Stunning! Congratulations! You look incredible! :yay:
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Stunning! Congratulations! You look incredible! :yay:
Thanks! I couldn't have done it without your epic tutorial.
:hail::mermaid kiss:
Love! It looks great! I can't wait to see a video of you and your tail in action :D
It's an absolute masterpiece! Definitely a new inspiration for me and my future tailmaking endeavors :)
It looks FANTASTIC!!! You must be so proud!
That is So beautiful! Well done! I only wish I could pull off warm colours like you do. :)
I am so in love with your tail. THis is the closest style I've seen yet that fits what my dream tail and colors could be. If you start making them, I would love to be your first customer.
Thanks everyone! :D
Sherielle, I'd bet Pearlie would be happy to make you a big-scale tail if you asked her! This took me six months...I doubt I'll be making them for anyone else any time soon. I just don't have the time! And my kid's next on the list. Her current tail is starting to fail. Of course, she wants silicone...
ETA: though I'm happy to make a similar beaded top to match anyone's tail, if you're not in love with the silicone bra look. :) I love beading!
I think I can say that you have been written in my mental book of inspirational people. You have made the whole process of making a silicone tail look so effortless even though I know it is a lot of hard work. You did a wonderful job for sure! I think I might re-read this thread...
How many sizes of scales did you end up using and how wide are the largest scales?
I just had two, though if I had to do it over again I'd make a smaller one for some of the awkward transitions. I had 11 different molds that I sculpted individually so they wouldn't have a totally uniform look, and I trimmed each scale with scrapbook scissors to give them ragged-looking edges.
Attachment 32220
and wow, thanks so much, mermaid Alea! :)
You look so beautiful! I am in love with your big scales!
Thank you! I told my husband about how much I love your tail and he said, "Well get yourself to sculpting, lady!". He better realize that I'm going to take that as a okey dokey for me to start getting my supplies together.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dancing Fish
Thanks, Mermaid Sabie!
Awesome, Sherielle! It was So. Much. Fun to do this. Just keep at it a little at a time. When it all comes together you'll be so amazed that this beautiful creation came from your own hands! :)
Next project: a hybrid tail for Rowan! Silicone flukes and fins, painted silicone body. AWESOME!!
Okay first of all thank you soo much for giving your final thoughts on this project! Right now I am compiling a list of everything you do when making a silicone tail. I doubt I will be able to make one anytime soon, but I know eventually I want to give it a go and I might as well start researching now so that by the time I can make one I should be fairly confident in starting.
I have maybe 2 questions for you though:
This one confused me a little:
- So basically, if you tint the underlying silicone it makes the top coat of tinted silicone not stick? I just found that confusing because I thought a lot of tailmakers tint the silicone and then paint over it with more tinted silicone without problems. My idea if I were to go with the individual scale method would be to make the scales and then paint a little bit over them so that would wear off? Does that mean the pretty painting you did on your fluke is going to eventually rub off? Oh wait or are you just saying you dust the silicone with just pure pearl ex not mixed into silicone and that is why it rubs off? I am guessing that is what you meant and I didn't read it right lol.Quote:
10. Dusting over silicone with powdered Pearl-X pigments will give you an amazing luminous, lustrous metallic sheen that as far as I can tell cannot be replicated with other methods (I haven't tried airbrushing yet). But it will make the silicone top coat unable to effectively adhere to the pigmented layer beneath. I don't care because my scales are all tinted under the paint. It's only the tips that will wear away, which is OK for me because I'm going for a more organic look. I love the wear patterns that are starting to show already. So tint your underlying silicone the color you want to show when the paint starts rubbing off. as it inevitably will.
Okay my other question is how hard was it to attach the fluke to the body? I noticed that people don't really talk about it much in their tailmaking threads. It just seems like they show the body and the fluke separate and then ta da there is an update with both parts together. To me that is the most daunting sounding part getting it to line up right, making sure your length is correct, etc.
FYI to anyone else: I moved the "final thoughts" to the first post, along with all the materials I used. :)
The pigmenting: After I cast my scales, I cleaned them with water, then used powdered pigment to give them that lovely sheen. I really rubbed it into the silicone surface, making it smooth and lustrous. It looks phenomenal! I then sealed it with a topcoat of clear silicone. But since there is a layer of powder between the two layers of silicone, the top coat doesn't grip very well, and it's separating in some areas (particularly the edges that I trimmed). I also think that many tailmakers have found that over-pigmenting the silicone they are painting with gives them a similar issue.
And attaching the fluke...Hmm, I don't have any pics, but I'll try to describe the process in another post. Right now I'm off to Michaels for airbrush paints! yay!
Oh okay thank you! :)
I, too, am curious about this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Alea
I assume you're familiar with the "fluke sandwich" using powermesh to secure the silicone to lexan or whatever monofin you're using? If not, that method's fairly simple...cover the foot pocket region with saran wrap, then use poly zap (for lexan) or some other appropriate glue to secure fabric to the fin. Pearlie suggested crumpling the fabric a little to give the silicone something to grab, but I found that made my fin lumpy (I probably overdid it) and I ended up with some air pockets inside my fluke. Make sure the saran covers anything that will inhibit silicone (especially if you are using a commercial monofin with rubber foot pockets), and try to squeeze out all the air pockets before the silicone cures completely. I got a few out by piercing them with pins afterward, but when I try this again I'll just use a flat sheet of power mesh. Don't forget to leave drainage holes! (I used big popsicle sticks wrapped in saran wrap. Mistake! Nearly impossible to remove afterwards.)
When I made my duct tape dummy, I created it all the way down to the heels. That gave me a good idea how long to make the body. I already deleted the few pics I took, but basically once the fluke was complete, and the body was complete, I put both on and took pics of the missing portion of the ankle region with toes pointed and flexed. I used those pics as a guide to determine how many scales were needed to reach across the divide. Then I built up, adding scales from the fluke to the ankle region. I did the dorsal side first so I could add in another couple of layers of power mesh over the heel join inside while I could still reach it. I didn't bother to reinforce the ventral (top of ankles) join, figuring that region gets less stress. Don't forget to stick in something into the body to keep the front and back halves of the ankle region from getting accidentally glued together since you don't have a dummy behind them (I used a magazine covered in saran wrap).
There was quite a lot of luck involved in this whole process...I'm very happy I judged the distance right the first time. :)
OH! And I should mention that I drew a vertical line all down my dummy in the front and back in black sharpie, so I knew exactly where the center line was as I was pinning scales. By the time I glued the scales down it was pretty clear where the center line was, but that's really important to do!
Thank you soo much for talking about how you put your fluke on. It sounds like you just have to go for it (carefully haha). Those are all very good tips you mentioned!
Once again I think you have done a lovely job!
Everything came together, including a new battery for the camera, and a willing photographer. (Thanks, honey!) I've changed my mind about the fluke being too stiff. It's *perfect.* :) You can see both tails in action here! (My daughter refuses to let me fix that awful heel on her tail...so that's that!) I haven't adjusted the waistband either, so that's just a big spandex sash tied round the waist. It's OK for a temporary solution.
https://youtu.be/0DdCLJ2CpYY
We are, of course, working on our next tails. I've decided that while it LOOKS utterly beautiful, I'm not actually all that comfortable swimming in a full silicone tail. I honestly prefer spandex. But I *must* have that gorgeous realistic fluke, so I'm working on a hybrid.
It moves so beautifully! And your daughter cracks me up! Great work! Give the silicone a little more time to grow on ya...you'll get the hang of it!
It really does look beautiful in the water, Dancing Fish! Good luck on the Hybrid!
Thanks, Pearlie and Keris! :) BTW, I love how your hybrid tail turned out!
My daughter really wants me to try something weird with her next spandex tail-- airbrushing through a mesh, but with silicone instead of paint to get color and texture. We'll see how that turns out...maybe she's onto something!
But I'm using a paintgun instead. I've decided that airbrushing with a wee little artist airbrush using silicone is a big ol' waste of my time. YIKES!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dancing Fish
I realize this is not a recent thread, yet I am gathering all the possible information and educating myself about techniques on individual scales attached to a power mesh fabric.
First of all a big thank you for your very much contributive and detailed information. AWESOME! Sharing all your process is so generous from you!
I believe Pearlie Mae was the pioneer in this technique, but as much as I look for it I cannot find the detailed tutorial you mention here.
I have found her original (epic 80 something pages long thread) but looks like she has edited or removed most of her posts there (excuse me if I am wrong).
So, please, if anyone could point me in the right direction on an step by step tutorial (epic tutorial? :p) or any other detailed and technical info I would be very grateful.
I have performed all sorts of research over google and mernetwork... so please, bear in mind, I am doing my homework, just overwhelmed by so much information and frustrated to not be able to find the right one everybody seems to know, but me!
Thanks in advance and again congrats on a wonderful job!
Hi! Yeah, Pearlie took down most of her details about her process since she is now selling her gorgeous tails, but there are so many folks doing similar tails now (gluing scales to a powermesh body stretched over a tape dummy) that you should be able to pick up the basics. I'd start a new thread for your tail and post questions you have as they come up. Most folks are happy to answer specific questions, but I don't think there are any specific detailed tutorials out there covering this method (out of respect for Pearlie).