to 1, latex to paint.


10 latex; 1 paint
OR
10 paint; 1 latex

Im slightly confused,. If you could specify it'd be awesome, just like your tail!

[emma11]

haha, 10 latex to 1 paint. If even that. I only used 1 entire tiny bottle of acrylic for the whole thing, about. I mixed a lot of different acrylics and pigment,s but mostly acrylic! :]

[fawkes]

Sweet! Thanks. Did you hand paint or airbrush?

[emma11]

I hand painted what you see right now, but I will be airbrushing once I find some extra time on my hands

[Nyx]

Oh itlooks amazing! Good job!

[fawkes]

Nice!:D

[emma11]

Thanks Nyx and fawkes! <3

[Mermaid Julz]

Wow, turned out nice. I love the design you used at the top center of your fluke! How much latex did you end up using of that 5 gallon bucket?

[emma11]

I used about half? And I really should have used more, but I got impatient, haha

[Mermaid Veruliya]

How much clay did you use to sculpt the fluke?

[emma11]

About 4 pounds? A five pound bag should be more than enough, but I used wet clay, not oil based clay.

[jazz2453]

Very lovely! Came out beautiful:) To add on to Keri's question, what type of clay did you use as well?

[Mermaid Veruliya]

Thank you! I was thinking of ordering 4lbs of prima plastilina, it's a natural oil based sulphur free clay that's cheap and come in 2lb increments

[emma11]

http://www.robertscrafts.com/default.aspx?PageID=47&CategoryID=852&ProductID=101241&gclid=CP6gmavb5rgCFUuk4Aod9F4Aog

Essentially that was the clay I used, and scratch the poundage I said, I used mroe like 15 pounds. But my fluke is massive, and far too big.

[Mermaid Oshun]

Did you allow that water based clay to dry or did you cast it with your molding material while it was still wet?
If you did dry the water based clay, how did you guard against it cracking?

[emma11]

I let it get leather hard and then I cast it! :)

[Mermaid Oshun]

thank you! Any tips on keeping it from cracking? I know to cover it with plastic to keep it from drying too fast.
Why did you decide to go with this instead of with oil clay?

[emma11]

Spray it down with water, and make sure to keep it covered! A trash bag is what I used, and it worked wonderfully.

I like wet clay a lot better than oil clay. It works better for me, just because oil has to be warm in your hands to really do detail work. Water based clay can just be used immediately. That's why I like it! I also use it for all my latex appliances, and it's just nice. I would suggest just sitting down in one day and sculpting and molding it, cause if you leave it for too long.... Well it's goign to crack no matter what.

[Mermaid Oshun]

k thank you Emma

[Wolfin]

very awesome tail what kind of latex did you use and where did you get it?