I'm actually starting on my fabric tail this week, my first tail!
Although the base is a spandex body, I will be sculpting a latex fluke for it, since I've been using mask-making latex for years and I'm comfortable with it. I was also going to do the fishnet-painting technique, but just as a painted guideline for the scales. Then I'm thinking i will remove the net after drying and handpaint little latex scales onto the spandex body...just a TIIIIINY bit, some small raised scales to give it some texture, with spandex space left in between each one so the body still has a bit of stretch. Has anyone here tried this? I know lots of people who paint liquid latex over spandex catsuits to create latex suits, so I think it will work out fine.
I've painted latex on spandex before, with good results...the latex seeps into the fabric threads and bonds with it, so it won't peel off any time soon. And if i just do it in small dots as scales, without actually coating the whole tail in latex, it'll presumably keep some stretch and be easier to move in. I really value the movement of a spandex tail over the realism of a silicone...I'm just looking for a tiny bit of raised texture, so when the kids at parties run their hands over my tail, they'll feel some kind of scaling, not just flat spandex.
At any rate, I will do a progress thread with pictures when I start it, so hopefully if something is to be learned (or avoided!), people can see it!
I actually have used a technique a lot of puppeteers use, which is liquid latex over sheets of upholstery foam (just the green or white foam from the craft store), which I considered for this. Done right, it can create a skin that's as thick as silicone and waterproof, and then you'd cast your scale sheets separately and add them on top. The main bonus is that it's not HEAVY like silicone, nor too bouyant like latex over neoprene. The weight of the latex balances out the bouyancy of the foam. I considered this, but I'd rather have the stretchiness and ease of a fabric tail.
For anyone who is interested in this technique for other applications (I'm not sure if this method has already been covered in the forums, I looked but didn't see it!), the trick is that the latex will always seep into the foam and be useless UNLESS you spray it first with Foam Fast, which is a tricky kind of foam glue. CRAZY strong, and very messy, but very effective. You lay the foam sheet out and spray a coat of Foam Fast over it. Then you wait for it to dry and it creates a waterproof barrier on the surface of the foam, as well as an easy surface for latex to stick to. A lot of industry puppeteers and special fx guys do this for large creatures like dinosaurs, animals, etc. It makes a great skin and has a thickness and weight to it, so it's realllly tough to rip or tear. I was actually a finalist for the new Jim Henson Creature Shop tv show during casting last winter, and I was flown out to Burbank to compete in the finals to be on the show, and one of the challenges we had to do was creating puppets exactly this way...with foam sheets and 3M Foam Fast. (and yeah, I didn't get on. They said they loved me, loved my personality, I'd be great great great...for season 2, not season 1. Womp woooomp, oh well!)
Here's a video of a horse head puppet I made, that was made this way, with a sheet of green foam, with Foam Fast sprayed over it, then latex brushed on, then painted. The head itself (not the neck) has a separate layer of molded latex fitted over it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIKVGctG1Tg
(Don't mind me, it was a spur of the moment idea to take a video for my folks of this thing I made, my hair's all messed and I'm chatting with my roommate XD Also note that when I say "this thing is so heavy" in the video, I'm not referring to the latex or foam skin making it heavy, but to the structure inside the head, which has a plastic-cast skull to support the face, plus wooden supports for some mechanics inside to cable-control the ears and eye blinks!)
ANYWAY, I think fabric tails can be just as awesome as molded ones, if not better, with a little effort in technique! The painted ones I've seen on here are AMAZING and if they have a natural advantage of being cheaper, more comfortable, easier to move in and repair and DEFINITELY a lot more forgiving for people like me, whose weight goes up and down constantly! I gain weight very fast, but I also lose it very fast, so my waist size can yo-yo up and down by a few inches throughout the month. I need something that will stretch and fit me all the time!!
Anyhow that's my crazy ramble about fabric and latex. XD
Originally Posted by Talia
Oh my gosh, that Steampunk tail, Sin - also the rest of the costume!!
I put a lot of effort into it, I'm too much of a perfectionist and crafter sometimes, LOL!
I haven't been swimming in it, but it's definitely been handled enough now for me to know how good the seams are! I sewed this whole tail by hand - as in with a hand needle, no sewing machine! So on the fluke I got to play with some really small, fun "sculpted" seams, which helps make it look very organic!
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