Andrew's Tail Making Journey

[Dr. SeaWeed]

@Neotail, Marla, Hannah, Lorelei- Thanks you guys are so nice

This is absolutely fantastic! The detail on your fins came out incredibly well from what I can tell. My only question is, are you making your own monofin or are you inserting a premade, possibly cut monofin? I've been debating for a while now if I want to take on the task of making my own monofins as well as tails, but I haven't seen much success in it. Just curious what your take on the subject was.
Thanks again for all of the wonderful work you've done! You truly are made to make this sort of thing. :3

I am making my own monofins to minimize any bulging areas that would happen if I used finis or something for example and also so that it fills out the entire tail shape. I wont go into too much detail at the moment once I have all the bugs worked out my process on that will surely be posted aswell.

[Dr. SeaWeed]

Progress is looking awesome! Although I'd like to suggest something. I know you said you'd put in more latex to cover up the seam of the neoprene showing between the fins. What if you cut out the neoprene to shape then took a little off all around the outer edge? Then the fins would adhere mostly to the neoprene, but around the edges you could adhere them straight to each other instead of the neoprene so it would look more seamless.

Thats a great idea Winged mermaid, thankyou for the suggestion, You live ,you learn right?

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Let me know how your monofin tests run. I truly hope they go smoothly for you. :3

[Winged Mermaid]

Thats a great idea Winged mermaid, thankyou for the suggestion, You live ,you learn right?

True! Also another reason it's great to post on here- you get feedback from other people and outside perspectives. There are so many threads of, "What do you think?" and, "Will this work?" ect. I love that we can come together and help each other out, even if it's just small stuff ^_^

[Dr. SeaWeed]

Let me know how your monofin tests run. I truly hope they go smoothly for you. :3

Thanks Lorelei I will let everyone know.

[Dr. SeaWeed]

True! Also another reason it's great to post on here- you get feedback from other people and outside perspectives. There are so many threads of, "What do you think?" and, "Will this work?" ect. I love that we can come together and help each other out, even if it's just small stuff ^_^

Oh my goodness yes, I love the forum and am grateful to anyone who ever answered a question I may of had in the past.

[Dr. SeaWeed]

I wanted to show a little stretching test I did with some scales I had taken out of the pool. These particular ones are just white regular latex scales. and they havn't been fused to neoprene yet( which will take away some stretch but add some tear strength combined with the extra latex used to fuse it to the neoprene.) anyways heres the video :

[AniaR]

I could never ever do that with my mertailor tail

[Odette]

you are a smart mer! wearing gloves. and the stretch is amazing! you used the real latex not caulk.its looking amazing!

[Dr. SeaWeed]

@Raina - me either, and keep in mind those scales have been submerged in heavily chlorinated water for 10 days only taken out for a minute to take a look at it once per day.

@Odette- thanks

[AniaR]

a true tail maker. I am so freaking excited for you Andrew!~

[Mermaid Lorelei]

That scale test is incredible. I kept waiting for the latex to snap or come back to a funny shape, but it never did. That's fantastic stuff you've got there.

[Dr. SeaWeed]

@Raina- <3, me too i can barely contain myself most days, I love waking up now and thinking oh time to start tail making again!

@Lorelei - I think so too I mean its not completely indestructable, it is rubber after all, but it seems pretty quality to me.

[Dr. SeaWeed]

Wanted to make a post, I know im not there yet , But ! when I am at a point where I am selling tails, I would like to call my business: Dr. SeaWeed's Plastic Mer-gery Clinic

[Little_Orca]

You are amazing Andrew! <3

[Dr. SeaWeed]

You are amazing Andrew! <3

<3

[Mermaid Lorelei]

I love the name. :3 Very humorous, and it definetly sticks in the brain. Haha, still chuckling actually...

[Mermaid Marla]

Wow Andrew you are a true Gem and I'm so glad we have you here on this forum! That is amazing stretch! I am very interested in the fusing part as, up to now, most of us have just painted latex directly onto our neoprene, but I have always wondered how to fuse pre-made scales to neoprene. I'm really looking forward to... well anything you have to show us!

[AniaR]

Andrew, the original tail maker to get it right. <3

[Dr. SeaWeed]

@Raina Omg rofl...sure I could call myself that... im sure I wouldnt be the first~!haha
Also! i would like to go ahead and take credit for the design and shape of a salmons tail, even though its from nature, I now claim it as my own....*wishes there was a font for sarcasm*

Thanks Lorelei :P

@Marla - thankyou in my opinion the most important detail of a tail is: " Does it dramatically increase your swimming speed?." so I am going for sort of a hybrid type tail. I like how fabric tails let you swim around so quickly, as opposed to a tail made completely of a thick piece of rubber where (atleast to me) it seems like even good swimmers arent that fast.... atleast as far as ive seen videowise. But you dont want it to be too thin because after all it is rubber and may rip, so I thought why not make the rubber a lot thinner than a molded tail without sacrificing detail on the scales etc and just back it with neoprene so it has less chance of ripping.