Mermaid Marius' Tail Making Adventure!

[Mermaid Marius]

Ahh! Just making this thread is a dream come true. I've been dying to make a more realistic tail than my current fabric one. I love it to death, but it's poorly done and only slightly swimmable. But now I get to embark on making a better one! I was originally going to be going the Alex Plus route, but then I stumbled upon this little gem: 12888
HDX Latex Plus Silicone Caulk. It's moisture resistant, mold/mildew resistant, skin safe, stretchy after dry, extremely adhesive, and paintable/stainable. And it's part silicone! The final cherry is that at $1.28, buying 12 would come to $23.76, which is cheaper than a 12-pack of Alex. If anybody has used it, please let me know how it worked out for you. Otterwise, I think I'll pioneer it for my tail and let the mercommunity know how it works out. I'm so excited for this project!

[MermaidHyli]

Hey there!
Congrats on making the new tail! I want to give a little point of advice. I've used a latex/silicone caulk on my old tail and it literally turned into cottage cheese and didn't cure in the fluke =/ Just thought I would share my experience with you.

[Mermaid Marius]

Thanks for sharing your experience! Were you making a neoprene/latex tail?

[MermaidHyli]

Yupp!
There's some pictures in my album but I didnt upload the pictures of it falling apart. I'll see if I can do that at some point

[AniaR]

Be sure to read the tail making reference guide.

[Mermaid Marius]

I'd read the tail making guide before, I don't know how that detail swam past me! Oh whale, atleast I knew the downfalls before it happened. I'm considering a different technique right now that's a little experimental for me. I'll post my actual idea and progress once I've tested a few things.

[Mermaid Marius]

Alright, buoys and gills! My financial situation is a bit below sea level so I won't be able to make two tails (the experimental one and the ALEX one), so I'll have to just make the ALEX one for now. I'm still excited, and the other one will just be somefin to look forward to. I have almost all of my merterials except for my fabric and air brush (which have both been shipped today:D). I'm coloring my tail based off of this fish: 13043
I've already roughly sketched the tail design. The fluke may end up being a little different though. 13044
Any thoughts/suggestions/ideas? I'm sooo excited.

[Mermaid Kelda]

I think it looks fantastic! I love the little bits of neon blue and bright red - are you going to keep those in the design?

[Mermaid Marius]

I was thinking about working the blue and red into the fins and possibly the fluke.

[Ashe]

The design looks really cool :) Can't wait to see more! Good luck!