Silicone Tail Questions

[Mermaid Nautica Rose]

So, I’m currently a high school senior and am working towards becoming a costume designer/special effects artist (professionally) and am hoping to go to SCAD, that said I need an art portfolio in order to get some scholarships. So being that I’m utterly obsessed with mermaids, have made myself and my friend swimmable tails and monofins, have started doing parties here in town and needed a good excuse for my mum i’ve decided that my big project for my portfolio is going to be making two silicone mermaid tails (one for calypso and myself). However I have a couple questions some which might have been answered elsewhere but I can’t seem to find them.


Question 1: How many gallons of silicone should be used for each tail? We both want extra fins; on one tail two sets of pectorals and a small dorsal and the other two sets of side fins and a dorsal, the monofins are 72x68 cm also we’re both about 5’10”


Question 2: Do I need to round the corners off on the monofins or would they be fine if i left them alone?


Question 3: When it comes to tinting the tails I was going to use silc-pig from smooth-on to get the base color when casting the silicone and then paint the tails with pearl ex powdered pigments mixed with silicone, will this work all right? and do I have to thin the silicone/ paint mixture with anything?


Question 4: And finally the thing I’m really having trouble with is the seams... I can sort of see how people have been piecing them together but, how would i go about cutting the tail so that the seams fit together properly? and would I need to reinforce them once i’ve put them together and if so how?


Sorry if these have been answered elsewhere but any help you guys can give me would be very much appreciated.

[Mermaid Veruliya]

Actually, I've asked every single one of these questions and gotten amazing answers, if you look through my threads monofin confusion and beginning my mertale, the only thing I think that hasn't been answered is the amount. I was told I'd be cutting it close with the one order of dragon skin 10, so you may could do three orders for two tails.

Also about the portfolio, SCAD is a great art school. But, it's also one of the most competitive. Your portfolio will have requirements, such as 10-12 pieces or 8+ 2D AND 2+ 3D. The reviewers are looking for potential, skill and talent, and also, the number one thing, a huge variety of mediums and style! I was told when applying to art school to show what you're great at, but also include a few different things you may not be best at but show potential an ability to learn in. I'm best at painting acrylic, but also showed my signature style with pen and watercolor. I also put two works in progress to show my process. I included four different sculptures, but the other 14 were 2D. If you need any help with your portfolio Id be happy to help, it took a long, long time deciding where to apply, and the hardest was choosing where to actually attend!

[Mermaid Nautica Rose]

Thanks for the feedback! I've actually visited the campus rather recently, had a portfolio review session and started the application process. However, I keep bouncing between schools so right now I've got a top ten that I'm applying to and we'll see what happens. It can all be really stressful so I might take you up on that offer and asking for some advice here and there. Thanks!

[Mermaid Veruliya]

I was the same way. But I ended up choosing public school for cost. And it happened to be close to my home, about three hours. I'm attending the number one public arts school, VCUArts, in three weeks and I can't tell you how excited I am! This way I can take classes like oceanography and psychology and any art class I could ever need, along with every major I could ever want! There's a perfect school out there for EVERYONE, and I wish you luck on your journey! :)

[Mermaid Cascada]

1: maybe about four just to be safe because the flukes will use a lot of that.
2: make sure not to have any sharp corners or edges on your monofin so it doesn't cut throught the silicone.
3: I'm not really sure about this one as I've had no experience with his yet.
4: if your scales are thick enough you won't have to reinforce them. You can make a duct tape dummy or mold of your legs to fit the silicone onto or you can Measure yourself and cut the silicone to your measurements.
If you need more detailed answers let me know because these are pretty bland. :D good luck! I hope I helped some.

[jazz2453]

1. I ordered the 2 one gallon orders which is actually 4 gallons since there is a gallon of part a and a gallon of part b.
2. I used a foil which didn't have sharp edges, but it's safe to round it out anyways. It mostly depends how thick your fluke is.
3. I used Jacquard pearl ex powder pigments mixed with silicone to paint my tail. It worked great! To really achieve the color you want you have to add a lot of pigment to the silicone. Then thin it down with toluene, naphtha, or xylene. I used naphtha which worked great! If you are using an airbrush or spray gun, thin it down to a consistency almost like water. Then you should be fine! I recommend using mineral spirits to clean your spray gun since it really dissolves the silicone, and then you could spray out water to make sure everything is ready for the next color. You also don't need the silicone pigments! You can just use the pearl ex for that:)
4. You can seam around a dummy by overlapping everything in the right position, clipping it, then gluing it with more silicone. You can also cut 2 patterns of your body shape. Make sure it's an inch or 2 smaller so it hugs your body (silicone stretches). One of the patterns should have an extra few inches of scales so you can fold that underneath, clip it, then dragonskin it on.
Hope that helped:) Good luck!

[BayouMermaid]

I'm curious, how much pigment have people used in the past for their tails? I'm mostly interested in pearl ex pigments (the .7 ounce containers).

[Samantha Siren]

I have a question. How much silicone do you need to paint a silicone tail. I am getting a basic green tail from the lovely Merman Jesse but I will be repainting it and would like to know how much dragon skin I need to order.

Thank you!

[MerEmma]

Totally depends on the amount of painting you plan to do. Basic black streaks on the fluke would be a sample kit--adding stripes up the entire tail might take more. Also depends on vibrancy.

[tina8109]

Hi Jazz!)) I have one question) When you remove the silicone form it is necessary to rub Baby powder? After removal of forms to him stick dust. Do you have it?

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