Tail Time!!!!!!

[MermanZen]

So I have finally decided on my design for my latex tail and I can't wait to get started, ill keep you guys updated. Hope you like my designs

[PearlieMae]

Niiiice! Good luck! I look forward to following your progress!

[MermanZen]

Thanks Pearlie I hope to begin on the scale sheet soon then starting on all the different molds

[Jessica]

I love all the extra fins! This will be a great merman tail! :) can't wait to see your progress!

[MermanZen]

my favorite part of my design are the fins and the spine because they add to the realistic look when I'm swimming cant wait to get started:yay:

[jazz2453]

Cool Design!

[MermanZen]

thanks for all the nice comments guys :)

[MermanZen]

URG the most time consuming phase of tail making, the scale sheet

[Mermaid Adriel]

The design seems awesome, I can't wait! :)

[MermanZen]

just got my scale box finished and bought my clay and plaster for my old cant wait to sculpt my fluke!!!!!!

[MermanZen]

Just finished sculpting yay!!!!

[MermanZen]

Redid the spine cause I thought it would be too stiff in the water so second time's the charm

[Elle]

Yay!! this looks awesome! can't wait to see what you do next!

[MermanZen]

ok so I just finished the second layer of plaster for my first mold because im using a very breakable product I had to put a rectangle shape cut out of chicken wire to give it some more strength I hope to clean the mold out tomorrow I will post pics of my progress. thanks for fallowing my journey!!

[MermanZen]

Mold finally done just need to really clean it out a lot

[Mermaid Dottie]

*parties* go Zen! Go Zen!

[MermanZen]

*Hala:dance:

[MermanZen]

Molds finally finished but now to be cleaned

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Excited to see this finished! :)

[MermanZen]

I am too I cant wait to start poring the latex

[MermanZen]

Just ordered my mono fin and will be here next Friday cant wait till I can start swimming in it xD

[MermanZen]

can someone help? im now ready to order my latex and cast my tail but im still a little blurry about attaching both sides of my fluke to my foils monofn. I heard that you need to create ways for the water to escape so it doesn't blowup with air. can someone please explain this to me THANKS :) !!!!

[MermanZen]

Look at what I just made !!!!!!!

[Seatan]

can someone help? im now ready to order my latex and cast my tail but im still a little blurry about attaching both sides of my fluke to my foils monofn. I heard that you need to create ways for the water to escape so it doesn't blowup with air. can someone please explain this to me THANKS :) !!!!

Zen, tailmakers cut little holes in the bottom of the fluke so that the water that goes in at your waist will be able to come out. Is that what you were talking about?

[MermanZen]

yes thank you so like how and where I know at the bottom but like tiny enough so that they don't show or????

[Ilyena]

It's usually slits, but there's like channels which run down the fluke which help water to escape

[MermanZen]

Ok so when I attach one side to the monofin I make "channels" with parts of the fluke that I didn't glue down right and same with the other side

[Ilyena]

Exactly ^_^ just strips that are not glued to the monofin.

[MermanZen]

Ok ill make a note of it so I don't turn my tail into a balloon

[Ilyena]

I'm sure there's other threads on here which can explain it a million times better than one sentence XP

[MermanZen]

lol probity but thanks :)

[MermanZen]

I drew up some fluke ideas can someone give me their opinions on them ????

[Jeblily]

I like the second and last one, with the last one being more feasible and probably giving more propulsion.

[MermanZen]

thank you those two are my favorites but with the last one im going to half to use all my sculpting skills to get it done :)

[MermanZen]

My MONOFIN CAME!!!!!! XD

[MagickalDJ]

Lookin' good!

[OceanRose]

Oo cooool! I like the second one also :-)

[MermanZen]

ikr its awesome I cant wait to start my fluke :D

[Coralina Mermaid]

hey guys so im trying to find my way around here. but im wondering if any of you lovelies know where i can get my very first tail ?

[Taz]

Your fluke designs are absolutely fresh and creative!! The one with the crab motif is gorgeous, it almost looks like a sunburst on your fluke. I do appreciate the shape of the shark inspired one… hard choice!

[MermanZen]

Thanks Taz

[MermanZen]

I'm working on my fluke!!!!!!

[MermanZen]

I RAN OUT OF CLAY!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO

[Mermaid Oshun]

Zen you can make the fluke thinner to stretch the clay you have. You will not want it to be double the thickness of that clay along with a monofin. It would be much too heavy. So just thin it out and you should be good with what you have

[Mermaid Oshun]

a rolling pin will help to thin it out

[MermanZen]

Thanks for the advice I've tried to stretch it out as much as I can but I agree it does need to be thinner thanks :D

[MermanZen]

Good idea

[MermanZen]

Fluke done!!!!!!

[Mermaid Adriel]

Great job Zen! :thumbs-up:

[MermanZen]

Thanks Claudia now I just need to poor the plaster and buy the latex

[Mermaid Adriel]

Perfect!

[Mermaid Oshun]

looking good!

[*Celine*]

waow, nice detail!!!

[MermanZen]

thank you all I love using a fork for the fluke detail a very good technique

[MermanZen]

mold making time

[Mermaid Oshun]

Good luck Zen! Remember to have fun :D :clap:

[MermanZen]

I will

[Nicoseamus]

Looks great so far! Can't wait to see how it ends up!

[MermanZen]

ok by tomorrow morning the mold should be dry and ill have my fluke!

[MermanZen]

OMG OMG OMG im freaking out the mold is cracking, I need a lot more plaster and I really need to thicken it a lot more there's plaster everywhere and I may have to redo my sculpture. ill try to recycle as much plaster I can but I don't know. :( I hope I can fix it

[Mermaid Oshun]

haste makes waste Zen

[MermanZen]

ya I just need to take it slow and straighten up the mold it will workout

[Elle]

OMG OMG OMG im freaking out the mold is cracking, I need a lot more plaster and I really need to thicken it a lot more there's plaster everywhere and I may have to redo my sculpture. ill try to recycle as much plaster I can but I don't know. :( I hope I can fix it

I think mermaid star had a similar issue when she made her tail. If you can find her tail making thread, I think she used black garbage bags to keep her clay moist or something

[Winged Mermaid]

I'm really sorry to hear that :( If it helps this thread on cracking clay (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?2624-How-can-i-fix-clay-mold-that-keeps-cracking) is in the Tailmaking Reference Index and might lead to some insight, and it has Star's input in there as well so you don't have to dig through her thread (hopefully).

I REALLY hope it all turns out well. http://images.covers.com/covers/emoticons/an_nailbiter.gif

[MermanZen]

thank you all I've put t on hold until can get more plaster and ill seal up the cracks

[MermanZen]

ok ok so I fixed the cracks on the mold and I think I saved it all I need are the 3 Ps Planning, patience, Plaster

[deepblue]

I hope it works out!

[MermanZen]

thank you :D

[Mermaid Sirena]

I hope the mold is saved! Good luck!

[MermanZen]

Ok so better news of my tail is I'm getting the plaster today and should finish the mold sometime this week

[Mermaid Adriel]

GOOD! :D

[MermanZen]

Ya so it should work and then I can order the latex and pigments and ill be good to go

[MermanZen]

Fixed my mold!!!!!!! It's perfect can't wait to get the latex XDXD

[Mermaid Adriel]

perfect! :D

[merboy78xy]

WAY TO GO ZEN!
I gotta say-- when you decide to do it, you GO FOR IT!! That's GREAT drive and discipline!
I'm trying to head steadily towards making my first silicone tail, but MAN is it a slow process for me! The worst problem on my end is: Space. I don't have a place here in the city with enough space to spread out and do such a big problem. RGH!
Keep on goin man. I'm excited to see your finished tail. It gives slow-to-make-it mermen like me some hope and encouragement.

[MermanZen]

Thanks Merboy :)

[MermanZen]

Ok so my scale mold dint come out like I hoped when I what I hade left of the first bag of plaster all the sediments that harden it and hold it together was all gone so the top is very fragile and if you push down at all it breaks so what I think I'm going to do is used as much of the mold I can which is mostly the middle ill just make many sheets for latex and put them together but I might make more molds of individuals scaled and pop out like 20 for every mold and just place them on one at a time hope it turns out right

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Instead of plaster, have you tried this?
I have used it for making molds from my textured beads, they're are great at picking up very fine details. And it dries faster than plaster too. Its a reusable mold that is flexible, so its easy to take the item out. Not sure if it'll stick to silicone or latex though. You might have to coat the inside of the mold with vaseline or something else oily.

http://www.alumilite.com/ProdDetail.cfm?Category=Silicone%20Rubber&Name=Amazing%20Mold%20Putty

[MermanZen]

Thanks for the idea maybe ill use it to make a new scale sheet

[MermanZen]

Ok so my scale box is completely unusable I mean there crack there's holes and I'm not going to waste expensive latex just to waste it I'm now going to go with PearlieMae's idea and make a flat plaster manakin and just pop out several scale sheets and then put a layer of alters over that to glue them all together now I save up 156$ for 5 gallons of latex lot of work to start

[Mermaid Dottie]

Oh, Zen. I hope you can work it out okay. I'm really rooting for you!

[MermanZen]

Thank you Dottie for supporting me all throughout my journey I'm just stuck at the moment until I get $$$ for the latex I hate not being able to create in my free time and this just gives more time for things to go horribly wrong until I get the latex and finish my fluke. The FLUKE is the most important part because it's what makes a Mer unique and I hate this season of winter because the only pool I can go to is still closed and I still don't know how they'll react to a guy in a tail especially if I'm not with another Mer.