PearlieMae's Silicone Tail Journey

[Mermaid Wesley]

I am so stoked for you. And honestly this whole thread is really inspiring. You're sharing so much of your process!! I never would have thought of doing individual scales, but in my current financial situation, doing it one scale at a time would be much more doable I think. And the eyeshadow tip? GREAT. You're making me honk I could actually tackle this thing after all! (If I could actually decide on a color palate, that is. ) so congratulations on this masterpiece and thanks for beig so open about your process!!

[PearlieMae]

Thanks, Hopefully! The way I figure it, it's one way to do a silicone tail a little at a time, which would work for people without a lot of room to work, or a lot of money to lay out at once.

And hopefully, Hopefully, ( ), I will also find mers who like this kind of tail enough to commission one from me.

[Mermaid Wesley]

Oh you will. Don't worry it's looking stunning

[MermaidBrandie]

I would happily commish you, Pearlie! I just know it's gonna be super expensive tho! lol

[Mermaid Melanie]

so beautiful ! <3

[Mermaid Saphira]

Ohhhh, how intricate the detailing is! This tail is going to be so beautiful, I can tell!

[Mermaid Kate Silverfin]

This whole process has been simply awe-inspiring, I love the multicolour scales and your gorgeous fluke! It has made my dream of my own silicone tail that much more possible! Thank you so much for sharing all of the steps, as someone who has never worked with silicone before, I would prefer to learn from the mistakes of other than mess up a lot of expensive silicone!
A quick question about the silicone; how do you stop it curing in between pours? Can you store it indefinitely in the original buckets (with parts A and B not mixed together) or does it have a limited shelf life? Thanks!

[Deepsea merman]

This whole process has been simply awe-inspiring, I love the multicolour scales and your gorgeous fluke! It has made my dream of my own silicone tail that much more possible! Thank you so much for sharing all of the steps, as someone who has never worked with silicone before, I would prefer to learn from the mistakes of other than mess up a lot of expensive silicone!
A quick question about the silicone; how do you stop it curing in between pours? Can you store it indefinitely in the original buckets (with parts A and B not mixed together) or does it have a limited shelf life? Thanks!

Hi!
I think the silicone will dry after mixing: \ how many silicone do you want to buy?

[PearlieMae]

Sculpting my side fins...

[Mermaid Saphira]

Oh! I really like the look of these!

[Ariadne]

Girl, those are gorgeous! You are just amazing...

[Starfrit]

I LOVE the shape of that side-fin! I can't wait to see how they'll look when they're finished!

[PearlieMae]

A different iridescent inlay for a second fluke. ( I think I'm going to use that first fluke on a monofin or fabric tail...not 100% happy with it...)


I'm about to start pouring another layer, so I thought I'd share the before shot.

[Jessica]

Love those side fins!! keep up the awesome work pearlie!!

(In response to the silicone shelf life question a page or so back)
silicone does have a shelf life--according to smooth on its 6 months, but it will work past that most of the time. Smooth on guarantees it for 6 months after the manufacture date, but past that I think you're on your own so it's best to use it quickly. Fresh silicone does seem to cure a bit faster too from my experience. Anyway, check the manufacture date when you're buying silicone--some places will sell it several months after the manufactured date so it's important to keep an eye on that!

[JessieMermaid]

I can't wait to see how this comes out

[Mermaid Wesley]

What did you change? I can't tell from the picture. I thought it was lovely so I can't wait to see what you've done!


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[PearlieMae]

Thanks, Jessica! They seem a bit big right now, I may scale them down, no pun intended! And thanks for the silicone info!

I have a different iridescent fabric, it's got a bit more texture and sparkle to it. The first one I did, the silicone was poured a little too thickly and was milky. Not to worry, it won't go to waste!

[Mermaid Kate Silverfin]

So just to clarify, so long as you don't mix the two parts, the silicone will last for quite some time? It's just I'm from Australia, so getting silicone is very expensive, and I'd prefer to buy it in bulk to reduce costs, but not if it is going to solidify on me! Thank you for your help!
Also, I love those side fins, they're looking fantastic!

[Anahita]

If you don't combine the parts A and B of the silicone, it has a shelf-life of six months after the manufacture date. However, you have to keep it in some relative sort of climate control - you can't just leave it outside in the middle of summer and expect it to be fine, or in the garage in winter and have it be ok. It will go "bad" faster that way.

I've used 7 month old silicone and it was still ok.... But it had been opened only once before, and I kept it inside the house where it was at a constant 23.3-24 C degrees. Generally speaking though, it's not good to use silicone over 6 months old. And to bank on it still being "ok" much longer than its expiration date seems like an expensive gamble IMO.

[Mermaid Kate Silverfin]

Thanks so much everyone for the info, it has been super helpful!