Merman Marinus SLOW Extended Tail Project

[Marinus Mortimer]

So people of MerNetwork Land I've decided to go ahead and start a thread about my extended tail project, this will be a slow moving process cause i attend college and work so bare with me, for now I'm stocking up on clay and other materials except silicone.

[Yes my good Merfolk I know how impractical these tails are for the average Mer and that there way too heavy for land and all that but im still making it. Im sure ill be safe I am a certified lifeguard and licensed open water scuba diver plus i practiced free diving most of my life, i lived in an island surrounded by the sea so water sports were the best option to escape the tropical heat.]

How I plan to make my tail:
Its nothing we don't know already, basically like the H2O tail making process, tail will be sculpted on top of a fiberglass cast of my legs with added extension piece to sculpt full tail, fluke will be sculpted separately, double mold of tail body and fluke.

After the tail body is cured and made one piece its time for scaling, individual scales will be added in the PearleMae method but without the powermesh backing because the tail body is silicone i think the powermesh is not necessary bevause silicone bonds with itself.

The first one will be a simple dark to light blue color scheme like the mako merman tails only because i feel safer swimming in the ocean with a camouflaged tail the secund will have vibrant yellow to red stripes and blue body.

Here are some pics;


The purple tail is for my mom that wont be extended and the first is my original color scheme...



Then for the extension mechanism, i have designed around 5 ways of creating a functional extension but I've decided on one, the one ill be using is basically a triangular footplate to avoid the downward angle of the back of the feet and keep the tail straight if y'all look at my sketch maby y'all can understand what im talking about, so the top part od the triangle is one piece from footplate to monofin tip. Here have a look...

I'll post lots of pictures of the progress for all to seeb wish me luck.

[Becoming_A_Mermaid]

I'm so excited to see how this all turns out!!!!! Good luck!!!!

[Lili]

Ahh I'm excited you finally created a thread, I'm definitely following your process...I wish you good luck with this

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[Marinus Mortimer]

So i started to make the real size base drawing of my fluke or caudal fin its looking pretty big 24L by 38W inches im thinking it needs to be big to look proportional with the extended tail.

Heres my fluke design.

[Lili]

I love the shape you chose

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[Trident True]

This looks good. love your designs, what are you going to make your foot pocket out of? for your triangular piece i would suggest you create it in fiberglass. I have used fiberglass for some attempts on my tail. depending on how thick you make it will depend on how it feels in the water. it will not shatter at all, which is great for things that require high performance. I hope your extension works. I started my tail 7 years ago, and i'm finally on my last attempt of the extension. i will state this to you though. its not as easy as you might think to create. I wish you luck.

[Marinus Mortimer]

This looks good. love your designs, what are you going to make your foot pocket out of? for your triangular piece i would suggest you create it in fiberglass. I have used fiberglass for some attempts on my tail. depending on how thick you make it will depend on how it feels in the water. it will not shatter at all, which is great for things that require high performance. I hope your extension works. I started my tail 7 years ago, and i'm finally on my last attempt of the extension. i will state this to you though. its not as easy as you might think to create. I wish you luck.

I've never worked with fiberglass could you give me some tips? Plus i was thinking of the triangular footplate like a three piece set the blue for support and the brown one single piece of lexan all the way to monofin fin.
In addition Ive been thinking of making a (double shoe) made of clealr resin molded in silicone. Basically its a footpoket the triangular footplate base would be encrusted into the clear resin and scrued to secure in place.

[Trident True]

I've never worked with fiberglass could you give me some tips? Plus i was thinking of the triangular footplate like a three piece set the blue for support and the brown one single piece of lexan all the way to monofin fin.

I used fiberglass bandage with a fiberglass resin or harder. bandages are extremely strong and will not crack, shatter etc under pressure. ive never used the fiberglass matting. is the triangle simply designed for the rod to be attacked to? if so I would just do the triangle in one piece.



In addition Ive been thinking of making a (double shoe) made of clealr resin molded in silicone. Basically its a footpoket the triangular footplate base would be encrusted into the clear resin and scrued to secure in place.

your foot pocket must be low cut profile. in order to get your feet into it. applying these tails is different to a standard monofin. meaning you can't just pull your feet into the pockets. this is my personal experience. do you mean you will make your pocket out of resin or silicone? you say molded in silicone which im getting a mental picture of the pocket actually being silicone.

[Marinus Mortimer]

Also I finished the real size base drawing of my fluke shape! I hope I can start sculpting soon but with all the college assignments and my part time job I dont have the time, not even to just sit down and draw my friend some tail design sketches.

He it is: I think its too big might cut it down about 10 inches.


And here is the original sketch:

[merwandering]

It seems like the extended tail sketches tend toward the smaller flukes, but I gotta say-
I love a big fluke
cool project!!

[Marinus Mortimer]

It seems like the extended tail sketches tend toward the smaller flukes, but I gotta say-
I love a big fluke
cool project!!

Thank you Merwandering currently the size of my fluke design is 34 inces wide and 28 long i also love big flukes!

[Lili]

I mean it makes sense to do a silicone molded footpocket, but you have to think about attaching it to your footplate, if you screwed bolts through that, you'd tear the silicone most likely, you can make the footpocket out of fabric and glue + screw that to the footplate, that way it stays put, you can add silicone on top of that, since silicone will stick to neoprene and neoprin, I haven't tested spandex..lycra should work since most neoprene is backed with lycra

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[Marinus Mortimer]

I mean it makes sense to do a silicone molded footpocket, but you have to think about attaching it to your footplate, if you screwed bolts through that, you'd tear the silicone most likely, you can make the footpocket out of fabric and glue + screw that to the footplate, that way it stays put, you can add silicone on top of that, since silicone will stick to neoprene and neoprin, I haven't tested spandex..lycra should work since most neoprene is backed with lycra

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your foot pocket must be low cut profile. in order to get your feet into it. applying these tails is different to a standard monofin. meaning you can't just pull your feet into the pockets. this is my personal experience. do you mean you will make your pocket out of resin or silicone? you say molded in silicone which im getting a mental picture of the pocket actually being silicone.

No im talking about (clear plastic resin)
This

It will be cast inside a silicone mold to be a footpocket.

[Lili]

Ohhh..I understand, that's an interesting approach

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[JustCOS]

Just to double check, you're using the Casting Resin for the mold or for the finished pocket? I'd be worried about using it as the finished pocket as the resin can shatter. It's mostly meant for jewelry type things, and I've cracked my fair few dropping them on concrete.

[Marinus Mortimer]

Just to double check, you're using the Casting Resin for the mold or for the finished pocket? I'd be worried about using it as the finished pocket as the resin can shatter. It's mostly meant for jewelry type things, and I've cracked my fair few dropping them on concrete.

Thank you for the tips JustCOS.Im thinking of using it as the footpocket lined with soft silicone inside. I hat thought about it braking thats why ill do some tests first.

[Trident True]

Thank you for the tips JustCOS.Im thinking of using it as the footpocket lined with soft silicone inside. I hat thought about it braking thats why ill do some tests first.

Sorry for delay in replying. i've only just seen it. the casting resin is too rigid once it cures and under pressure it will snap or shatter. its like making a monofin out of Acrylic which will snap no questions. the foot pocket needs to be able to take weight of the extension and your completed fluke. ive finished my foot pocket but i don't wish to post pic as i don't want to Hijack your thread.

Ive been attempting to create an extended tail for the last 6 years the hardest thing for me is the extension itself. i've wasted 2.5 grand on this project on materials. fuckups etc. and i don't want to watch someone else do the same. if I know it's not going to work i will give my opinion and insight or you are more than happy to test your theories.

[GulfMerman101]

im sort of debating in between (Shore 00: 30, 40, or 60) or (Shore A: 10,20,or 30), theres so many but I just need one lol, what are your thoughts about it?

[Trident True]

im sort of debating in between (Shore 00: 30, 40, or 60) or (Shore A: 10,20,or 30), theres so many but I just need one lol, what are your thoughts about it?

ok, so for the Liquid rubber 50A stand for 50 Shore hardness on the scale. so if you look on the chart where it says shore A then go over to the 50 it says medium soft. this would be fine to cast a fluke in but the fluke would need to be quiet dense/ thick around the sides centering down to the middle. this only applies if your not using a monofin in between.

Urethanes usually go on the scale of Shore D but can sometimes fall in the shore A hardness. it depends on the brand of urethane your looking at.

Most Silicones and rubber go under shore A

I found it. are you looking at having this clear??? it states it will yellow overtime in uv but that could be easily overcome if you tint it.
https://www.polytek.com/products/liquid-mold-rubbers/polyurethane-mold-rubbers/pourable-polyurethane-mold-rubbers/glassrub/

[Marinus Mortimer]

Sorry for delay in replying. i've only just seen it. the casting resin is too rigid once it cures and under pressure it will snap or shatter. its like making a monofin out of Acrylic which will snap no questions. the foot pocket needs to be able to take weight of the extension and your completed fluke. ive finished my foot pocket but i don't wish to post pic as i don't want to Hijack your thread.

Ive been attempting to create an extended tail for the last 6 years the hardest thing for me is the extension itself. i've wasted 2.5 grand on this project on materials. fuckups etc. and i don't want to watch someone else do the same. if I know it's not going to work i will give my opinion and insight or you are more than happy to test your theories.

Thank you very much for your wisdom I wish there were more people like u guys out there cause yall is always so helpful, I will heed your words and shall not make those mistakes thanks for the advice...