this looks great. Since I am 5'8 I can't see any reason to add any length to myself in a tail except perhaps to put my fee a few inches above the fluke. I cant wait to see what you and Jazz come up with.
this looks great. Since I am 5'8 I can't see any reason to add any length to myself in a tail except perhaps to put my fee a few inches above the fluke. I cant wait to see what you and Jazz come up with.
Golden Pearl, for me it's mostly about the movement instead of the length. The extra length provides flexibility for the tail to move as realistically as the one in your gif :)
Good luck. I hope the fluke can offer propulsion if it is following in a serpentine motion.
To get my personal feet above my fin I just bought a pair of Snap Body glove fins and will put them on top of a lexan fluke with an extension on top. This way I add a few inches without having the hazards of swimming with a pole attached to your feet
Attachment 18245
Ok a little Update. i have created my extension NOW this thing wasn't easy. coming up with HOW to create it was the difficult part. it will be attached below my feet with a neoprene sock that I will create and it will move freely. it is solid by hollow in the middle to create flexibility. some pics. I originally tried to create it with foam but it was something Pearliemae suggest to jaz that made me think again. you freet are lighter than the rest of the body so uisng foam i deff would of be a yoyo. of course i origianlly though my weight would keep in down. live and Learn. I suppose.
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...psffa20255.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps2b718c90.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps5d8496e9.jpg
Q: ive left the bottom open. where it tapers off. should i leave it open or slicone it back up? Ive had to recast my flipper in two halves again as my current flipper was too heavy and it just won't attach the way it was initally intended to. so a major setback. the two haves of the flipper will be places over the top of this extension then siliconed together. but im alittle worried with water not being able to escape. what shall i do?
How about closing it up, but leaving openings every couple of inches so water can escape? I seem to remember someone using drinking straws to leave channels, once the silicone cures, slide the straws out.
^^ That was me! I've used straws, rulers, a plastic folder cut into strips....you can use anything really! It's a good idea to have your drainage channels a 1/2" or less....wider ones will allow water to run up the fluke if you're just sitting around :)Quote:
Originally Posted by PearlieMae
Ok Ive put up a photo ive how im going to put my flipper together. I was initially going to silicone all the sides togther so that no water got in but as the extension goes in-bewtween the flipper i can't necessarily leave it close otherwise it will drage me down. pealiemae, do you mean channels though the flipper itself? or just the extension? does this image help?
I THOUGHT so! You're so smart! You know I'm your biggest fan, right? :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Jessica
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Tri, I meant through the flipper, but consult Jessica...my tail assembly is completely different.
Ok here is an Update. the Extension has been attached to the suit. and now im playing around with hight of the flipper. the extension adds about 5 inches to the suit. I decided to this is sufficient as going any longer would be simply a fail. I don't believe I would have control over the flipper thus, just kicking water not to mention hard to manoeuvre. the pics show how long the tail is. now im quiet tall so don't get too freaked out with the pics. what does everyone think of so far? btw once i get up to the scaling im going to be JUMPING FOR JOY i can't wait for this to be finished. August of 2014 is 2 years since starting this project.
PS. after speaking with Jessica i have decided to add 6 channels. would this be sufficient or Insufficient?
Hello!
could you tell me how you will get the silicone tail, will use positive and negative mold? as the site: http://www.h-sama.com/2013/08/como-f...-negativo.html (have to translate into English because it is in Portuguese: \)
Thank you.
this is looking amazing. :)
UPDATE: the flipper has been attached should be cured by tomorrow. I had to cut back the extension slightly as when was playing around with the flipper for the extension the flipper was out of proportion to my body. the flipper just looked too long. there is an image you can see looking down at it. it gives a better view of what it looks like. now i may be tall but i am a walking skeleton so the fluke is perfect for my body and size. tomorrow i will be siliconning into place my fins.
Amazing!
Amazing work you have done here,
Update: the fins have been attached, I'm pretty much up to the silicone skin, then scaling. getting closer and closer to finishing.
great!
So cool! I can't wait to see how your extension works! You you just used silicone to create it?
yes, I used silicone to create it, its about 1cm thick around the edges and hollow in the middle. it has some stiffness to it but is flexible. but if i was to do this again. i would make it 8mm thick and not 10mm. Im just Hoping that it works the way i want it too. i think that is worrying me. but its all a learning experience.
Yeah, it visually looks amazing though! The second you finish, take a video of you swimming! I'm super excited to see the result :)
I am obsessed with the h2o tails and this one looks like it is going to be pretty amazing! I can't wait to see it in its full glory :D Props on the fluke ;)
Wow!!! Fins crossed it all comes together just like you planned!
Omg this is so rad!!! :jawdrop: I wish I had the skills on making my own tails!
Ooh this looks great except I would strongly advise that you test tht foam out in water.
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a update. first off i should of NEVER tried to replicate this tail. its been a total disaster the h20 tail extension ended up collapsing in, so by by tail. ive been spending the last 3 to 4 months on a different approach to the design, I've had to remake a new fluke as the current on was too large for the new tail i designed. AGAIN a total fuck up, but i ended up salvaging it. i created it to look like the hooks tails but truth be told it just didn't work. i had to cut back the extension so there is only about 3 inches but i have full faith that this will work great in the water. the pics will show you what it looks like pretty much the same as the others but only in silicone. the silicone 'skin' is about 1cm but not quiet and when on the body quiet light. the idea of this was to have it tight on the skin. wrong, my mannequin was done up to my specs but its slightly too loose. but i have figured how to make my skeleton body fatter. NEOPRENE suit. Ive had to redo my fins as they were not salvageable from the H20 tail. The fluke is very, very basic it makes me sick to show everyone here. all i have to do now is scale and that's it.
HOOK INSPIRED. DIDN'T WORK
Im sorry you have having trouble, it looks nice in the photos tho.
It does look really cool! I'm curious, are you putting clay directly onto the silicone? Why is that?
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the clay scales are only there to see what they will look like on the final piece. I'm not sticking on clay scales :)
Ohhh ok good I was confused. I think the simple fluke will make this tail really understated and cool. I actually love it. Don't fret!
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The tail looks good! And I love that fluke actually!!
I'm actually rather fond of your fluke, Trident. It looks quite realistic. And the scales are going to look amazing!
Ok UPDATE, UPDATE YAY. I was having some trouble with casting my scales, i was originally using smooth ons colour match BUT i was getting bubbles in between the casting. I tried multiple times to correct it, no go. thank god i only bought a sample kit. I invested in another plastic. Aussie brand. and its works great. NO bubbles and it dries crystal clear. but i add my tints to mine. here is a couple of photos the first is scales casted in macropearl a little lighter than expected. they kinda look like a pale pearly white colour. the other you see is the silver in combo with the pearly whites. im going to add a green to the pattern as it think it will look good. ive got green in my tail but what shade? HMMM.
Are your scales going to be plastic?
So you're doing plastic scales like the literal H2O tails have? I would do some major testing to see how sturdy they are because resin will break really easy (and also pop off). It is my understanding that the actual H2O tails required a TON of upkeep and maintenance.
there is nothing wrong with the plastic, its quiet pliable and will fit the tail fine. i will do a small test, but quiet frankly I don't really care. its taken me too long to do this project. more than others on here, most people know that its H20 inspired, however having silicone scales looks false to me. fish don't have raised scales most a flat along the body.
thanks for your concerns.
Since I decided to plan and create a tail, i never thought that i would have this many problems. I can be very ignorant at times. thinking that things will work out in the end but this has pretty much lead me up the garden path. realistically i should Of never attempted this type of tail. I feel that I'm too armature to do something like this. when i look at people's progress that are attempting their tails for the first time, they never really have any major problems, which is something that I always have had doing this tail. its been nearly 3 years since i started on this project and Im only up to the scaling of the piece. If I new it was going to take this long I would of been happy to hand over many, many coins for someone else to do it for me. I was keeping record of costings but i can clearly say ive spent roughly 2.5K. i personally Enjoy art but think this project has pushed the boundaries to an extent that if any more issues arise, i will simply give up on this project all together. My shed looks like a twister has been through it. So if I do end up giving UP on this Project. I have to apologise to everyone in advance that is watching this thread.
Ok. another set back. originally i was going to do my scales out of a urethane. as you can get a glue that will adhere them to silicone, BUT I kept getting air bubbles in it. then I moved on to another resin. which turns out to be a polyurethane, which is very difficult to adhere, especially to silicone. so using my moulds, I will be casting my scales in silicone. well I don't have a choice really do I, I've done test pieces and they look really good. nice and thin which is what I am after and of COURSE will adhere to silicone. I was using a butter knife to add the silicone to the moulds but it can be quiet dainty so I'm going to try to thin the silicone down and then use a syringe to put the silicone into the scale moulds. My sales are individual and will be glue on individually, all of my plastic scales will be kept to make a large scale sheet for a more simpler tail in the future. Perhaps.
Don't lose heart! I think you might have bitten off a little more than you could chew with this project, especially being a first tail. I, too, have often been guilty of the same, usually on a deadline, too, only to have to settle for less than my original vision. It's no fun.
If you'll pardon the pun, scale back your project and make it a bit more typical swimming tail, get the hang of the materials, swim around for a season...that's when all my best ideas and solutions come to me
Retreat a little, rethink and regroup. Forcing it and impatience are just going to piss you off and ruin your efforts.
As for your scales, I use a plastic artists' palette knife, it's offset blade makes it easier to "butter" in the silicone, otherwise, I just use my finger to spread it around. Use gloves if you are using silicone caulk, the acetic acid is irritating. True, fish don't have raised scales, hydrodynamics would dictate otherwise. But we are merfolk! The stuff of legend! And besides, textured scales add drama!
Don't give up!
Wow this looks incredible!!
OMG. I think you are doing such a great work!!
Scales in silicone silver jacquard pigments. looks more grey than silver, but does have a silvery flick when you look on an angle. the other colours i will be using are macropearl and a dark green. the scales are thin so they lay flat which is something im very happy with. thanks pearliemae of your kind words, and you are right. I did bit of more than i could chew but i have learnt so much along the way. This is more of a positive for me at least ive learnt something. thanks everyone else for your kinds words.