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Thread: Here we go again...neoprene and silicone caulk hybrid take 2

  1. #1
    Senior Member Pod of the Midwest mermaid mazu's Avatar
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    Here we go again...neoprene and silicone caulk hybrid take 2

    Hi everyone! Ok so my first tail was a huge learning experience. I'm actually pretty proud of it considering I had no idea what I was doing, and I made it in 4 days lol. I've put a lot more thought into this new design and will be making it in a better, less rushed way. Although I am impatient so it still won't be the traditional way of doing things. My design is inspired by a dragon/reptile. I will be making a reptilian belly, and color inspired by an iguana. I have a mahina monofin that will go inside my fluke. I have completed the first half of my fluke and have the base silicone for the second half. So I know most people sculpt in clay and make a mold for their flukes and fins, that is not fitting to my impatient ways so instead I spread out a tarp, drew on my shape in sharpie and sort of sculpted ridges into my silicone as I spread it out. Then after much experimenting, I found that my personal preference for coloring it was to thin the silicone down with mineral spirits, adding acrylic craft paint and then literally just painting it on with a paintbrush. So that's where I'm at so far. I will update as I get further.

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    Senior Member Pod of the Midwest mermaid mazu's Avatar
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    Name:  2017-01-09 00.41.59.jpg
Views: 1445
Size:  581.8 KB my original design, I changed the fluke
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    Senior Member Pod of the Midwest mermaid mazu's Avatar
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    Name:  2017-01-09 00.40.00.jpg
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Size:  680.7 KB close up of my ridges in my silicone base

  4. #4
    Senior Member Pod of the Midwest mermaid mazu's Avatar
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    Name:  2017-01-09 00.40.56.jpg
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Size:  951.4 KB this will be the back of my fluke, I'm going to make my spots look better on the other half

  5. #5
    Senior Member Pod of the Midwest mermaid mazu's Avatar
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    Name:  2017-01-09 00.40.31.jpg
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Size:  923.6 KB I can't wait to finish this one!

  6. #6
    Omg I love this fluke!

  7. #7
    This looks amazing so far! I love the fluke
    Formerly known as MermaidSasha

  8. #8
    Senior Member Pod of the Midwest mermaid mazu's Avatar
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    Thank you both! I'd be much further along but it's winter and I'm working indoors and my silicone is taking forever to set up!

  9. #9
    Senior Member Pod of the Midwest mermaid mazu's Avatar
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    Name:  2017-01-10 15.02.31.jpg
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Size:  874.5 KB top half of my fluke is done!

  10. #10
    Looking awesome! Yeah the weather is being really crazy here lately. It's almost in the 70's today lol.
    Formerly known as MermaidSasha

  11. #11
    Senior Member Pod of the Midwest mermaid mazu's Avatar
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    Yep, I'm Oklahoma too lol

  12. #12
    Does the fluke just pulls up off of the tarp or do you have to cut the tarp around the silicone?

  13. #13
    Senior Member Pod of the Midwest mermaid mazu's Avatar
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    It doesn't stick to the tarp. You just leave it sit until it cures and it peels right up

  14. #14
    Yeah I saw you were in Oklahoma lol Nice to see more mers here!! Did you also make your tail in your avatar pic?
    Formerly known as MermaidSasha

  15. #15
    Senior Member Pod of the Midwest mermaid mazu's Avatar
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    Yes ma'am that was my first one. I have a thread on the making of that one too that includes all the ways I messed up along the way lol. Hopefully this one won't have to include mistakes

  16. #16
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    So I've done a bunch of research on how to attach the fluke to the monofin since silicone won't stick to it. I didn't have this problem with my first tail because my monofin was covered in neoprene. Last night I attached the back side. I checked it this morning and it worked great! I took a fine mesh fabric and used e6000 to attach the mesh to my monofin in random dots all over. That way it was held down but not attached tight so the silicone would grab the mesh.Name:  2017-01-11 11.41.42.jpg
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Size:  854.2 KB Name:  2017-01-11 11.42.15.jpg
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Size:  831.0 KB

  17. #17
    Senior Member Pod of the Midwest mermaid mazu's Avatar
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    Name:  2017-01-11 20.06.01.jpg
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Size:  748.0 KB both sides attached to the monofin and now connecting the sides together. My sides don't line up perfectly so tomorrow I'll be trimming and touching up the paint job.

  18. #18
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    Name:  2017-01-12 10.34.08.jpg
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Size:  425.3 KB it's heavy and a little hard to control my flipping of it. I'm going to have to work out with this thing lol. I think I made it a bit thick. It's 18 lbs.

  19. #19
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    Name:  2017-01-12 19.14.12.jpg
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Size:  601.2 KB and now for the tediousness of making the scales

  20. #20
    Senior Member Pod of The South
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    Looks great so far! I love the organic shape and color of your fluke. It reminds me of water lilies and lily pads. Very pretty!
    ~Merman Rett Of Georgia~

    (Formerly Known as Risingmermaid)

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