Kyle's H20/Mako mermiads inspired tail with a splash of personality!!!

[PearlieMae]

Nice!

Try putting a thin coat of silicone over the top of those and it should make the scales shinier. The have that dull cast when you pull them from tho mold and I find a 'slime' coat really brings up the color.

[Trident True]

ok i will try that out, ive just finished making another scale sheet so a total of two sheets makes about 101 scales of large, now im currently casting plastic ones to create my smaller ones. All I did was glue the scales down on a piece of wood. I used just a glue stick, sticks quiet well actually. then simply mixed up plaster and poured. Note: when pouring plaster its best to pour from one point and allow to cover area i have found this helps minimize bubbles. pics are from start to finish. some people may ask themselves why so many scale sheets? the answer is. as im casting my scales individually and in silicone, cured castings take 24hr sometimes longer due to the cooler weather. So by having more scales sheets to cast im creating more scales in that 24hr time frame. thus speeding up the time frame. I've yet to decided if im going to use an air bush to paint my scales or by hand. scales will be coloured with a tint. what would others suggest?

[PearlieMae]

Ah, but thinner casts cure faster. I use the slow set dragonskin and that has a cure time of 7 hours, but with a warm light bulb over my molds, I can demold in an hour or two, depending on temp and humidity.

Looks good! Are you going to experiment with coloring the scales in the mold? Maybe dark/silver up near the points and micro pearl along the wide edge? Or perhaps a dark or light stripe down the middle...there are a lot of options you can try within your color palette!

[PearlieMae]

This is what your tail is going to look like when it's done, right?

[Trident True]

Ah, but thinner casts cure faster. I use the slow set dragonskin and that has a cure time of 7 hours, but with a warm light bulb over my molds, I can demold in an hour or two, depending on temp and humidity.

Looks good! Are you going to experiment with coloring the scales in the mold? Maybe dark/silver up near the points and micro pearl along the wide edge? Or perhaps a dark or light stripe down the middle...there are a lot of options you can try within your color palette!

I was originally going to colour the silicone with the tints or have a more solid colour, No to sure about it actually, i may play around with different colours within the scales as you mentioned. colour designs are limitless but I will see what i come up with. Yes the colours of the merman tail will be very similar to mine. Actually pretty close.

At the moment I'm about to test my silicone by thinning it down, see if it cures, if all goes well, then the scaling will start very soon. I've still got to test my tail before i start scaling, but in the mean time it won't hurt to get as many of them casted.

[Trident True]

ok Update....... Im pleased to advise that I have tested my tail. it works extremely well. my Fluke has no monofin inside it but it was definitely pushing water away, I wasn't just bobbing along. the negative thing though is it doesn't fit me like a glove and im pissed off about it has I made leg castings to build it on so it should of fitted me perfectly. So the suit will have to be taken in small set back though. My foot pocket will also have to be made larger even in the water i couldn't slide my feet any further. My friend told me that my fins down the middle stay in place then don't move in and out which was something i was worried about and they don't restrict my movement. I ended up doing the dolphin kick, I don't find it difficult as i normally swim like that. there was a negative though as the suit isn't tight around my waste (yet) as i was swimming through the water at a fast speed my zip started to unzip. ive already came up with an idea to fix this. also my tail is very light, now being close to 1cm thick its so weightless in the water, I felt naked as it was so light. so things are coming along, a few set backs but this is the testing stage. As my fluke is thin it moves very nicely in the water. my friend loved how it looked and moved in the water. scales are being casted.

[Trident True]

A bit Of Colour. this project is near completion, both sides of the tail fin have been complete and both fins have been complete. all there is to do is to attach the tail fin to the tail once cured and then I'm on to scaling. My estimated time frame to have this complete is by the end of November due to work, life etc. its NOT blue is more of an Aqua greenish colour, quiet nice actually.

[Prince Calypso]

Can't wait to see the finished thing
bet it gonna be freaking beautiful

[Mermaid Kassandra]

O my fins!!!! That is amazing!!! Your tail looks just exactly like the one made for the tv show!!
You're amazing!

[Trident True]

thanks for the kind words. so a little update. i've done another test swim once again it was fine, however I added neoprene to the inside of the suite. its not siliconed in its put in to make me fatter. in some places its more baggy. I suppose this is what you get for waiting so long. so while i was swimming it was OK, it was only when i was stationary in the water that i started to rise to the surface, so im going to but weights in to hold me down. Im also going to be putting in leg straps. Yes i am aware that they are used in mako/H2o tails, however i feel that i need to add them as my body tends to shift. its very tight around my ass and thighs so it doesn't creep down. so that is a positive for me.


I do want to state here. this design has been a challenging one. i wouldn't really recommend it for a beginner. I bit off may more than i could chew and it has been seen from all the fuck ups i've made, however i have learnt so. much along the way.

[Aphros_Triton]

Totally excited for you! Can't wait till its complete


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[lewismassey]

THIS LOOKS AMAZING!!!! AHHHH, I WANT TO SEE MORE

[SeaMansa]

*splashes in* I can't wait to see it when this is done :3 *splashes away*

[Merman Chatfish]

How much have things cost so far?

[Trident True]

that's a hard one as there have been mistakes etc. product waste getting things perfect etc. but my rough estimate would be 1800 possibly more.

[Trident True]

Ok. So I feel that i owe an explanation as to why i haven't update this thread. Simply put i cut off more than i could chew, I wanted to create a tail that took away the illusion of legs but it has just been one NIGHTMARE after another. Im not going to sit here and explain how much F ups ive had as there have been many, actually too many.. it's been 3 years since i started this project and I never thought something like this would take so long... I mean i find it draw dropping to see so many people on here that create tails in less than 6 months and they look Fabulous.. as for me 3 years is long enough on one Project which in my case hasn't gone anywhere there has been no end result. The suit or silicone skin i created doesn't fit me anymore. its too big and baggy and just doesn't fit how it should. In this time frame i have created a total of 3 flukes as the the original one was too big etc. the list goes on and on. one of which will be used for another tail that i will be starting in the next 2 weeks, the Fluke has has already been turned into a mold. I'm not giving up on tail making but I am giving up on the Extended Tail Design.. as i feel i just don't have enough knowledge on how to go about creating it.. I thank everyone on here for their kind words and support. I will be Re-cycling stuff from this project for my newer Project. My newer project will have a Scale sheet and the fluke will be attached to my feet. there is one thing I will be aiming for.... and that is....... to get it done in less that 6 months..

[Echidna]

Sorry to hear this!
It would have been so exciting to have someone manage a true extended tail

I can understand you want to cut your losses though, especially after it took so much time.
As my swimmable snaketails are a bit too short for my liking, I'm tackling another version of extended tail myself soon, wish me luck

[Mermaid Alea]

I am sorry your project didn't work out and took so long.
I hope the tail you will be making now takes you less than 6 months. This is my first time seeing this thread and you did wonderful work on the tail. Hopefully now making a regular sized mermaid tail will be like a piece of cake for you.

[Prince Calypso]

I'm so sorry to hear that after such a long road it got you nowhere.
the idea was great and the design came along wonderfully but i understand you completely.
its frustrating and taxing when you have an idea in your head and you come so far only to have it go nowhere and be riddled with so many problems
here hoping your next project with be great

[AnnaAbyss]

Aww sorry to hear that happened. :c I hope your new tail is a lot easier for you to create.