Ed's Latex Tail Project

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

I bought my mask on Amazon for around $10. They have a lot of different options on there. The goggles are Swedish Goggles, which are $3 on Amazon and come in peices that you put together for the perfect fit. It's a bit odd because they don't have a silicone edge to help seal them, but so far they've worked pretty great!

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

Started seaming my tail together today. The black is the fresh latex, the rest of the tail looks dusty because it's been dusted with cornstarch to keep it from sticking to itself.



And laid my fluke peice down to get a little preview of what it'll look like when done

[Mermaid Sabie]

Ahhh! So exciting!!

[Ashton]

did you put your monofin in your cast fluke?

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

I haven't put my monofin in my fluke yet because I went swimming with it today after I got done seaming. I'm going to put it in on Friday when I go back in to finish up.

[Ashton]

Ah, gottcha.

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

Alright, got the main body of the tail all put together today. First I sandwiched the fluke together over my monofin. The latex wouldn't stick to the polycarbonate, so I drizzled some Gorilla Glue down in there and that seems like it'll hold pretty well.

My fluke clamped within an inch of it's life.



Then I attached it to the tail. The ankle ended up being too narrow, so I added scales cut from other parts and peiced them together to fill in the gap.

Tail back:


Tail Front:



Now all that's left to be done is try it on, which I'll probably do Monday, and add the extra fins. I need to cast one more Pectoral fin then they'll be done. I haven't sculpted my dorsal yet, though, so that will be a little while longer.

[Mermaid Dottie]

That looks really rad! I can't wait to see it finished and worn!

[Nyx]

Look amazing Ed!

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

Thanks everyone!

Tried it on today for the first time. It's a bit big, but better too big than too small. I'll take it in a bit when I add the fins. Sorry about the lack of a background/shitty photoshop, but my room is a mess right now.

[Ilyena]

Awesome tail . But I have to apologize, I kinda laughed with the picture of all the clamps holding the fluke together, never seen so many clamps before in once place except the hardware store >_<

[Mermaid Dottie]

Nice! Doesn't look big, but pictures can be deceiving I, suppose. Looks really good.

Sent from my C6916 using Tapatalk

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

It's a lot more obvious in this photo. (ahh, ugly messy dorm room background)



I'm going to take it in a bit when I add the dorsal and the pectoral fins, then try it on again to see if I need to adjust the side seams

[Ashe]

Ah wow! I just read through the entire thread and seeing a tail like that being made from start to finish is really neat It looks great!

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

More work getting done! Today I painted my tail. The colors just weren't vibrant enough. To paint the tail, I picked up some Purple Jacquard Lumiere and Black artists' ink, along with some glitter. I mixed the paint/ink with glitter and some latex then just brushed it on like paint.


(the backsides of my pec fins drying)


The entire tail so far laid out on the floor.

I also poured my dorsal fin today. I'll be ready to pull it and seam it into the tail tomorrow!

[Winged Mermaid]

Looking so awesome!!
Only concern- Did you wash the tail of all the powder beforehand? If it's not clean it can disrupt the bond and flake off later.

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

Yes, I did wash off all the cornstarch. I rinsed my tail before I tried it on (if only to keep from getting cornstarch all over my floor), then sponged it off again right before applying the paint.

[Mermaid Tula]

Looking so awesome! <3

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

Seamed my dorsal fin into the tail.


It was cast pretty thin because I'm almost out of latex, so it doesn't stand up on it's own. It doesn't bother me too much, though


The whole tail from the back.

I also whipped these guys up out of liquid latex. They aren't perfect, but they're fun.

[Mermaid Tula]

Omg those gloves! *swoon* Fantastic job on the dorsal and everything else!