Kalani's Hybrid Tail Adventure

Heheh! I'm a sucker for memes :p

Wesley, it was straight out of the tube and onto the fin. Seconds after, I would go over it with a brush. I will revisit the fins tomorrow, and see how they look. I was also discouraged because I didn't take into account how much effort and silicone would go into making the big pectoral fins I was hoping for, so that was another reason I wasn't feeling to well. No matter, though because I decided that the tail would look great without them :)

I have also realized that even though some of the iridescence may be lost, when I put my monofin into the tail I will then have a sturdy, flat surface to apply the silicone to. Again, I will revisit this in the morning :)

So progress? I have two little ankle fins with silicone on them. While a little goopy in some places, I think I can make them work! I'm scrapping my pectoral fins but I have a full dorsal in store, waiting for silicone. The tail will be sewn together this weekend and possibly siliconing the fluke. All is well!

So I hopped into the garage to take a look at the fins. They actually came out much better than I was expecting! Yes, I did lose some of the colors, but I think that is a small price to pay in exchange for a longer lasting and more realistic tail :) I have a little fin test here, feel free to skip around the video a little bit. Toward the end I compare the silicone and silicone free sides using the unfinished pelvic fin. I won't use those huge pelvic fins because it is just so much silicone (the same amount of silicone that would go on the dorsal!) and a lot of frustrating work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8oCq_rA5zw

Looking great so far!

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Thank you Seraphina! While I haven't started the fluke yet (that will be the very last as I want to have my fin in there when laying the silicone), may I ask how you did yours? I remember seeing a close up picture and it looked very clean. Any tips I should know before I finish this up?

I'm also extremely happy with the 'flop' of the fins. It's exactly what i was hoping for on the trailing bits of my fluke!

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Originally Posted by Kalani

Thank you Seraphina! While I haven't started the fluke yet (that will be the very last as I want to have my fin in there when laying the silicone), may I ask how you did yours? I remember seeing a close up picture and it looked very clean. Any tips I should know before I finish this up?

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I squeezed the silicone in a thin layer straight from the tube onto the fluke. I worked in lines from the top where the scales would start, to the tip of the fluke. The silicone kind of spreads itself but make sure that you work close enough to the last line/keep them touching so you don't have any holes. It gives a natural slightly ridged look when it's done!

I totally feel you on the flop XD I loved slapping my little fins around lol
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I have to agree that you will have one of the best fabric tails I have ever seen.
Its to bad some of the rainbow effect gets a bit dull when the silicone is applied. I am glad that it does not get lost completely. I cant wait to see photos of you in it in the sun/swimming!!!

I think the rainbow looks incredibly realistic with the silicone over it! I love it. That fabric is so beautiful, but with the silicone over it, it actually looks the way an iridescent fish would. I am impatiently waiting to see how the finished tail looks! I think this will be the direction I go when I do my fabric tail.

Thank you so much for your kind words! (Nearly started tearing up but that's probably due to PMS). All of my faith in this tail is restored. I agree that it looks really nice with the silicone, also keeping in mind that the silicone will be on the fins and fluke, not the body.

Well, yet at least. I've played around with the idea of scaling the tail because of the how well it cures to the holographic print. I don't want to get too ahead of myself though, and something like that would likely happen next season.

Edit: Also as a side note, the lighting in which the first two videos and the fin video was made under were completely different. Later tonight the fins will probably regain a little bit more of their shine :)

Kalani it's just looking FANTASTIC!!!!! You are going to be quite the shimmery catch of the day!!!!

Great news! I sewed the two parts of the tail together and it looks really nice! I was so worried that my pink hair would throw off the colors, but that wasn't the case at all :D
I lost quite a bit of green paint on the front due to the seam allowance but that will all be painted on later. I'll need to resize it a little as it is a little baggy and I like skin tight tails, but I will do that probably later tonight. I can only take so much sewing before going insane :lol: Trying to find some better ways to deal with silicone before working on my fluke and dorsal.

Still wanting to add that bit of pink to match my hair but I'm really not finding anywhere that will look nice. Hmmm...

In any case, I think that I should be taking a bit of a break now that I am so close. I want to make sure that I don't make any snap decisions :p Time to work on my Secret Santa gift! Heheh...

So I have been stalking this thread because, well many reasons. Eventually I'm going to make myself a fabric tail and I need all the help I can get. The idea of using DAP silicone painted on is genius. I am potentially going to use that.
And can I just say, and I think most mers will agree with me, holy fluke that is some gorgeous fabric, girl. Your tail is amazing and it isn't even finished. It is an inspiring tail for us tail-less mers, mers without silicone funds/skill, and mers who prefer fabric. Carp, it's just plain inspirational. Can't wait to see it finished!

Looks great! You are going to be the most gorgeous golden fishy!

sorry, could someone please tell what is DAP silicone? this is the first thread I've seen that mentions it. I am awaiting the next pic with baited breath!

Of course! DAP is a brand that creates silicone caulk *gasp*
The line of silicone that mers buy from them is their All Purpose Adhesive Sealant. It is so far proven to be safe because if it's main use for aquarium use. It is stretchy, won't turn yellow or crack, is fish safe and is food safe as well.
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Wow, i'd imagine it would take a lot of those little tubes to cover a tail...

You have no idea @_@ When I was making mine, I sold out the three closest Home Depot stores in my area. The next one to have it was a half hour drive away.

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Phew! Glad I'm only doing the fins and fluke! Eh, for now at least. I've toyed with the idea of scaling the tail in the future. We'll see how it holds up.

Ouch, it's been a while! I haven't made any progress on this tail since my last post... I've been so busy! Luckily I'm on break for a week so hopefully I can pick this tail back up again :)

Wow Kalani! Your tail looks amazing so far!! :jawdrop:
That fabric is just medical and I really love your top!!
i can't wait to see how it turns out :swoon:

This is looking so cool!!
I'd been thinking about using DAP silicone to add to my fabric tail that's in the works and I have to say this is really motivational!

How's it coming, Kalani?

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Pssst, hey there. Guess who started working on this thing again? It's me!

Gosh, its been so long and I could give ya'll so many excuses but I save you from that. In any case, its summer and I finally have time to pick this tail back up again! It's completely sewn up but now I'm taking a step back to look at where I want to go with this tail. I'm toying around with fins, silicone, and maybe even sequins? I think that whatever I do, I want to put a lot of thought into it because I want this to be my main tail for a while.

Today I'm going to work on fins and research what materials I might use to finish this up. We'll see!

If I get any notable progress done today, I'll post a couple of pictures :)

the stippling looks great Kalani and what nice summery colors! I can't wait to see the finished product.

Mwahahaha! The seams have vanished! Great job on hiding them!

nice job Kalani!!!

Kalani!!! This is looking so fantastic! I've just gone through this whole thread... I can't wait to see you finish! <3
Also a few questions, well one main one really. You see I made a neoprene-fully-sequined tail last summer and used E6000 to glue them down and it worked wonders... but the glue that CArtwright's uses to attach the shiny foil to the plastic of the sequin... not so much. :( And I'm now looking for alternate ways to reinforce my work (which was a lot, even gluing lol), beside hand sewing. I've read a few threads now on machine sewing (still really iffy on that), and not necessarily what I'm looking for, but latex tails with sequins. I was thinking of brushing a thin layer of clear latex or silicone over top my sequins for protection. But I'm having trouble finding the right stuff... safe, stretchy, flexible, clear enough to still see the shine of my iridescence. I'll attach a picture so you can see what I'm saying. But yeah. I'm just trying to find help with mers who are attempting somewhat similar things. ;)
And again, I literally can't wait to see this cross the finish line!!! <3
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Caspiana I love your tail! You know what, I know I've seen a mer or two cover a sequin tail in silicone, I'm just going to have to dig around to try and find it for you. It really does look amazing though!

For a cheap option, I think DAP would be the way to go. In all honesty though, my experience hasn't been amazing. Since its more caulk-y than anything, its a little goopy and hard to work with (at least on the spandex I'm using, it's going to be different for neoprene). I am thinking of finding a silicone thinner that will help it to become a little bit slicker, but even with that I'm not sure if I'll use it on this tail except for the fins. Unfortunately, when I tested the silicone on my holographic fabric, it dulled down the effect quite a bit. It's still noticeably shiny, but you don't quite see the rainbow as much in the sun.

As for updates on my tail, it's coming along! ...after I completely changed the color again :headwall: :lol:
I took her out into the sun and really wasn't in love with how the blue and the gold looked, so she's back to being green again! I'm happy that I made the switch again. I'm so indecisive haha. In any case, the paint (which really makes this look like a latex tail) is super thick and rich in color so you can't even tell. Just look at the pictures I posted earlier and you'll see.
I thought about my fluke for a while last night. If you look at the picture of the frankenstein tail I made in Hawaii, the fluke looks completely flat at the end. It's not really, the fabric just flopped over and behind the monofin which wasn't too pretty in pictures. I have a couple ideas so I'll try to sketch them out because its hard to explain, but in the end the fluke will be stiff enough to hold up out of water, but really nice and flowy in the water.

I'm going to start scaling the tail today using my previous method and show you all what I get done!

Alright, I've started tracing my scales, its just taking a lot of precision because I am not going to scale the belly (the gold part). However, in the future when the holographic print inevitably wears off and I repaint the whole thing, I'll probably want to do scales on it. Does that make sense? Haha

Here's a little peek at the green layered with the gold. I'm really loving how this came out (and I promise no more color changes!!!)

Attachment 37471

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Originally Posted by Kalani

Caspiana I love your tail! You know what, I know I've seen a mer or two cover a sequin tail in silicone, I'm just going to have to dig around to try and find it for you. It really does look amazing though!

For a cheap option, I think DAP would be the way to go. In all honesty though, my experience hasn't been amazing. Since its more caulk-y than anything, its a little goopy and hard to work with (at least on the spandex I'm using, it's going to be different for neoprene). I am thinking of finding a silicone thinner that will help it to become a little bit slicker, but even with that I'm not sure if I'll use it on this tail except for the fins. Unfortunately, when I tested the silicone on my holographic fabric, it dulled down the effect quite a bit. It's still noticeably shiny, but you don't quite see the rainbow as much in the sun.

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Thank you! :) It took a long time. Lol... But thanks for the advice. :) If you find the other mer with the sequin-silicone thingy... please let me know. I'm floundering right now... pun intended. Haha I don't think DAP would work, considering I'd need to cover almost my entire tail and it comes from a tube. Lol... I think I have to aim at more of a brush-on or spray. But thanks! ;D

And btw... Loving your tail improvement!!! :)) <3 =D

Just a photo of what I think my scales will look like, I'm really feeling the pointed scales :) I've decided I might scale the gold part of the tail as well. I was liking the idea of having only scales on the green and then a smooth belly but I think I will be consistent. What do you guys think?

Attachment 37486

Also, I think that if I do the gold scales, I will want those ones to be smaller than the green ones. So, bigger scales on the back and then transitioning to smaller scales on the belly. Has anyone here ever done this before? How did you get everything to match up? Thanks! xx

How is the stretch on the tulip paint? I was considering using it for my first fabric tail


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The stretch is fantastic but only if you use certain types. I know they have slick, puffy, metallic, glitter, neon and a few others. I've tried the majority of them on different tails so I speak from experience.

The main paint I use is Slick. This is for all my base colors like the green you see here. It is extremely stretchy and sticks great to most fabrics. The downside is that it gets a little sticky and if two different parts of your tail painted with this touch for too long, it will stick together and can damage your tail if you try to separate it. To prevent this, I sprinkle my tails with baby powder when I'm transporting them.

The second paint I use is Metallic. I normally use the gold but I used to use the blue a lot, I haven't seen it in stores in a while. Anyways, this works almost exactly like Slick, but it is not as sticky and the stretch is compromised just slightly.

My favorite paint to use for accents is Glitter, but only for accents. This paint does not stretch much at all so I don't recommend you use it to scale an entire tail. It does, however dry completely without getting sticky.

Lastly, I've used Puffy and let me tell you that I will never make that mistake again. The puffy paint gets puffy when it is heat set. Well, thirteen year old Kalani didn't put two and two together and realize that if a Californian mermaid swims in 110 degree weather, the tail will quite literally explode. I wish I had pictures of it but I tossed that poor tail a while ago. Basically, the puffy paint puffed up so much that the air bubbles inside it grew too big and popped! The scales were huge and thick and lumpy. Not great!

I think that once I am done with this tail, I am going to make a Tulip paint guide so everyone knows how to use it, but for now reference people back to this thread ;)

That'd be awesome! But thank you so much for the info I'll give it a try :3


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I love the idea of two toned scales covering the whole thing, you could, with the paint, probably blend the colors well to make a nice smooth transition from color to color. I'm so excited to see you finish and can't wait to see it swim! :)

Alright, I've seen tracing my scales onto my tail for the past couple of days. It's getting tough because it's been getting up to 113 degrees fahrenheit where I am and I'm tailmaking in the garage! I can only work for a few minutes before it gets too hot :( I'm also back in school for a few weeks (hooray for cruddy geometry teachers who failed half her class!) so I'm slowing down a bit. That's all :)

Any updates :) I am using the same material for my daughters tale put hers is pink base coat and DAP also :)


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Not too much has happened unfortunately. I just got out of school again but I've been tied up with another costume project because my tail worktable is currently being used to hold a plethora of film cameras and drones haha. Should be able to get back to work soon, but I'm not sure if this will be done by the end of summer. It's just too hot to work! :p

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Originally Posted by Kalani

Not too much has happened unfortunately. I just got out of school again but I've been tied up with another costume project because my tail worktable is currently being used to hold a plethora of film cameras and drones haha. Should be able to get back to work soon, but I'm not sure if this will be done by the end of summer. It's just too hot to work! :p

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Film cameras and drones... sounds like a dream come true!

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Originally Posted by Vrindavana Starfish

Film cameras and drones... sounds like a dream come true!

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Haha, its what happens when your mom, dad, brother (and soon, yourself) are all in the film industry :lol: