Merberry- Making a Urethane Tail

[laamberry]

So I'm looking to expand my mermaid line a little bit so for the past few months my boyfriend and I have been putting together a mold for scales. The plan is to sculpt a fluke and other bits then cast it all up in urathane. Wish us luck!

[MermaidRaegan]

I can't wait to see how this turns out! Are ou looking to start selling these sorts of tails along with your latex ones?

[laamberry]

I can't wait to see how this turns out! Are ou looking to start selling these sorts of tails along with your latex ones?

Yup, exactly!

[Mermaasai]

Hmmm I'm interested in seeing these results.
What are you thinking will be the pricepoint for this kind of tail?
And you know... I was wondering if you would do a tail but not paint it.
I'm so persnickity about my colors that I always end up repainting just about everything any way.
Would it be less costly to have a base tail made with out the paint job, just a base color?

[laamberry]

Hmmm I'm interested in seeing these results.
What are you thinking will be the pricepoint for this kind of tail?
And you know... I was wondering if you would do a tail but not paint it.
I'm so persnickity about my colors that I always end up repainting just about everything any way.
Would it be less costly to have a base tail made with out the paint job, just a base color?

The price is still up in the air really, it'll come down to how much it'll end up costing to produce :] and yes, the price would absolutely be lower un-painted.

[Nemefish]

omg Ive always wanted a Urethane tail!!!!!!!! XD

[MermaidRaegan]

I will be followed this thread like a thirteen year old girl around Justin Beiber.

[laamberry]

Pouring the mold! I'm really excited :> I think we're going to cast a few sheets onto woven fabrics and try to make some clothes out of it!

[Ilonka]

how did you make the scales for the sheet? Its huge!

[laamberry]

We had a friend of ours use his laser cutter to cut out strips of scales. Then we just glued them down to a piece of mdf

[OrcaMatt]

We had a friend of ours use his laser cutter to cut out strips of scales. Then we just glued them down to a piece of mdf

Oh, nice! I was going to use Ponoko to do that.

[Kanti]

Wow Laamberry!! That scale sheet is massive!
What exactly is urethane though? xD Is it better in the properties sense than silicone? Or is
it more cost effective, etc?

So far it looks amazing! You'll do a great job! :')

[laamberry]

Urethane is lighter,moves more fluidly, is more cost effective, and it's properties can be more easily manipulated. It's more easily pigmented, brighter, they make metallic powders for it, etc, etc. all while being just a durable and strong as silicone.

[Kanti]

Ohhhh cool!
Where do you buy that stuff? o.O
Also is it safe and junk? I've never heard of it

[mermaidcatherine]

Urethane is lighter,moves more fluidly, is more cost effective, and it's properties can be more easily manipulated. It's more easily pigmented, brighter, they make metallic powders for it, etc, etc. all while being just a durable and strong as silicone.

Oooh that sounds wonderful! I know you said the price is still up in the air, but do you know if it will be in the hundreds range or more in the thousands?

[laamberry]

Ohhhh cool!
Where do you buy that stuff? o.O
Also is it safe and junk? I've never heard of it

Smooth-on sells it. And it's entirely safe, a lot of production companies use it for props and costumes!

[laamberry]

Oooh that sounds wonderful! I know you said the price is still up in the air, but do you know if it will be in the hundreds range or more in the thousands?

The goal is to have them available for under a thousand dollars :]

[Mermaid Lorelei]

So far this is all I have found about the comparisons of urethane to silicone.

The urethane rubber does have a shorter shelf life. It also deteriorates the more you use the mold, faster than silicone rubber. Urethanes tend to be a more advanced-user material too, so if this is your first venture into mold making, it may prove difficult to work with. In addition to this, even though they are "flexible", bending the mold off the product over and over (even just a few times) allows for the molecules to stretch and break, causing tiny tears pretty early in relation to silicone rubbers (silicones are specifically designed for a longer life over repeated flexing). I started on Urethane rubbers, and once I went to silicone, I was hitting myself for not trying it first.

This is, of course, talking about molds, but it is the same material, so the case can be made for tails too. Basically, it appears to deteriorate faster than silicone (with constant use). Not that I'm discouraging the use of urethanes. I just thought some of you might be curious, as we don't seem to have much in the way of information on urethane rubber.

[laamberry]

So far this is all I have found about the comparisons of urethane to silicone.



This is, of course, talking about molds, but it is the same material, so the case can be made for tails too. Basically, it appears to deteriorate faster than silicone (with constant use). Not that I'm discouraging the use of urethanes. I just thought some of you might be curious, as we don't seem to have much in the way of information on urethane rubber.

In general, silicone is a mold making material and urethane is a casting material. I actually find it a little bizarre that so many people use silicone as it's just not very good when it comes to being cast, at least not in comparison to urethane-- yes, a urethane mold may not hold up as long as a sillicone mold but that's because it isn't meant for that. Ueathane is very durable, it's what most rubbery car parts are made of! Between my boyfriend and I we have a good 20+ years in prop and casting experience, there's no need to worry that we don't know what we're doing

To give some of you a better idea of what this stuff looks like, this suit is made out of urethane:




Though we're fully capable of making sillicone and latex tails with the mold, it just isn't the right stuff.

[laamberry]

The mold turned out great!