Ariel Swimming Tail Progress

[PrincessNymphiaoftheSea]

Hi everyone :)

I'm a cross dressing cosplayer from San Diego and I'm still extremely new to mermaiding and just tails in general, but I wanted to show you guys the progress of my almost completed 2.0 Little Mermaid tail that I'm currently working on for photoshoots and swimming. :) My original idea for this to make it both walkable and swimmable kind of fell through while I was working on it so it's just a swimmable tail.

I made the entire thing out of Neoprene fabric, built it over a Mahina Merfin and painted the crap out of it with a mix of pearlescent and metallic acrylics, textile medium and 3D glue based paints to paint all the scales. Believe it or not, it's actually not this green in person. It's more of a blueish green, as I tried to base it on the actual swatches used in the Disney paint lab D: Even though I didn't find the exact color, I just kind of took some of the color schemes in the film and just made my own thing :) It's also covered in glitter and has a few rhinestones and sequins on it to imitate the look of water droplets.

My only problem is that the waist of my tail doesn't stay put and it slides down whenever I sit down. But I couldn't be more in love with it and I still have to paint it some more. What do you guys think? I'd love to hear feedback.

The tail in progress. :) The pictures really don't capture how much this thing sparkles.
26575
26576
26577

and here's a video of the tail in action from my cosplay page.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=947982168545347&set=vb.100000007191256&type=2&theater&notif_t=like

[QueenZero]

Welcome! Your tail looks fab, love all the sparkles!

[Mermaid Alea]

Wow with all that paint it looks like it is made out of latex or silicone rather than neoprene!

Okay so I have a few questions:
Does all the paint make it less stretchy or does it still work well with that much paint?
What size thickness is the neoprene?

I am not an expert at all but perhaps the waist needs to be higher to prevent it from sliding but I am not sure. I am sure someone will come along with a good tip.

[Sherielle]

Have you experienced any cracking of the paint?

[PrincessNymphiaoftheSea]

Thank you so much :) It means a lot :3

The acrylic paint does reduce the stretch quite a bit since it's painted in layers, however I can still wriggle into the tail and it fits just fine. I haven't painted the waist yet so hopefully once it goes on it shouldn't be able to slide.

I'm not a huge fan of the high waisted tail so I make the tail start at my hip instead of my waist. I think it looks a lot nicer XD

[PrincessNymphiaoftheSea]

Have you experienced any cracking of the paint?

I had a couple test swatches that I've tested in pool water and the paint doesn't even budge :) I've also dunked the tail many times in a bathtub while I was working on it to get the excess glitter off and even then it doesn't move.

[Merperson Danny]

looks amazing!

[Nyx]

That's a lovely tail Gabriel! I absolutely LOVE the sparkles.
It's awesome to see more versions of Ariel's tail.

[Tira]

It's lovely! I would suggest you at least do the back higher, so if it slides down at least you won't show anyone your butt [emoji14]

[Mermaid Nerida]

That tail is soooooo pretty! :-P

Sent from my shell phone under the sea!

[Kumori Kitsune]

looks cute hope it's super fun want to do and Ariel cosplay soon too