Scale top = fail top. Help?

**Lily** · 05-08-2015, 11:52 AM

So last night I started making a scale top to go with my in-progress tail. I was using this Aerie bra:

which the label says is 73% nylon / 27% elastaline "exclusive of decoration."

I coated the bra in silicone and got the scales all nicely arranged and pinned in place. Woke up this morning to take the pins out and the scales that were on the cups just peeled right off. The scales on the band are on there nice and secure but nothing seems to have stuck to the cups at all. The silicone on the cup area is also still kind of tacky and sticky, which makes me think there was something inside the cup to give it structure which may have interfered with the silicone cure.

So now I've ruined a bra and I don't have scaley boobs

Can someone recommend a bra brand (preferably which carries my size, 32D) that has been proven not to screw up silicone? I need pretty merboobs, dagnabbit!

**Mermaid Cascada** · 05-08-2015, 12:38 PM

I'm not sure but couldn't you remove the padding, then put it back in after the silicone has cured on the cup?

**Theobromine** · 05-08-2015, 12:45 PM

That sucks :-/ I've seen your tail progress, so I think we can all assume you know how to mix the silicone properly and whatnot, so we can rule that out as an issue.

I've made 3 silicone tops at this point, and I honestly didn't even check the label before siliconing them and they all turned out fine. I'm curious now, I'll have to go check the labels...81% nylon/19% elastane on one, 80% nylon/20% elastane on another, and the label is long gone from the first one but it was just a cheap old Target bra I had lying around. The other two are Warner's and Maidenform, respectively. I had no cure issues on any of them. Did the label on yours say "elastaline" exactly? Cuz mine say "elastane" and I'm not sure if that's the same thing or a different material. Scratch that, I just googled "elastaline" and it asked me if I meant "elastane". So I'm gonna say your bra is made from the same materials as mine, just in slightly different proportions...but I don't know if "exclusive of decoration" means that there are other materials present in the decoration that aren't listed? Wouldn't they still have to label those materials anyway, in case they contained latex or something else that might cause an allergic reaction? I dunno. More research may be required. According to Wikipedia, elastane is composed primarily of a polyester-polyurethane copolymer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandex which are both types of synthetic plastics/rubbers. I wouldn't think that it would inhibit the cure of silicone (especially in some concentrations but not others, because I'm pretty sure that's not how cure inhibition works) but that might be a question for the people at Smooth-On.

In terms of your application method, how did you apply the silicone to the fabric? Did you notice it sinking into the fibers of the fabric? In my experience it should sink in pretty easily....and that's how it grabs on, as I'm sure you know. What I did on my first two silicone tops was to actually brush a thin layer of silicone onto the bra cups, making sure it was worked into the fabric pretty thoroughly, and then I let that cure before applying my silicone seaweed. That way I made sure it was not only cured but that it was super secure on the bra already. However, on my third top (second one for myself) I was kind of in a big rush to get it finished in time for a gig the next day so I just slapped it all together and siliconed everything in place all at once and it still all cured and held just fine.

So...my best guesses are either that there is another material in the cups of that particular bra that's not listed on the label, or that something went wrong somewhere in the mixing process of the silicone you used as glue (moisture or other small contaminant particles, perhaps)...however if you used all the same silicone to glue the scales down to the cups AND the bands, I'm guessing the first scenario is most likely.

Sorry I couldn't help with a more definitive answer, that was kind of more of a wandering musing on my part. I guess maybe your best bet for next time is to do a small patch test on both the straps and cups of a new bra before you try to assemble the whole thing. Good luck for your next try, you're a very talented artist and I can't wait to see what you come up with!

**malinghi** · 05-08-2015, 01:28 PM

I need pretty merboobs, dagnabbit!

Haha

About what to use, I'm pretty curious. I have no idea how people make these with silicone. Here's one how-to guide for making a scale top, but it uses latex caulk:
http://mernetwork.com/imgs/How%20to%...cale%20Top.pdf

**Lily** · 05-08-2015, 03:11 PM

It's so weird that our bras use the same material but had such different results. The silicone definitely sunk into the fabric enough that it should have bonded to the scales, and since it's still sticky on top of the cup I know it didn't somehow sink all the way down and disappear somewhere in the hidden mysteries inside the bra cup. I think you're probably right that there was some unlisted material in the cups that did this. Nothing else makes sense.

Now I'm just pissed at

(1) myself for not doing a test like I do with everything, seriously I'm like Tom Hanks in Castaway

(2) the fact that I now have to buy another bra, which is going to be around $40 since no cheap brand carries the right size. Boobs, I love you and all, but I wish you'd stop growing like every other part of me has.

**PearlieMae** · 05-08-2015, 04:26 PM

You could silicone onto fabric and then sew it onto your bra base. The foam rubber in the cups are what's inhibiting the curing process.

**Lily** · 05-08-2015, 04:34 PM

I do already have fabric embedded in the scale sheet (it's scrap leftover from my tail. That could actually work, and might make the scales fit closer to the bra! Heck, that could even allow me to salvage this bra if I can get the sticky silicone out of the fabric. Thanks Pearlie!

Oh also... do you think the foam would inhibit cure of the pigmented that I'll be applying over the scales? Or would the scale sheet in between be enough of a buffer?