Mermiah's official sewable paintable plastic scale tutorial

[Mermiah]

Ok ok...I just need to pace myself here, because I could just talk and talk and talk
So I'll just start at the beginning and them let the videos speak for them selves ;)

EDIT:
ok this is the cheapest/easiest way to get colored scales
And to save space I'm going to just post the video (but feel free to watch the others if you want)
http://youtu.be/mvy1wPgINtA


ok so plastic scales they are pretty awesome and here's why;


1 they are up-cycled (unless you use the plastic table clothes)
You can up cycle plastic bags, chip bags and bubble wrap


2 they are DIRT cheap
Seriously, everyone shops for groceries and then it's just less than 15 dollars for paint and a hole punch, and you don't even NEED a hole punch!


3 it's really not THAT time consuming
I mean...scale sheets...those are just as bad, and the molds can go sour...I just would prefer an alternative ;)


4 you have so much freedom with it!
I mean seriously!! There are so many FISHTASTIC possibilities!!


5 it comes out pretty epic looking
I haven't finished my tail YET but I have done some test sheets and it looked pretty good if I do say so myself :)


So here are the video tutorials


Making plastic sheets


http://youtu.be/JMEUZlmL_Ss


Punching out scales


http://youtu.be/rNuNw0nk2Zc


Painting

http://youtu.be/_Rd7gMTpnrk
UPDATE!!!



Sewing


http://youtu.be/k-me2iaBPNQ


And a little teaser image :3

[MerAnthony]

Interesting. One way to get rid of extra wal-mart bags around the house LOL.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Cool! Have you tried using plastic folders? The kind you keep paperwork in.

[OceanRose]

They look so good! :-D

[Fifi Tigg]

Love them :) I can't wait to see the finished tail!

[Mermiah]

Thank you for all the kind words :3

Irenho, I have not used the folders YET, my guess is that you wouldn't be able to sew them on with a machine, you would have to hand sew them (ew)

Haha I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem MerAnthony :)

[Mercelien]

How do you connect the scales to the tail? This is also a very amazing way to do the scales I may just try this technique if it's ok with you.

[Mermiah]

Oh please do mercilene! I would love to see this catch on!And attaching the scales us SUPER easy, you just see them right on with a sewing machine :)
I think I'll video tape that just to clear it up more :) I probably should have done that in the first place lol

[Fifi Tigg]

I guess you don't know the durability of the scales until the tail is made and swam in a few times?

[Mermiah]

Yeah....lol but I'm testing it in every at I can think to in the mean time :)
I'm in the process of testing it all out, I'm going to test some swatches :) OH! Do NOT use acrylic paint
i just tested it today and the paint came off in the water when I brushed the scales against my hand :/
im going to be trying Tulip brand fabric paints and I see no reason why it shouldn't work ;)
ill keep you all posted as best as I can though :)

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Modern plastic bags take about 5-10 years to break down. It is dependent how thick the plastic is.

[Mermiah]

Fins crossed everyone! It's been 21 days and it's time to test my paint :$ if this dosen't work then the scales will only be able to be spray painted (and thats expensive :o)






TEST RESULTS:
after being held under a constant stream of hot water for a full minute they held up fairly well, I wouldn't suggest using the painting method for your WHOLE tail but if you Want some glow in the dark scales or half white ones then this would work great!

[Mermiah]

20340Here is an image :3

[Mermaid Galene]

This is a very cool idea! For thicker scales with built in color, plastic drink bottles could be used. I'm thinking those green pop bottles. You'd need a heavy duty punch, but those are attainable.

Now I wish I hadn't recycled the turquoise water bottle I got in Hawaii!

[Seraphina Suds]

I really love this idea. I'm think I'm gonna try this out. We have sooo many saved plastic bags lol. Any updates on your tail?

[Ashton]

That is a really cool idea!
I wonder if you could incase them in silicone.

[Mermiah]

Serphiana, i juat wanted to ensure that you know the results if the painting (not super great) but still its a good technique Not many updates, but I do have some exciting new fluke news!! But it's compleatly unrelated to this fourm so I will save it for later

it would probably be simpler to do what pearl Mae did and sculpt scales and attach them if you want to use silicone at all (silicone is hard to get to attach to things :/)

[Mermiah]

Welp I have some new updates and some exciting progress! After four hours of cutting stitching (and zoning out and staining at the wall) my tail looks like THIS!http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/27/6u8e7a5u.jpg


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[Fifi Tigg]

That looks fantastic! I think it will look so nice in the water :D

[Mermiah]

Why thank you :)


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[Seraphina Suds]

Wow! Great so far!

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[PearlieMae]

Wow! And I thought my tail was a lot of work!

[Mermiah]

Haha well I'm getting a lot faster at it ;)
But I ran out of white and so I may have to give up on the thought that my first swim of the season will be in my tail


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[Mermaid Mhara]

Wow I am loving this!!

I'm a big up-cycling and re-cycling nut, and this is just brilliant. I'm having a few ideas just watching this! But I'm sure it'll look great once your done!!

Now I'm thinking of maybe making a spandex tail, and colouring the colour scheme/pattern I want onto the spandex, then getting all the HUGE piles of bubble wrap I have lying around, turn them into see-through scales and...bam, I have a scaled fabric tail with clear scales which would make the colour of the tail still noticeable whilst also making it look a little more realistic than the usual spandex tail.

Hmmm...I really want to do this now! :)

[Mermiah]

I'm happy I inspired you!
But the bubble wrap ones are not going to be SUPER see through, so you'll want to test it a smidgen first (I would hate to see you disappointed)
But I wish you the best of luck :)

And thank you so much! When I look at it all I see is flaws :P


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[PearlieMae]

You would be one floaty mermaid in a bubblewrap tail!

[Mermiah]

Oh that's a good point! But buoyant mer bootys can be fixed with a weight belt ;)


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[Mermaid Mhara]

hehehe! indeed floaty mermaid :3

I wonder if clear plastic bags would be better then? To make clear scales. I have a LOT of clear plastic bags!! :)

[Mermiah]

They would have the same level of buoyancy (I ran a test)
See the air bubbles pop when you iron the bubble wrap (it's so fun


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