Mizuko's Silicone Tail

Hello everyone!
I've been putting off posting this here because I'm scared it wont go to my expectations, but I finally decided to post because it is great motivation :)
I've decided to make my own silicone tail- thanks to all the incredible tutorials on here!! I've been researching for over a year now and its time to dive in.
First of all, I have some challenges. Unfortunately because I live in Australia, Dragon Skin silicone is hard to get. The only supplier is (luckily) in my city, however it is $408 a gallon compared to $184... thats almost 3 times the price... so I think I'll have to use a shopping service and ship it over from the US. Second challenge is that I live in a tiny flat with no garage/shed to work in. So I'm currently on the hunt for a shed someone will let me borrow for a few weeks! Haha!
Other than this, the third and final challenge is, of course, money. Because a lot of supplies are either shipped in or imported through other companies, the price of special Fx and molding is ridiculous. I am considering starting a 'fund me' program- as any assistance would be incredible- but I'm not holding my breath. Haha!

Anyways, after all this I am still really keen to move forward with this project. To be able to make my own tail will be... well, incredible! I am lucky enough to own a Merbella's neoprene/silicone tail and it is so beautiful... I hope I can create something half as pretty.


This tail will be a recreation of my very first mermaid tail, one I foldly call The Pink Peacock.
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Here is the design sketch:
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I wanted something different for the side/dorsal/ankle fins so I went with a girly look. I know the dorsal will be a little bit of a drag, so this design might change! Lol! I wont purposely be painting each scale individually as I did for the fabric tail, but I do plan to do some of them. Its going to be an experiment! Hehe!

As for steps, I have made a leg cast using glad wrap and duct-tape, and finally fibre glass to give it strength. I did this while I was home over Christmas; my Dad makes surfboards in his free time so he has a huge shed and lots of fibre glass to spare! I know it has been said that you dont nessesarily need a leg cast to make a full silicone tail, however I'm taking no chances with sizing! We quite literaly took the duct-tape dummy in about an inch before fibre-glassing it (which only added an extra 1-2cm to the width) so I'm sure to have a tight fitting tail.
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I've also made the patterns for the fluke and extra fins (no photos yet!) but the fluke may change in size as I'm now saving for a Competitor monofin and after measuring it theres a chance it may be too short in size (and I thought I made it huge! Haha!). Once I have enough for the monofin I'll be visiting the molding & casting supplies store here in my city to pick up the clay. I plan on using liquid plastic for the molds themselves, as I dont want my molds to degrade over time & using cardboard for mold boxes is easier for me to source. The only issue with this is of course storage as they will be solid, but my partner has been kind enough to give me the spare room for all my mermaid things. Haha!


And thats it for now :) I'll start the scale mold as soon as I've saved up enough for the silicone. I want to complete this project by July, but I dont know how well that time frame will go due to money and other commitments! It doesn't get cold enough here in Australia to worry about Silicone freezing or anything, so as far as doing it during Winter it will be fine :) But please wish me luck! XD

Whoa! Congratulations and it sounds like an amazing project! I love the fins on your design.

Wow, that is great congratulations that is a very cool project and I like it very much.

Wow! Such a big project! i wish u all the best of luck! <3 !

I'm also in Australia and wanting to make my own silicone tail. Let me know if you find a shopping service to use because I need one too!

Very cool!
But wow that sure is a lot youre going to have to be dealing with. I can't believe it's $400 a gallon over where you like that's insane!
If I were you, Id just start working on the scale sheet immediately. It really takes forever and you can make it with about $20 worth of materials.

Good luck!

I know, it's ridiculous. Everything here is like three times the price as it is in America. I have a lot of American friends and they all say they have no idea how I even get by when everything is so expensive -___-

wow! I'm excited for you! Let me know how sculpting in clay goes! Are you going to do all the scales in one go or keep it moist somehow and come back to it here and there?

Thank you everyone!
Yeah, the price of things here is insane. Its really not fair for us Aussie mermaids XD
I plan on making the scale sheet from foam, not clay, as it is the cheepest option and the cost of this project is already looking like $2000 due to materials. I have to find a big enough box/make one before I start the sheet. I would really LOVE to do one big sheet so there would be one seam! :D

I am going to use foam for my mold box and liquid plastic for my molds as well. Are you just going to buy your liquid plastic from the supplier here? I am currently on the lookout for someone I can use for a shopping service to get my silicone too, but it is probably going to cost a fortune in postage to be shipped from the US, so i might just end up having to suck it up and buy from the supplier here anyway. Just means it will take a lot longer for me to save up. I live in New South Wales, you're really lucky you live close enough to them!

I'll be buying it from here- I'm in SA and we've got two major molding & casting supply stores that stock alot of FX stuff :) Liquid plastic, as far as I was aware, isn't too expensive. But then again, I havent checked personally with the stores yet cos I'm not sure how much I'll need! haha!
My time-line plans were as follows:
get competitor monofin
make clay molds of fluke and fins
set molds with liquid plastic
Order silicone (as I will probably put it on an actual ship- the cost is so much cheeper... but this means it will be 1-2months til I get it! lol!)
In the mean time make scale sheet.

That was the plan... but plans dont always go the right way! haha!

Nice! I have my competitor monofin already, which I bought off Amazon, and am thinking of starting with the scale mold, making the box out of styrofoam and the scales themselves out of craft foam. Then get liquid plastic, and then get clay and start on my fluke and extra fins, cast that with liquid plastic and then do the silicone. I don't know if I would trust putting my silicone on an actual ship, my cousin ordered a school formal dress and accidentally chose the ground shipping option and she never got it!

I plan on getting 4 gallons, so it is really the only option I have. XD I'm getting extra just in case, and if I dont screw up I'll have enough to make another tail! (I'm dying to make a realistic Ariel tail... hehe!)

Are you ordering all your silicone at once? I figure that since silicone sticks to itself running out wouldn't be such a big problem since you can just buy more and top up your mold if you end up pouring it and it's not completely full

Yes, I'm ordering all at once. But because I want to pigment the paint into it before it cures, I want to ensure I have enough for everything so I can guarantee the colours are all the same. Plus, if I'm already paying for shipping for 2 gallons I might as well get 4 :P

I was going to pigment it the base colours and then use more silicone to paint over the top to put in the details. I was thinking of getting three gallons since my fluke will be very big. I dunno, I would be awfully worried about trusting one of those ships with my silicone, but you are right in that it may be the only option since it is supposed to be very heavy. I am thinking I might have to just go with the supplier here, but I will see I guess. Its just such a pain in the butt that it has to be so stupidly expensive :(

Alot of my family has had things shipped via boats and we've never had any issues- surfboards, guitars, etc. You can pay for insurance and if they get lost you get your money back for the items :)

Well, I guess that definitely is a possibility then. I wonder how much it would cost? I was also thinking that perhaps there is a different brand of platinum cure silicone that we could use that is cheaper to buy here than dragonskin. I would rather use dragonskin if possible, since it is what everyone uses, but there could be something else that is suitable

As far as I was aware it can be as low as $30 to ship 30kilos to Australia from the US :) but I'll have to get back to you on that once I've finished saving up for the silicone and contacted the shopping service for details!
I think there is suitable silicone here in Australia... but I'm not taking any chances. lol! Dragon Skin is 'safe': so many people use it and have answers to difficulties that may arise, so I'm sticking with it! hehe! XD fool-proof, you might say. Haha!

Yeah, I think I will be sticking with dragonskin too for the same reason. I have never worked with silicone before so it really wouldn't be worth the risk