Making a monofin less obvious?

[Mermaid Matanzas]

I have a standard Lycra/fabric tail. When it gets wet, the markings and raised lines on my finis rapid monofin become visible, especially if I raise my fluke out of the water (when sitting on rocks and such for pictures). Anyone know any tricks to make it less obvious?12439
This is it dry, and you can still make out some of it.

[Cordelia]

Photoshop! ;D

I've seen some add a layer of rubber to the fins, but the easiest thing to do would just be to touch up your photos. ^^

[MermaidBrittany]

I cut mine off. :P It still works fine. But it bothered me so much that I just did away with them

[Mermaid Jewel]

I found out yesterday because of the fabric I sewed onto my fluke, the ridges are less obvious even when I pull it out of the water and the neoprin is all clinging to it. I understand yours is fabric and mine is neoprin but just an idea!

12441
^This is what I mean by fabric on my fluke

[Mermaid Tula]

I taped over my whole monofin with tape and zip ties. I cut everything into the shape I wanted.

[Mermaid Matanzas]

I taped over my whole monofin with tape and zip ties. I cut everything into the shape I wanted.

That's a good idea

[Mermaid Tula]

http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?4667-Comatose_Agel-s-First-Tail-Thread if you scroll down in my thread, you can see the process that I used to modify my monofin.

[Mermaid Danielle]

Sequins!

[ShyMer]

I wouldn't suggest cutting the ridges off, since that's what gives the monofin its power, and if you do it wrong it becomes useless. Look into the clear vinyl at Joann fabrics- they have different thicknesses and it's inexpensive. I assume you could buy rubber at home depot or something, but I don't know how much that costs.

[Mermaid Dottie]

What I did was add huge, fat zip ties(to extend the fin) and made it look like the monofin's ridges were my fluke's ridges.

[Mermaid Matanzas]

I'm ok about the edges of the monofin. It's just in the center, it has these raised vertical lines on it. I can't imagine what the purpose of it is, so I wonder if it would hurt it if I just shaved it down?

[ShyMer]

Yeah, those are what gives it power. You could cut them off, but that makes it weaker. The material it's made from is pretty soft, so it needs reinforcement to give it strength. Any one of these suggestions would be a great idea, especially if combined together.

[Mermaid Matanzas]

I don't understand what you guys mean by using zip ties, and for the duct tape idea, has anyone tried it? Is water resistant?

[Mermaid Tula]

It is water resistant. I haven't had any issues with mine, but I used Gorilla tape instead of duct tape. I also went along the seams of the duct tape (I overlapped the tape as well just to be sure) with hot glue.

[Mermaid Dottie]

Here's Moonflower's thread (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?4750) on modifying a fin. This should give you some good ideas.

[Goldie]

It is water resistant. I haven't had any issues with mine, but I used Gorilla tape instead of duct tape. I also went along the seams of the duct tape (I overlapped the tape as well just to be sure) with hot glue.

Heck Yeah! Can we all just take a moment to thank the people who invented gorilla tape and E6000... :P

[Jadestone]

They also show up much less if you paint your fluke!

[Mermaid Photine]

^ Seconding what Jadestone said. If you paint ridges on your fluke, the ridges of the monofin will blend/look like they belong.

[Mermaid Matanzas]

I don't have any paint or airbrushing tools. I did wrap the monofin in duct tape. Then, I created add-ons using a poly folder so the extra fabric at the end will stand up sorta straight in pictures without looking stiff, still giving it some flexibility. 12635
This is as much as I can do to give it some shape, since its a basic spandex tail.

[SweeteSiren]

Go to the fabric store, get some of the clear vinyl they sell to make furniture covers out of, & make a "sleeve" for your fin. It looks smooth under fabric without adding bulk to the fluke.

[ShyMer]

As a side note, using vinyl on the monofin might be a great way to hide a the seams from a shelf liner fringe on a fabric tail. It would probably give it some support, too.