My individual scale tail attempt

[MermaidIndie]

Be warned this post is image heavy

So I've been in love with individual scale tails since PearlieMae made one for the first time and have since been following every thread I can find. I can finally start my tail so I decided to start a thread of my own to help keep me going and to hopefully help others

So the first thing I did was sketch out an idea. I had a sketch of a fluke from another tail I wanted to make a couple years ago in mind and used it as inspiration to make this



Then I headed to Joanns to pick up some *power mesh, which was $12.99 a yard but I had a 40% off coupon and only paid $9.33, and basically made a fabric tail out of that for my base!





Power mesh is super annoying to sew, make sure you use a ton of pins!

Then, I went to micheals and got 20 pounds of natural water based clay and Home Depot and got all my fiberglass resin and cloth



Set up my work space and traced my fluke onto the table*




And then I started sculpting!*




About five and a half hours later I had this!*




Then I sculpted out some scale ideas and hope tomorrow to do some fiberglass tests and sculpt some fins!*





The crash of waves and salty air are the signs of freedom

[MermaidIndie]

So I got around to doing my scale molds and side fin just a test cause I've never worked with fiberglass before and got this!





So those didn't come out so well, so I tried again



This came out much better and I was confident enough to take on my fluke...



So I don't have enough fiberglass but I'm getting more tonight and read that you can add more layers later on. So far it looks okay so fins crossed it comes out alright!

I chose to use fiberglass because it was much easier to find then shell shock and is cheaper but I've come to learn a few things.
No matter how careful you are it will get everywhere and on everything, including you. It dries a lot faster then one may think, and it smells, a lot. The smell also seeps into everything and settles into your house and trust me your family will not be happy about it. I would have done my fluke mold outside but I really didn't have a choice cause it was already sculpted on the table and I didn't want to risk breaking it.

I'll try and keep this thread updated and post when I finish my mold!


The crash of waves and salty air are the signs of freedom

[PearlieMae]

Saving money on supplies that stink and make everyone in your house hate you is kind of false economy, no? But, you've already got this far, good luck with the rest!

Here's a trick, next batch of scales, put them onto a flat layer of clay and press them down so no molding material gets under it. Then make a clay wall around the whole business and pour your resin into your 'clay bowl of scales'. Once it cures, the clay should come right off without having to dig!

[MermaidIndie]

Thanks! I'll have to try that


The crash of waves and salty air are the signs of freedom

[AelianaNympha]

Another tip! scraping the clay out of my resin was a real pain, but I used some vegetable oil and a toothbrush to help break down the clay and it really helped! Since your clay is water based you might could just use water and a toothbrush to break it down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MermaidIndie]

Wow this is the first update in a long time! Life got in the way and this tail got out at the end of my list of things to do, but I just got my paycheck and I am all over getting stuff done! So the second I had money I went and got fiberglass and finished my mold,




Love fiberglass but I was literally covered in it today and no one is happy about the smell again but now I'm done so yay! Now they'll just have to deal with silicone!
Next week I'm going to look at pearl ex pigments and picking a solid color scheme, I'm so excited!!

[MermaidIndie]

Got my pigment today! Don't have pictures but I decided on a blue, gold and orange color scheme! I also decided that my scales we're going to be too small so I found a egg shaped cookie cutter and fell in love with the bigger scales.



I still have to sketch out my new idea at some point, maybe tomorrow. Hopefully i will be getting my silicone by the end of this month, I'm so excited!

I have a question too, while at the store today they were out of pearl ex blue but had this other dye that they guy said could work, any experience with the kind of pigment in the picture below?




The crash of waves and salty air are the signs of freedom

[PearlieMae]

I don't think it'll work with silicone, and it will stain you and everything it touches. It's a dye and it's supposed to soak into a material. Silicone encapsulates pigment, it doesn't absorb dye.

I could be wrong, but I have a strong suspicion that it's a fail.

Plus, it might inhibit curing. Only way to tell is to do a small test! Good luck!

[MermaidIndie]

Oh, that actually makes a lot of sense. I'll order pearl ex online just to be safe. Thanks PearlieMae!



The crash of waves and salty air are the signs of freedom

[Freshwater_Nim]

Dear Indie, I concur with Pearlie that it's not a very safe thing. I've made bad experiences with liquid dyes and silicone. Either it doesn't cure at all, or it cures to quickly and ends up loosing all its flexibility. Either way it Never produced a nice even color. All in all I wasted a lot of money on those tries.

I'd strongly advise to get dry, powder pigments for the purpose of silicone coloring.

[Mermaid Summerlilly]

Subscribed! XD

[MermaidIndie]

Yea, I'm going to stick with the peal ex to be safe, I know they work and the colors are beautiful. The only problem now is I have too many ideas for colors! I should probably finish my fluke mold first lol



The crash of waves and salty air are the signs of freedom

[Merman Ordep]

I love your fluke design! and your scales design! and your side fins design! I'm following this thread

[MermaidIndie]

@MermanOrdep Thanks!


The crash of waves and salty air are the signs of freedom

[MermaidIndie]

So a bit of an update! My fluke mold is done and I've been sculpting out scales. I'm ordering my silicone on Friday, EEEEP!!! I'm so excited!!! I'll post pictures tonight!


The crash of waves and salty air are the signs of freedom

[MermaidIndie]

I ordered my silicone! I'm so excited! Next up, pigment!

[MermaidIndie]

SCREECH IT CAME IT CAME OMG IM SO EXCITED. MY SILICONE HAS ARRIVED SO MUCH FASTER THEN I THOUGHT IT WOUOD IM SO EXCITED


The crash of waves and salty air are the signs of freedom

[MermaidIndie]

Am I just an idiot or...
I cannot get the silicone bucket open, at all. I tried, I watched the tutorial video on the smooth on website for how to open it and nada. Help


The crash of waves and salty air are the signs of freedom

[PearlieMae]

the six notches on the side of the bucket lid need to be cut. I use wire cutters because they are safe than a knife. Then lift each section going around the bucket one at a time. Do this on a clean floor and keep something handy nearby to scrape it up in case you spill it.

[MermaidIndie]

Thanks Pearlie! I succeeded in getting them open only to spill some all over the floor but! I still managed to pour 2 scales and an ankle fin


The crash of waves and salty air are the signs of freedom