My 1 year long tailmaking misadventure!

[Mermaid Kassandra]

Hi to all of you fishes!
It has been a long time since I posted something new, but I needed time for many reasons... and my mernetwork account was stolen in the meantime :')

Anyway after all of this time I want to share with you all what I have been doing during this Whole year (almost!).
P.S. I have to thank a lot of people for helping me with this project but for safety I won't share their names but they all know, because they can find in my work different little details that were inspired by their masterpieces <3

I must say that I never worked with silicone before, all I know of it is from researches I made, advices people gave me and my university studies (I study chemistry) so it was all and experiment, finding new methods and a "good at the first shoot", more it was like a nuclear war each day I worked with it (I used to have silicone everywhere on me: my hands -even if I was using gloves!-, my shirt and sometimes in my hair too )....it was a war!

So for the first silicone mermaid tail I ever made it took me a very long time because of university and my duties in general.
I decided to make it after I was scammed and because in this way I could prove that we can make everything we can dream of (because I was told that the project I had for my tail was impossible to realize without a mold and an extended tail was too risky and impossible to make), never mind...because I did it anyway .

My misadventure started in July 2016, I spent countless hours working for the whole day till midnight that summer, but in the end I had to stop because of exams. Anyway I almost ultimated it and therefore I feel more comfortable to share it with you (sorry but I didn't want to say "tail in the making" and then leave it in the mddle).

In the end this is what came out I hope it is something nice to see, tomorrow there will be the first try on and soon the first swimming test so that I can tell you if this extended experiment went in the right way

I leave you here some pics but you can find more of them and some videos close ups on my Instagram story @kassymermaid (Instagram.com/kassymermaid).

Let me know what you think about it and feel free to make me any question you want

I wish you a nice day! Lots of love to you all <3



I also tried to make some changing color scales but I think I need to figure out a better way to apply the colors on silicone because you can't really see them




Also I still wanted to mantain my "manta ray" inspired fluke like the one I had in my previous tail

[Marinus Mortimer]

Wonderful to hear that others have taken on the challenge of an extended tail cant wait to see a full picture of the tail!


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[Mermaid Wesley]

Oh you tease!! Can't wait to see more!

[Lili]

Wonderful to hear that others have taken on the challenge of an extended tail cant wait to see a full picture of the tail!


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I second that!

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[Mermaid Kassandra]

Thank you very much indeed guys for your support! Today the first try on went well, not as expected but I made the body very thick so I assume this is why it feels very "second skyn".
I posted on my Instagram story (@kassymermaid) some small videos of the first try if you want to see more
Also the blended waist came out exactly the way I wanted! And now I understand what means to have a fragile waist wen you put the tail on :')
It isn't perfect but as the first silicone mermaid tail I ever made I think this is a good result in the end.

Oh you tease!! Can't wait to see more!

Thank you very much indeed! And this is it!

Wonderful to hear that others have taken on the challenge of an extended tail cant wait to see a full picture of the tail!


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Thank you dear Marinus! Tomorrow I'll have my first swimming test and I really hope it goes the way I expected. Also you know I follow your tailmaking experience and I am madly in love with your design and your sculpting skills! Can't wait to see yours finished

I second that!

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[Mermaid Wesley]

beautiful! i love white tails.

[Lili]

Yay another mermaid with a white tail, I've been planning on a black and white theme myself

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[Marinus Mortimer]

Thank you very much indeed guys for your support! Today the first try on went well, not as expected but I made the body very thick so I assume this is why it feels very "second skyn".
I posted on my Instagram story (@kassymermaid) some small videos of the first try if you want to see more
Also the blended waist came out exactly the way I wanted! And now I understand what means to have a fragile waist wen you put the tail on :')
It isn't perfect but as the first silicone mermaid tail I ever made I think this is a good result in the end.







Thank you very much indeed! And this is it!





Thank you dear Marinus! Tomorrow I'll have my first swimming test and I really hope it goes the way I expected. Also you know I follow your tailmaking experience and I am madly in love with your design and your sculpting skills! Can't wait to see yours finished

i love it you did a beautiful job! Hope all gies as intended in your swim test, thanks its been half a year of tail making for me and counting lol.


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[Mermaid Kassandra]

beautiful! i love white tails.

Thank you very much indeed Wesley! <3

Yay another mermaid with a white tail, I've been planning on a black and white theme myself

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Yes I choose white because I saw that is really an unusual color for the merfolk and I loved the way it looked in the water it was so shiny! I'm really thrilled to share with you the pics I took on my swimming test!
I can't wait to see your tail then! Your project seems really interesting when are you planning to start it?

i love it you did a beautiful job! Hope all gies as intended in your swim test, thanks its been half a year of tail making for me and counting lol.


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Oh my fins thank you very much indeed <3 You made my day
Yes those kind of tails really require a lot of time to be made, I started mine in July 2016 and ended it this week. It was a real challenge you need to be very pacient!

All right then! I made my swimming test and let me tell you somethig: with this tail I no longer need swimming trainings XD It is really a portable gym, it really challenges all your body and that's a positive point if you want to gain your body shape back after Xmas holidays XD

Said that I'll tell you how my swimming test went.
It was a bit as expected and a bit not.
It swims very beautifully and gave me a nice propulsion, as the previous one I have and that's a very good point as I expected the swim to be more exhausting but thankfully it wasn't.
I must say that the tail was very resistant it touched the bottom of the pool and I had someone heavily stepping on it but it didn't get damages.
The only damage was on the blended waist, but I assume that it was because my nails were too long.
Also for the swimming the extention worked as I thougt and it indeed helped me, but too much... In fact when I tried to go down to swim that part of the tail was going to stay on the surface of the water anyway, even after putting almost 4 kg of weights on and that's not good at all!
Also you can't do any kind of trick in it such as backflips or spins, as it requires too much strength for your legs and you know we're not dolphins! Adding it to the fact that it would be too dangerous to swim in it in open water (just think that all the H2O and Mako swimming scenes where made in an aquarium and very few in open waters because of that and I can't afford so many safety divers just to do a swimming in the sea XD ) and that I can't move in any way the tail on land.
Therefore I think I'm definitely cutting away the extension, also because this would make the tail easier to transport, as for now it is so big and heavy that I can't really go anywhere with it and it can barely enter in my car (and this is a great limitation).
So I think I will sacrifice the "WOW" factor of an extended tail with the comfort of an "ordinary long" tail, I think that the cut will also make it look nicer (I'll attach my original sketck at the end of the post to let you understand what I mean). This will also help me to replace (at least I hope because the only open part will be the little one where my feet will saty) the monofin I already have with a better one to get more propulsion and maybe also a better look of the movements.
I was thinking of a rubber one so that I can be able to bend it in the operation of putting it in place in the fluke, do you have any better suggestion guys?





So those are the news for the moment, I'll repair the blended waist this week and I'll try to figure out how to make the surgery for my tail (also what are your thoughts guys, should I go for the cut or shouldn't I?) and what monofin to choose to replace the one it's already in the tail.
I'll update you as soon as I'll get the pics!
I hope to have some suggestions from you guys too!

And Merman Marinus don't give up with your extended tail it will be amazing for sure!

This is the original sketck, as you can see the "rounded fin" at the middle of the tail was intended to be closer to the fluke and I think this gives a nicer look to the tail, what do you think guys?


P.S. The idea of putting two dorsal fins was in the end abandoned because I thought that the tail was already too full of fins and very heavy XD

[Marinus Mortimer]

Oh my fins thank you very much indeed <3 You made my day
Yes those kind of tails really require a lot of time to be made, I started mine in July 2016 and ended it this week. It was a real challenge you need to be very pacient!

Yes the patience of a saint is required in order to construct a tail like this, its tons of work and time consuming especially when we have regular human responsibilities!

Also for the swimming the extention worked as I thougt and it indeed helped me, but too much... In fact when I tried to go down to swim that part of the tail was going to stay on the surface of the water anyway, even after putting almost 4 kg of weights on and that's not good at all!

Do you mean the extension area was positively buoyant? Making it float? Id need to see a video to give you a better opinion on this.

Also you can't do any kind of trick in it such as backflips or spins, as it requires too much strength for your legs and you know we're not dolphins! Adding it to the fact that it would be too dangerous to swim in it in open water (just think that all the H2O and Mako swimming scenes where made in an aquarium and very few in open waters because of that and I can't afford so many safety divers just to do a swimming in the sea XD ) and that I can't move in any way the tail on land.

Tricks and flips have long been off my list of things to do in my Extended tail but open ocean swimming is definitely my top priority its where i always swim in open waters be it rivers or sea . I cant afford a group of safety divers but i have friends that like to swim that could look out for me even though i highly doubt ill ever drown.

Therefore I think I'm definitely cutting away the extension, also because this would make the tail easier to transport, as for now it is so big and heavy that I can't really go anywhere with it and it can barely enter in my car (and this is a great limitation).
So I think I will sacrifice the "WOW" factor of an extended tail with the comfort of an "ordinary long" tail, I think that the cut will also make it look nicer (I'll attach my original sketck at the end of the post to let you understand what I mean). This will also help me to replace (at least I hope because the only open part will be the little one where my feet will saty) the monofin I already have with a better one to get more propulsion and maybe also a better look of the movements.
I was thinking of a rubber one so that I can be able to bend it in the operation of putting it in place in the fluke, do you have any better suggestion guys?

Your cutting it off completely or a part of it open or do you mean your cutting the fluke? Also if your thinking of removing the monofin it should be taken out from the fluke (like the fabric finfun tails) it would be easier but that depends on how you built the extension area.

And Merman Marinus don't give up with your extended tail it will be amazing for sure!

Thanks Kass its been hard but i wont give up on my dream Tail!

This is the original sketck, as you can see the "rounded fin" at the middle of the tail was intended to be closer to the fluke and I think this gives a nicer look to the tail, what do you think guys?


P.S. The idea of putting two dorsal fins was in the end abandoned because I thought that the tail was already too full of fins and very heavy XD

that sketch is amazing i love it!
And with or without the dorsals it turned out beautiful!



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[Mermaid Kassandra]

Yes the patience of a saint is required in order to construct a tail like this, its tons of work and time consuming especially when we have regular human responsibilities!

Definitely! University's exams were and are my worst enemy in all my mermaid adventure! I think I will write a book about that for all the things I can tell about being a student mermaid XD

Do you mean the extension area was positively buoyant? Making it float? Id need to see a video to give you a better opinion on this.

I don't have a video unfortunately, I know that from what I could see from the pics, but yes the extension was definitely positively boyant. Also sinking was almost impossible! When I'll get the pics I will see if there are some that swows it.

Tricks and flips have long been off my list of things to do in my Extended tail but open ocean swimming is definitely my top priority its where i always swim in open waters be it rivers or sea . I cant afford a group of safety divers but i have friends that like to swim that could look out for me even though i highly doubt ill ever drown.

I live on the sea, open sea! (so take in count heavy currents and so on!) Therefore a tail that I could feel safe to use only i pools would be almost useless for me...
You're a lucky triton! Even if I have friends scuba certificated they have their duties and life, I doubt they will come nearly each day to swim with me and look at my back for safety.
Also I don't think I would drown (I discovered free diving almost at the age of 10 and I used to be an agonist swimmer), but you're never too cautious with this kind of things and if something happens to just one of us it's game over for everyone, so let's be SUPER prudent you never know!

Your cutting it off completely or a part of it open or do you mean your cutting the fluke? Also if your thinking of removing the monofin it should be taken out from the fluke (like the fabric finfun tails) it would be easier but that depends on how you built the extension area.

I was thinking about cutting completely the extension away and turn the tail in a "classical one", but I can't find a proper monofin to replace the one I have now in it because I would need something a little bit extended on the area of the feet (I'll make a sketch to better explain it if you want) to match the shape of my fluke and let the feet stay under the "rounded fin" in order to hide them as it does now. I think that maybe the better solution can be cutting just a portion of the extension I don't know... Because I really don't want it anymore!
I thought about using a Mahina fin, but its shape doesn't match mine in any way... even if I cut it, I will lose its stability and that's not good.
This is a tricky task! Any advices?

Unfortunately the monofin should be removed from the upper part of the fluke but that's not a problem, the real one should be insert the new one from there, therefore I was thinking about a rubber monofin so that I can bend it and put it in place easily, it will also be an advantage to transport it, as the fluke could be bent and I could place the tail in a backpack.

Thanks Kass its been hard but i wont give up on my dream Tail!

that sketch is amazing i love it!
And with or without the dorsals it turned out beautiful!



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You never have to give up!
It took an year for me, but I wouldn't know that extended tails aren't for me if I would give up on it, and I couldn't prove to someone that I can also make mermaid tails and that I am not finished without someone who can make one for me!
It really takes out the best part of you

Thank you very much indeed for your compliment! I was afraid about my tail's looks as it's so uncommon, but I like to be uncommon! XD
Many years ago being different for me was getting people bullied me, now for me it means declaring to everyone that that's me and am not going to stop being me even if you don't like me, even if I am not like the others. I can't understand why people tend to be all the same, to copy each other, it take away your identity in a certain way.

[Lili]

Thank you very much indeed Wesley! <3



Yes I choose white because I saw that is really an unusual color for the merfolk and I loved the way it looked in the water it was so shiny! I'm really thrilled to share with you the pics I took on my swimming test!
I can't wait to see your tail then! Your project seems really interesting when are you planning to start it?




Oh my fins thank you very much indeed <3 You made my day
Yes those kind of tails really require a lot of time to be made, I started mine in July 2016 and ended it this week. It was a real challenge you need to be very pacient!

All right then! I made my swimming test and let me tell you somethig: with this tail I no longer need swimming trainings XD It is really a portable gym, it really challenges all your body and that's a positive point if you want to gain your body shape back after Xmas holidays XD

Said that I'll tell you how my swimming test went.
It was a bit as expected and a bit not.
It swims very beautifully and gave me a nice propulsion, as the previous one I have and that's a very good point as I expected the swim to be more exhausting but thankfully it wasn't.
I must say that the tail was very resistant it touched the bottom of the pool and I had someone heavily stepping on it but it didn't get damages.
The only damage was on the blended waist, but I assume that it was because my nails were too long.
Also for the swimming the extention worked as I thougt and it indeed helped me, but too much... In fact when I tried to go down to swim that part of the tail was going to stay on the surface of the water anyway, even after putting almost 4 kg of weights on and that's not good at all!
Also you can't do any kind of trick in it such as backflips or spins, as it requires too much strength for your legs and you know we're not dolphins! Adding it to the fact that it would be too dangerous to swim in it in open water (just think that all the H2O and Mako swimming scenes where made in an aquarium and very few in open waters because of that and I can't afford so many safety divers just to do a swimming in the sea XD ) and that I can't move in any way the tail on land.
Therefore I think I'm definitely cutting away the extension, also because this would make the tail easier to transport, as for now it is so big and heavy that I can't really go anywhere with it and it can barely enter in my car (and this is a great limitation).
So I think I will sacrifice the "WOW" factor of an extended tail with the comfort of an "ordinary long" tail, I think that the cut will also make it look nicer (I'll attach my original sketck at the end of the post to let you understand what I mean). This will also help me to replace (at least I hope because the only open part will be the little one where my feet will saty) the monofin I already have with a better one to get more propulsion and maybe also a better look of the movements.
I was thinking of a rubber one so that I can be able to bend it in the operation of putting it in place in the fluke, do you have any better suggestion guys?





So those are the news for the moment, I'll repair the blended waist this week and I'll try to figure out how to make the surgery for my tail (also what are your thoughts guys, should I go for the cut or shouldn't I?) and what monofin to choose to replace the one it's already in the tail.
I'll update you as soon as I'll get the pics!
I hope to have some suggestions from you guys too!

And Merman Marinus don't give up with your extended tail it will be amazing for sure!

This is the original sketck, as you can see the "rounded fin" at the middle of the tail was intended to be closer to the fluke and I think this gives a nicer look to the tail, what do you think guys?


P.S. The idea of putting two dorsal fins was in the end abandoned because I thought that the tail was already too full of fins and very heavy XD

I already have a thread I'll be resuming it soon so you might see it floating around again

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[SIF]

Pics.Pics.Pics.Pics.Pics.......

[Mermaid Kassandra]

I already have a thread I'll be resuming it soon so you might see it floating around again

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I'll be waiting to see it as you show us your new progress then! This is so exciting to see others ' journey on their dream tail, it's like someone telling you a fairytale ��

Pics.Pics.Pics.Pics.Pics.......

I spoke to the photographer yesterday to see when the pics of the tail will be ready, but he told to me that I will need to wait a long time as he wants to focus first on other pics he has taken that day
He also said to me he wanted to modify the look of the tail...I hope he won't transform it completely otherwise "bye bye" to all the proof I could get about how the tail moves while swimming.

P.S.
@Merman Marinus yesterday I was gathering more informations about the extended tals in Mako and I found out that all the girls sed to wear a weight belt to swim in the tail. This makes me think that maybe having weights on my waist could help...
But this still doesn't solve all the other things such as transportation, storage and ability to do tricks!
Also I don't think that cutting completely away the extension of my tail can be actually a thing because of how the tail is made (I still can not find a monofin that can match the shape of the fluke and be a little bit elongated on the feet).


That's all for the moment guys!

[Marinus Mortimer]

I spoke to the photographer yesterday to see when the pics of the tail will be ready, but he told to me that I will need to wait a long time as he wants to focus first on other pics he has taken that day
He also said to me he wanted to modify the look of the tail...I hope he won't transform it completely otherwise "bye bye" to all the proof I could get about how the tail moves while swimming.

Bummer i would have loved to see then but ill Wait patiently .

P.S.
@Merman Marinus yesterday I was gathering more informations about the extended tals in Mako and I found out that all the girls sed to wear a weight belt to swim in the tail. This makes me think that maybe having weights on my waist could help...
But this still doesn't solve all the other things such as transportation, storage and ability to do tricks!
Also I don't think that cutting completely away the extension of my tail can be actually a thing because of how the tail is made (I still can not find a monofin that can match the shape of the fluke and be a little bit elongated on the feet).


That's all for the moment guys!

Yes they ware a waist belt along with a strip of weights that run down the tail underneath the zipper I've seen it in behind the scenes footage.
About doing tricks you should give up on that notion as these tails were never intended for tricks these tails were designed to look pretty and function at swimming, the best trick you could do is I think is called a barrels spin? Any how i advise you not to cut such a beautiful work of art, you worked so hard i think you should keep the tail as is keep experimenting on swimming and stuff that way you can learn from what you may have done wrong during construction like learning why the tail floats in the extended area maybe its the materials you used to fill the void that are causing the tail to float? It would be almost murder mutilating the beautiful tail you've birthed...


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[Lili]

Oh noo don't cut it, I recently had one of my customers for whom I crocheted a sweater cut it apart and have me sew a part of it back on and I was devastated, I think it'll end up being more work in the long run and it might make you as upset as I was when I saw that, you could always just save up for another tail? I think it makes the most sense in this situation

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[Mermaid Kassandra]

Bummer i would have loved to see then but ill Wait patiently .

Well PH Always take their time, but I think that in the most of the cases the wait is worth it

Yes they ware a waist belt along with a strip of weights that run down the tail underneath the zipper I've seen it in behind the scenes footage.
About doing tricks you should give up on that notion as these tails were never intended for tricks these tails were designed to look pretty and function at swimming, the best trick you could do is I think is called a barrels spin? Any how i advise you not to cut such a beautiful work of art, you worked so hard i think you should keep the tail as is keep experimenting on swimming and stuff that way you can learn from what you may have done wrong during construction like learning why the tail floats in the extended area maybe its the materials you used to fill the void that are causing the tail to float? It would be almost murder mutilating the beautiful tail you've birthed...


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In fact, after seeing that, I thought that maybe mine is just a problem of balance with weights... Because if they need all those weights and still were able to float the same should be for us, don't you think? I am going to buy new weights.
Also today I got new conclusions I will write in the end of this post

Oh noo don't cut it, I recently had one of my customers for whom I crocheted a sweater cut it apart and have me sew a part of it back on and I was devastated, I think it'll end up being more work in the long run and it might make you as upset as I was when I saw that, you could always just save up for another tail? I think it makes the most sense in this situation

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Today I went to repair the blended waist and I managed to replace completely a scale and repair the tears I got in it, it looks like new now! (I think I am getting crafty with silicone after working with it for so long!).
I was also very determinated on cutting the extension for the many reasons I told you guys before, but as much I was looking at it to start the surgery the most I felt like you said Lili: I didn't and I don't want to cut it, it costed me so much effort, work and sacrifice! I would feel devastated at the end of the process probabily.

I literally spent almost one hour trying to figure out how to cut the extension and replace the monofin but it seems really too complicated and nothing can confirm me that the tail will work after that. So the tail will stay the way it is, I said it!

@Lili yes I was thinking about keeping this tail for what I made it for: photoshoots, not so deep pools, dry appereances and maybe aquariums?

I still am afraid of how the tail looks, because from what I saw on the Ph's camera it doesn't look like I wanted (you know almost like the Mako Mermaids shape of the body), but you can clearly see where the tail starts to get bigger after my feet pocket.
I hope it was just an impression I got from the camera's screen, but final pics will have the last word (hoping that the Ph won't alter too much the tail).

The only real problem to solve now is how to transport it without a car.
Any ideas?

Also I made a matching top for it
Yes now that I learnt how to work with silicone I can't stop
I made it to be attached to my skin with a skin glue I previously tested, but I want to add some clear plastic bands to it just to be sure that it will stay in place, anything can happen! (Still on my Instagram story (@kassymermaid) you can find more pics )
I was thinking about using the same things that Hannah Fraser uses for her tops because I love the "naked" look it gives to the bra, do you know what kind of material she uses?

[Mermaid Kassandra]

Ok a fantastic news, I got invited fora fantastic fairy festival to be a singing mermaid ��
It's a very big event (a whole city is the stage of it, so not just a tiny area ��), I hope someone takes a video!
Also this is a good occasion to experiment with various "how to transport an extended tail" ideas as I will get there by train and a bus.
Ok I must confess that now I'm a bit nervous! ��
I'll update you guys as soon as I can ��

[Marinus Mortimer]

Ok a fantastic news, I got invited fora fantastic fairy festival to be a singing mermaid ��
It's a very big event (a whole city is the stage of it, so not just a tiny area ��), I hope someone takes a video!
Also this is a good occasion to experiment with various "how to transport an extended tail" ideas as I will get there by train and a bus.
Ok I must confess that now I'm a bit nervous! ��
I'll update you guys as soon as I can ��

Great news im so happy for you, im sure you'll do a fantastic job!


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[Mermaid Kassandra]

Great news im so happy for you, im sure you'll do a fantastic job!


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Thank you very much indeed dear friend! ��
I hope everything goes well I'll update you guys here as soon as I get back from the festival that will be on July so I will have time to think about how to transport my tail ��