Silicone carbon fiber tail- Inexpensive!!!

[KatieScottArt]

OH noooo!! But honestly it still came out beautifully and the thinness might not be too bad? You can make this work, don't be too down!!
I had the exact same thing happen to me when measuring for my fin. I had to cut it apart and re-glue it. Twice. My lesson- take all of the measurements in about 1.5-2 inches to account for that stretch factor. I even took out a 1.5in chunk of the seam in my duct tape dummy when taping it together so that the dummy is smaller than my actual self. This has worked for me . You got this, can't wait to see it!!

[.MermaidSophia.]

Sorry for my inactivity lately, this summer has just been busy and I haven't had time to work on my tail. It is NOT a dead project though ;P


Here's a teaser photo of my half finished seashell top to fill in for the usual tail posts!


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[Astridia]

Oooh this looks promising *Sits tight for updates*

[butterflybuttons]

You have done an amazing job so far, and so unique!

If you don't mind sharing I was curious as to which silicone you found works to glue the sheet to itself? Ive been thinking of using the silicone sheets for a project, but the risk of not being able to glue it together has been stopping me. Thanks

[PearlieMae]

Even though you might have had a setback, it still looks pretty awesome! I was curious to see this one come off the mold.

If you take it in down the center back, you could cover the seam with a dorsal fin and it will look virtually seamless!

[.MermaidSophia.]

You have done an amazing job so far, and so unique!

If you don't mind sharing I was curious as to which silicone you found works to glue the sheet to itself? Ive been thinking of using the silicone sheets for a project, but the risk of not being able to glue it together has been stopping me. Thanks

I used acid based silicone, which is usually referred to as caulking for fish tanks and windows and that sort of thing. You can find it easily at the hardware store and I only needed one tube to do the basic gluing, which is nice because it's really cheap for silicone (the tube I got was around 4 USD). If you're confused if you have the right stuff, acid cure has a really distinctive ammonia smell, unlike platinum or tin cure.

It's not the kind of thing to cure overnight, which is why I thought it wasn't working before. It'll harden and stain the sheet yellow, (oh yeah, staining is a minor side effect but I'm not worried since I'll be painting it anyways) but if you try to do a strength test the night after you apply it it won't stick. I pinned the sheet, applied the glue, and left it for like 8-10 days before even touching the pins and it's cured nicely.


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[.MermaidSophia.]

Even though you might have had a setback, it still looks pretty awesome! I was curious to see this one come off the mold.

If you take it in down the center back, you could cover the seam with a dorsal fin and it will look virtually seamless!

That's what I was planning to do. The clay arrived the other day. I'm just trying to find the motivation to sculpt and plan it. Maybe I'll tackle that tomorrow since I have 3 days off.


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[butterflybuttons]

Thank you so much for the reply!

That's fantastic, I was thinking I'd have to import some special silicone or something that wouldn't get through customs lol.

Yeah yellowing isn't an issue if you are painting over it anyway.

[Mermaid_Izzy]

That's what I was planning to do. The clay arrived the other day. I'm just trying to find the motivation to sculpt and plan it. Maybe I'll tackle that tomorrow since I have 3 days off.


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I feel you, I was the same way. The worst part is actually getting yourself to do it. Haha. It took me forever to get around to molding my dorsal after I finished my fluke.


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[.MermaidSophia.]

Update: I just noticed that the yellowness from the glue DID eventually fade, which is always a nice thing I guess I'll take that as a sign that it's 100% cured.

I'm designing the dorsal fin now, I'll post a few pictures later and hopefully start sculpting today.


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[.MermaidSophia.]

So I came up with a few sketches of what the dorsal fin(s) could look like. I probably won't do one that stretches the entire length of the tail, because one, that's going to take a TON of silicone, and two, it's really hard to sculpt something that big.

To anyone who's had or seen other mers with dorsal fins, what are some things I should avoid? Thanks everyone!


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[Astridia]

I would probably leave a gap where the knees are so you have flexibility (bending the knees while swimming) but other than that they all look great!

[.MermaidSophia.]

First set of sculpts are underway! I think I'll go with a design similar to the very bottom drawing, taking the suggestion to keep my knees free.


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[Derek Broussard]

This is an absolutely amazing thread! The work you are doing is incredible. Great job!

[.MermaidSophia.]

Hello everyone! I bet you thought that time had defeated me, but no! Not this mermaid! For a while I did think I was going to abandon this project, but I have once again found the motivation to continue working. And! I come bearing updates!

I finally got around to finishing that sculpt for the first of my dorsal fins and I have to say I am very pleased with the result.



Here’s what the mold looks like right after coming off the clay. As you can see it didn’t fill in the little lines in most places, so it ended up having this patchy looking surface. (I later learned that you can avoid this by spraying a dish soap solution over the clay before pouring the plaster) I’m really not sure if I like it, but I suppose the only way to really know is to just pour the silicone.

You can see it a little better with this picture, as well as me scraping out the clay from the big spikes.

Anyways, I’m pouring silicone now so I’ll post another update soon!
Happy swimming mers! 🧜🏻*♀️


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[Ocoree]

Hmm, I wonder if part of it could be the rays not being deep enough for the plaster to settle into, or lack of pressure applied during the initial pouring might help - like using an icing spatula to spread it out. Some of the areas do look a little shallow for plaster work just poured on, but my own experience is limited beyond knowing that some fine detail is often lost in the casting if it's too subtle to be picked up by the mold material.

[.MermaidSophia.]

here’s what the first half dorsal fin #1 looks like coming out. I wasn’t expecting it to look so good but honestly I’m so happy with it.


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[Azurin Luna]

Lovely fin shape

[Rett]

Wow, this is a really interesting technique for a tail! I can't wait to see how it all works out and swims in the end!

[.MermaidSophia.]

Beginning the process of attaching the dorsal fin. Oh yeah! Forgot to mention- I finally got around to finishing that.


It has a layer of power mesh in between the two halves to keep it from tearing, but honestly I don’t know if I even need it because it’s SO THICK. Like wow. At the thinnest part it’s as thick as my pinkie finger. It’s so heavy I’m wondering how hard it will be to even make it stand up? Especially considering how thin the body tube is.

Anyways, back on topic. Those pieces of paper in the first pic are a little something I saw on mermaid Raina’s tail and decided to steal. I think they’re going to turn out super pretty, and! They’ll give me a little breathing room so I can take it in underneath them.


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