First Tail Project - Neoprene Tail!

[hellocourtney]

Sorry team no updates 😞
I've been working A LOT due to not enough staff so when I am home I'm just too tired.

Also I haven't found a teal/turquoise pigment I like enough to use when I silicone my fluke. Does anyone have any recommendations?

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[SelkieLuna]

It's coming along great, I can't wait to see the finished product!

Rest up my dear.

[hellocourtney]

I messed it up 😟

The fabric must have been stretched too far and the ankles are so so baggy. It looks terrible.







It's also baggy at the waist but I think that's because I've lost some weight.
Just feeling really lost with all of this atm. Especially with summer already over.

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[Sabrina the Selkie]

Anyway to take it in at the ankles?

[Ashton]

you can take it in, you might have to hand sew it thought. I dont know first hand how well machines do with fabric coated with silicone.

[hellocourtney]

Yeah my boyfriend hand stitched it for me while I was having my emo moment 😂 He's a keeper!



I feel a bit silly now as it was a pretty easy fix but I've poured so much time, money and effort into this project and the idea of screwing it up now that I'm almost done is very stressful.

I also found a store in Australia that will ship pearl ex pigments to me so I'll be able to buy those on pay day next week. After that I should be able to finish!

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[Sabrina the Selkie]

Beautiful!

[Celesteofthewaterlilies]

Looking fantastic!

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[hellocourtney]

Well as usual, I haven't updated this thread in forever. Life's brought about lots of changes since last time I updated, but literally no tail progress haha.

Since my last update I have
- lost a significant amount of weight, which hey no complaints but it means that the body of my tail is now a bit big. It was very tight to start with, so I might not have to alter it too much or even at all. I'll have to see how it swims, but to do that I'll actually have to finish it XD
- moved out of home, so I no longer have a workspace. Especially not one where I would feel comfortable using chemicals like silicone, caulking and E6000. I can probably set up a workspace at my parents, but it's a pretty decent trek to get out there.
- broken up with the boyfriend who was helping me with this project. Tbh, he never really helped me as much as he actually said he would. It's just a bit awkward that I created this particular concept for ease of use while boating, and I wont be doing that anymore. Ah well.
- transitioned into a full time position at work, as well as volunteering with a conservation education group. It's awesome because money and I get to go snorkeling at marine reserves, but doesn't leave a lot of time for creative projects. I'll also be putting a lot of my spare funds into updating my gear (new thinner wetsuit, weight belt etc) so I won't be able to spend too much more money on this project at the moment.

I put my tail on to see how big it was on me now, and it's not too bad. The temperature is definitely rising here in the Southern Hemisphere, and I'm feeling a lot more motivation to do the last few things I need to for my tail to be completely swimmable. Next on the agenda is still finding a pigment that matches the tail so I can silicone the fluke. I'm also planning on attaching little ankle fins to the body to help disguise the bulky clips on the Hydra monofin.

Hopefully I'll have some real updates for everyone sooooooon!

[hellocourtney]

I finally found a place in New Zealand that sells Pearl Ex pigments! I'm spending some time at my parents for the holidays, the goal is to have this thing finished by the 3rd of January D:
I'm gonna make some little hip fins as a test run.

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[Rett]

Looks great so far! Keep up the progress!

[hellocourtney]

I left my planning book at my flat so I couldn't make the fins, but I couldn't help myself, I had to start haha. The pigments I chose didn't match the neoprene quite as well as I would have liked, but when I mixed in a couple of glitters I was pretty happy with it.
It's going to take a couple layers and this is just the first. Going to blend the gold over the seams of the neoprene and maybe add in a few spots? I haven't decided yet.

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[hellocourtney]

The lighting in here is terrible but more progress was made tonight! You can see my technique definitely improved after the first panel and I started applying some gold details with the interference gold pigment. I'll add some depth with the darker gold.

Dusting the other side will be the last thing I do tonight I think. So pleased with how it's coming along!

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[hellocourtney]

The back of the fluke is finished! Was trying to distract myself from silly boy dramas so i tried to stay busy.







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[PearlieMae]

Be careful not to dust too much on...it will act as a release and your top coat will peel off!

[hellocourtney]

Yup! I remembered reading that somewhere on the forum so I dusted it on really lightly with a small fan brush. There's probably no more than a third of a cap full of pigment dusted on the whole thing

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[Nerdmaid Faith]

Really cool seeing this tail progress! Excited to see the final product 😀

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[hellocourtney]

I got back to my parents house this afternoon but I have been busy getting stuff done!

I tried the body of my tail on for the first time in ages because I knew it was too long and I had to trim it. But it turns out I've lost even more weight than I thought and it was waaaaaay too big!







I had to take it in in the waist and hips, and I took it in a little bit at the knees as well. To make a slightly more secure waistband I folded it over at the top and left around 3 inches of fabric. I stitched it at the top of the fold and at the end of the fabric. If I have to secure it with more stitches i will, but I figured it's easier to add than take away. Deeeefinitely sits a lot better now than it did before.





This is what the stitches look like




So that's the body all finished! So excited! I wanted to finish it before I started working on the other half of my fluke, because I need to put the fin on when I try on the body.

Speaking of the last half of the fluke, I managed to get everything done except for the top coat, which I'm gonna do in the morning. That's all I have left to do!



Hopefully I'll be welcoming in the new year as a mermaid!



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[PearlieMae]

That's going to be fabulous! I can't wait to see the final product!

Better too big than too small!

PS: nice necklace

[hellocourtney]

Oops! I never posted the (almost) final product!
I did take it in but it's too big again so I think I'm going to put a really wide piece of elastic in the waistband because when I took it for its first and only swim, it kept falling down. Also, you can see from the pictures that it's a bit baggy around the ankles. Ah well

I don't have any full shots of it I don't think, my dad wasn't the greatest photographer. Hopefully this summer (even though I've been saying that for like 4 years now lol)

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