First tail, a hybrid adventure

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Reef Fish

As a marine biologist/zoologist I tried really hard to replicate nature where possible. I studied pictures (like the eg below) to make sure I had the right shape for the fin rays and scales. Those tiny details to me may be lost under the paint to a point but I am proud to know that they are at the heart of the construction :)

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:thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up::thumbs up:

Oops, just realised I rabbited on about wanting a mostly transluscent fluke then didn't post the results. Here you go. Two layers of silicone and a monofin.
Attachment 35381

Love! :swoon:

Nice!

That looks amazing! It's not hard to tell you've studied the anatomy beforehand [emoji4] Lovely work!


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Beautiful tail :D

Wow! I'm so impressed! Great job!

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You are so freaking talented and magical.

I keep telling her that!

Aww shucks :) :$

Nice!!!!

So gorgeous! You've done an amazing job!

beautiful !!! really fish !! :)

So gorgeous hun, cannot wait to see it in person!! :hail:

Upgrade time :)
I made some extra fins for my tail using the same method as my fluke and have now attached them. Here are some pics.
An untrimmed and unpainted fin made from caulking.
Attachment 35879
I started out by painting them with my electric spray gun but then it clogged and despite several attempts (pulled everything out that I could get to and cleaned with de-caulker) it wouldn't spray again. So I had to finish by hand painting. The caulking is thinned down with mineral turpentine and I used pearl-ex pigments the same as the rest of my tail. I then applied many layers of the thinned solution. It dries quite quickly and forms a silicone coloured skin.
I then siliconed some powermesh around the base of the fin to make it stronger when I attach it.
First I sewed the fins onto the tail in position with embroidery thread.
Attachment 35880
Next I came back in with caulking an applied scales over the seams to hide them.
Attachment 35881
Following that I was able to paint over the new scales using the same thinned paint process as I used on the fins themselves and voila my tail now has extra fins :)
Attachment 35882
Attachment 35883
I'm excited to be taking this tail for a photo shoot this afternoon. A friend of mine will be wearing it for a dry shoot. My next project is to make a matching scale top, though this time I'll be delving into the world of dragonskin so wish me luck :)

That's looking great! I'm excited to see how your photos turn out. Good luck on the Dragonskin top adventure too! That sounds interesting.

It's pwetty. I <3 it.

Love the colors! It looks very angelic :)

I love your tail! What glue did you use to attach the monofin to the neoprene and how well does it hold up?

Sorry! Missed this question until now. I used a glue called "storm sure". So far it has held up.