North Nixies path to her first silicone tail

[Mermaid Aglaia]

Hello everyone,

i want to show you my Projekt. I want create a silicontail. My first tail is a selfmade fabric-tail with a selfmade monofin. There i have gain so many experiance about static, materials and the swiming-technique with a monofin.
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The monofin was build with a sheet of PET and it works fine. It has a nice propulsion but the forces near the feets are too high vor the material. An at the last test cracked it. I must reinforce this area.

And now i make my silicone tail. I want a Tail with colors like a flying fish. This is my first sketch:
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Here you can see my First and my Second try to sculpture the dorsal fin. I want made a fibreglas mold for this fin.
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The Sculpting is very difficult for me, becaus my sculpting skills are not the best.

And at least the pattern for the fluke.
the fluke is 90cm long an 90cm wide (3ft) it is a very big fluke vor a very big girl :)
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I waln to use 3mm polycarbonate for the Fluke and a 5mm or 6mm thick plate in adition in the area of the feets, to reinforce this area.


Greetings
Marina

[Fifi Tigg]

Good luck on your tail making journey :)

[Amphitrite]

Best wishes to you on your tail. Your design is gorgeous. :)

[PearlieMae]

Wow! You look like you have a very good start! Good luck!

[JaceAquarius]

I'm excited to see both how you do this and how it turns out! Looks like you got your stuff together! I agree nice design and colors!

[Mermaid Aglaia]

Thank you for your good wishes. :)

I m at the moment at the fluke sculpturing. I use now clay. Fimo or the other tests was very bad. The dorsal fin cracked when it is dryed. :mad:
I have bought Yesterday 2lbs of clay for testing and it works very very good. It is not to soft for sculpturing and it dont cracked when its dryed.
and it looks fine. but what looks better? Smooth or with the grooves between the rays?
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And now i hope the 40lbs clay, which i have orderd, will come this weekend. :)

[Mermaid Aglaia]

I have done the next step to my tail. I have now a special workplace, only for my tail-projekt:D. and i have now a tapedummy.
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And the scale mold is in progress. A freind mill the negativ on a big milling machine for me. my first try to print the scales is too time-consuming. I need over 6000 scales for the tail. Every singel scale glued by hand is crazy. 20 hours for 500 scales. I know, i'm crazy.
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But befor i order the silicone, i have a little question. How i can paint the silicone? I have heard, silicon can only painted with silicon. or is there still another possibility?

[Mermaid Aglaia]

I have some news :-)

My Clay Fluke is finished. :) Now it must dryed an than i can made the mold with GFRP for the silicone casting.
But the left side of the fluke isn't so good as the right side. The first try with convex lock good at the small are but the whole fin with this rays looks unattracive. Now i use ony the grooves for the fluke.
Maybe the next tail with the rays.
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With clay looks the Fluke smaller. But it is a very huge fluke.

[PearlieMae]

Your fluke photos are not displaying, but I'm glad to hear you are making progress.

Your scale sheet looks great! There are quite a few mers here who can tell you about painting silicone - Jessica, Jazz, Firemaid, to name a few. I am coloring my scales by mixing pigment directly into my silicone, but then again, I am making my scales individually and gluing them into place. Yeah, I'm crazy! :D

[Mermaid Aglaia]

Thank Pearly for this information, i have reload it, i hope it is fixed now.
My Idea for painting in respoce with the trader, i spray the pigmented silicone into the mold for the shade-colors und i mix the silicone with pigments for the Maincolor. So cures the colors into the silicon and colors hold vor ever :). This says the trader.
For the monofin, a freind say Polyamide ist the best material and poly Carbonate can crack over the time.

[Mermaid Aglaia]

Hello, i want tell you my news of my Tail-project. At first, the fibreglasmold for the fluke failed :(.
I have made it with epoxy resin and fiberglas-fabric but i hasn't use a vakuum while curing the resin. This results in Air-Bubbles in the mold.
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I have tested my silicone with different colors. I used different type of colors and pigments and i have now a very good mixture between silicon and the colors.
You can see my transperent silicone. it is 1/8inch thick (3mm) and i can read a newpaper under this sample. I want use this transparent color for the dorsal fin.
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At last but not least, my newest drawin of my tail:
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[Mermaid Dottie]

You are making some nice progress, Nixie!
I look forward to seeing you finish!

[PearlieMae]

Great job!

[Mermaid Aglaia]

Hii, i have some very intersting news about my projekt. :D

At the first, i have done my first test with molded silicone scales an it looks awsome. I'm so happy about the result. There you can see the scales on my leg.
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The dark blue and the purple colors have a very intersting shine metalic. And this week my final mold for my scales will come. The final shape is a lillte bit different to the shape of my first try.

And at last but not least a picture of my new fluke shape. My first fluke design was to big for good transportation and the strucural internal design is to complex for a good monofin.
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[Mermaid Aglaia]

Hello everyone

Im so happy at the moment. My Scalemold has arrived me today.

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The mold is big enough for a extented mermaid tail.
The Mold has a freind milled for me.
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Sorry for this short Post. But i'm bursting with luck. :)

For the Monofine, i want use a Minos monofin. The larger version of the Hydra. Is that a good choice?

[MermanOliver]

Congratulations! That really looks absolutely gorgeous. Can't wait to see the finished tail. :thumbs-up:

[Mermaid Adriel]

GREAT! :D

[Scottish Mer]

Looking good! Can't wait to see the finished tail and see it in action. :)

[emma11]

This is looking great! I love your colors on the test scales! Very very vibrant!

What kind of paint did you use to get those colors to pop so much?

[selkie13]

Oh cool!

[Stefani]

Hello, I have a problem with drying silicone "Dragon Skin".
My mold is not liquid plastic, silicone is yesterday buy dragon skin for my tail, the top is dry, but the bottom is still sticky (humeda. ..) why? that I can do?
as I can fix it?

[Mermaid Aglaia]

You say your mold isn't made of "liquid plasic" like resin. What material do you have use for your Mold? The right material is very importand for preventig curing problems.

[Stefani]

I use silicone for mold

[Mermaid Dottie]

Nice Work, Nixie! What kind of mill did your friend use for the scale sheet? I've heard good things about the hydra, but won't you have to cut it down to size to fit it inside your fluke?

Stefani, is your mold MADE OF silicone, or something else? do you have a progress thread, or progress photos that we can look at? That way we could maybe better understand what you're trying to work with, and give you better advice.

[Toxotes]

NordNixe, the choice of your monofin also depends on your foot size. The Minos, Triton and Hydra have different sizes in the foot pocket.

[MermaidHyli]

This is really awesome! keep up the good work!
My husband has been wanting to experiment with a milling machine so I'm glad someone did it :)

[Mermaid Aglaia]

Nice Work, Nixie! What kind of mill did your friend use for the scale sheet? I've heard good things about the hydra, but won't you have to cut it down to size to fit it inside your fluke?

Yes, i want cut the monofin and extend it with a special plastik-sheet and glasfibre reinforced plastik. The plastik is a sheet of Polyethylene Terephthalate, it is flexiible and unbreakable.

[Doriell Nord]

Hallo nun bin ich auch hier damit ich dir zu schauen kann....

[Mermaid Aglaia]

Hello everyone. :-)

I have some News. At the end of this month, finished my tail. This night i have done the last test cast. And it works realy great. i have used 300g silicone and i have orderd 14kg silicone in 2 grades of hardness. The harder silicone is for the fluke.

an now the picture of the last test.
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[Mermaid Adriel]

nice job!

[MermaidMyrthe]

:O SOOO pretty! Going great NordNixe! I LOOOVE all those pretty purples and blues!
Kisses from your neighbors!

[BayouMermaid]

I love the colors! What pigments did you use? It is very vibrant.

[PearlieMae]

Very beautiful! Great job, I can't wait to see it all together!

[Mermaid Dottie]

Those scales are so different from anyone else's! So elegant!

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[Mermaid Aglaia]

Thank you for your nice greetings. :)

Today only a short update: My silicone has arrived me yesterday.
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The moldingday is now fixed. Its the last saturday of this month. When i have finished my Tail, maybe i can made Tails for other interested.

[MermanOliver]

Fins crossed tha everything works out fine! Can't wait to see the finished tail. Everything you showed so far is really, really nice! :clap:

[Arella]

I love the glitter <3

[teeth4u]

This looks awesome! I love the colors you chose. Can't wait to see more :)

[Pascal21M]

When well get new pics from you? I find your tail journey very amazing.

[Mermaid Aglaia]

I hope for good weather tomorrow. The weather forecast say the weather tomorrow ist cold and dry, ideal for my projekt. Last weak i have made a little accessory, sleeves for my forearms. the was one mistake, i has used a to high amount of pigments and to less glittering pigments. :(

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I hope I can make my hobby into a profession.

[Echidna]

Glückwunsch! Sieht fantastisch aus alles :)

Flying Fish are one of my favourites. It came out beautifully, show us the full tail when you can!

[PearlieMae]

That's fabulous!

You can do a "slime coat" of silicone mixed with glitter right over the top of that! That's what I do with many of my scales and it looks fabulous!

Mix some silicone (a small amount), mix in the glitter and smear it on like lotion!

[MermanOliver]

Wow! The sleeves look just awesome! And it's a nice idea, too. I think I could like those for me...:)

[Mermaid Aglaia]

I have done it, i have finished the tailskin. And it looks awsome.
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But not everything was perfekt. I have used a to high amount of adhesiv for adhere the two scalesheets together. And the Fluke was a disaster. 4kg silicone was not enough for the fluke and the cast has failed.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I hope for good weather tomorrow. The weather forecast say the weather tomorrow ist cold and dry, ideal for my projekt. Last weak i have made a little accessory, sleeves for my forearms. the was one mistake, i has used a to high amount of pigments and to less glittering pigments. :(

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I hope I can make my hobby into a profession.

Ooo! Love this!!!

[Alcyone]

WOW!!the scales look solo vibrant!! can't wait to see the tail ;P

[MermanOliver]

Congratuations on your scale sheet! It looks so awesome! Sad to hear that the fluke cast failed. I hope you can recover from that setback soon. Can't wait to see the next steps (and finally the finished tail ;))

[Mermaid Aglaia]

Yeah, the silicon is cured and tough enough for the first wear and it fits perfekt. :D Woohhuu.
And now i have a little question, how i can come easy in to the tail and out? Now i wear the Spandextail betwen my skin and the silicone, withount, i don't know i can pull it on without damage.

[Mermaid Aglaia]

Hey,
i have now pictures from my tail. The color of the back isn't perfekt but for the first try and a special technique it looks very amazing.
The picture of the fluke is the failed cast. I have now orderd a new batch of silicone for the next try with a new mold. I hope so much for a good result and the finishing of the tail.

Sorry for the bad quality of the first picture. I have made it with my cellphone.


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[Pascal21M]

Its amazing

[MermanOliver]

:clap: Even if the fluke cast went wrong, one can get the impression how the tail will look like when finished. And it will be absolutely gorgeous! In fact, it is already ;)

[jazz2453]

You're doing really well! I can't way to see the finished product, it looks quite realistic!

[Mermaid Aglaia]

Hello, i'm back

i have a news about my tail-project. My Lunocet Pro 2014 has arrived me yesterday. I have mounted the footpockets from old twinfins and than i was gone to the public pool for testing. But the plastic of the footpockets was too weak. The lunocet respond to the lightest movemend. But how many thrust it ccan produce, i dont know it, because my foodpockets was after two strong strokes brocken. Tomorrow i buy better foodpockets and than i can test the lunocet complete.
And this evening i have put the Lunocet into the tail and it looks awsome. The next step is to form the cone between fin and tail and cast a thin siliconecover for a better look. But the siliconecover must be very thin, because i want impair the hydrodynamic of the hydrofoil.

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[Pascal21M]

WB nice to see you again

[spottedcatfish]

Wow! That's great! it's wonderful to see someone finally working with this fin and trying to incorporate it into a tail!! All the best of luck!

[Mermaid Aglaia]

Hello, i have some news again. :)

At the last week i was sitting on my tail an thinking about some "problems". And the Solution is very simple. The first problem is, the Lunocet is a monofin with a hydrofoil, and every change of the profile waste the efficiency. My idea for this problem is simple, i want cover the fluke with an airbrushed fabric. I hope the "Createx" colors hold up well in water.
And the second problem is the link between the fluke and the shoes. I fill the gap with foam from the aquarisitc. And maybe i can add trim weights if nessesarry.
The frist foto is with a very very rough cutted peace of foam. i hope you can folow my ideas.
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@spottedcatfish
thank you for you greetings. I think i'm the first mermaid which build a tail with the Lunocet. Ok, i have never heard something about a similar project. I called some days ago with the inventor of the lunocet and he also don't know another project like this.

[Miyu]

Oooh yay finally a Lunocet tail! The tail sheath is just beautiful, I love those colours together! And your waist blends so nicely!

[Sherielle]

My husband wants to use a lunacet as well. I'm very intrigued as to how this will work. He's at the same place with trying to figure out how to get a fluke around the fin.

[Azurin Luna]

Very intresting! I kinda did the same with my dol-fin monofin, though I left my fin bare for the most part, only a small point to the middle of the fin was all that covered it to keep my tail in place.

Good luck with the rest of the construction! It looks nice so far! :D

[MermanOliver]

Nice to see the Lunochet tail becoming a reality. :) Can't wait to see the first swimming results! :yay:
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[Mermaid Aglaia]

Hello Mers, i'm back.

my last post is a long time ago and it was a very frustrating time. I was about 2 months at the hospital and my ideas to make a fiberglas mold or with plaster and serveral other materials gone wrong in was very frustrated and stoped the tail project so some month.
But i has begun to build a CNC mill. A CNC mill is a fully automatic machine to make real things from digital datas.
The building of the mill was very timeconsuming. About 5 Month. With this machine i can easy mill the molds in every shape i want it.
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This is the milled mold. I used an hydrofoil with a dolphinshaped fluke. The design is realy nice. The next steps with the mold is to coat it with epoxy resin an a layer of glasfiber fabric and than made the fin with fiberglas and coat it with silicone.
The reason why i dont use the lunocet is, the rubberspring is too weak for a mermaidtail.

But i have a little problem and i hobe you can help me. My siliconeskin have a realy big tear and i dont know how i can fix it. Have you an idea how i can insert a zipper at the tear?
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[PearlieMae]

That's amazing! You built your milling machine? The fluke shape is beautiful!

Are you sure you want a zipper? Silicone is stretchy enough that you don't need one. Why not lay in a layer of powermesh and seal it together with another application of silicone?

[Mermaid Wesley]

Wow! I agree with pearlie. I would try to stick it back together.


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