Merberry- Making a Urethane Tail

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Haha, not trying to say you don't know what you're doing. I just thought I'd drop a bit of information for those who had no idea what so ever. :> Heck, even Thom Shouse uses urethane for his tails.

[laamberry]

Haha, not trying to say you don't know what you're doing. I just thought I'd drop a bit of information for those who had no idea what so ever. :> Heck, even Thom Shouse uses urethane for his tails.

No worries, I know you're just trying to help it can be a little misleading when stuff is out of context though. Where did you grab that particular paragraph, btw?

[Mermaid Lorelei]

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/...e-vs.-Silicone

I've found quite a bit of helpful information here.

[Kanti]

Laamberry, the attachment doesn't work.
Also, seems urethane is a bit mysterious to me. Still, I'm open to anything :'P
I'd love to see how the tail comes out to see how well it works.

[laamberry]

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/...e-vs.-Silicone

I've found quite a bit of helpful information here.

Oh the 405th! Fun place, it's where I first got into armor building.

Laamberry, the attachment doesn't work.
Also, seems urethane is a bit mysterious to me. Still, I'm open to anything :'P
I'd love to see how the tail comes out to see how well it works.

I think I fixed it D:
Like Lorelei said, Thom Shouse ( the guy who made the tails for Splash) makes his tails out of Urathane. I hate to hot link his photos but if you google him or "mermaidrentals" you can see what a urathane tail is like :]]

[MermaidRaegan]

So pretty! I'm so excited, you have no idea!

[Mermaasai]

It looks awesome. Really looking forward to the final product. I'm more convinced every day.

[Kanti]

Wow! They look great! There design is so flawless. I guess that's the advantages of using a
lazer xD
And haha I don't have any doubts! I assume you know much more about it than I do. I'm just
very curious. I've never heard of this stuff before! But then again, there's lots of 'urethanes' in
plastics so I automatically think of that.
I think it's already looking great so far~
Quick question though, what's the stretch on that material? o.O

[Winged Mermaid]

Those scales are amazing! I am really looking forward to seeing your progress! I know if you continue through with selling them you'll be the only other tail maker besides Thom who makes them in urathane! I know there was a thread about urethane material before, and it seemed that you REALLY had to know what you're doing in order to mix and work with it, so it's not like just anyone can jump in and decide to make a tail out of it.
Interested in learning more about this material for sure. I wonder if there are any more common made things made out of urethane that people could kind of get the idea of what it's like? If someone wanted to know what neoprene was like there are tons of every day objects made from it (drink holders, CD cases, athlete socks, ect) and the same with latex and silicone. Is there anything common or even seimi common that is made out of this that we could get a feel for it?

[laamberry]

Wow! They look great! There design is so flawless. I guess that's the advantages of using a
lazer xD
And haha I don't have any doubts! I assume you know much more about it than I do. I'm just
very curious. I've never heard of this stuff before! But then again, there's lots of 'urethanes' in
plastics so I automatically think of that.
I think it's already looking great so far~
Quick question though, what's the stretch on that material? o.O

Great question! Urethanes can be made in a huge range of stretchynesses (that is so not a word, huh?) from not moving at all to being able to stretch forever. It's just a matter of finding the best one :] The boyfriend and I layed up a test layer last night that we'll be able to show you guys soon!

Those scales are amazing! I am really looking forward to seeing your progress! I know if you continue through with selling them you'll be the only other tail maker besides Thom who makes them in urathane! I know there was a thread about urethane material before, and it seemed that you REALLY had to know what you're doing in order to mix and work with it, so it's not like just anyone can jump in and decide to make a tail out of it.
Interested in learning more about this material for sure. I wonder if there are any more common made things made out of urethane that people could kind of get the idea of what it's like? If someone wanted to know what neoprene was like there are tons of every day objects made from it (drink holders, CD cases, athlete socks, ect) and the same with latex and silicone. Is there anything common or even seimi common that is made out of this that we could get a feel for it?

The problem is that plenty of things are made of urethane but the range of effects you can get with it is so broad that I really hesitate to point you to one because it still won't be similar. Urathane is used for things from hard car bumpers to soft foams! If I think of something I'll post it here :] and yeah, it's got a pretty steep learning curve and only 20 minutes of work time. Not super good odds when it's about $50 a quart and requires a lot of mixing lol.

[Mermaasai]

So- did you say you were going to line the tail with material on the inside or are you going to leave it just urethane? And how well does it hold paint? I mean- latex painted tails tend to crack and peel over time and Ive got no experience with a silicone painted tail.
Do you use a mix of urethane and pigmented paint or?
I'm just wondering because as I had mentioned, I will probably want to order one with no paint and just a base color, so when I paint it will have a better idea of what that would entail. (heehee pun intended)

[laamberry]

So- did you say you were going to line the tail with material on the inside or are you going to leave it just urethane? And how well does it hold paint? I mean- latex painted tails tend to crack and peel over time and Ive got no experience with a silicone painted tail.
Do you use a mix of urethane and pigmented paint or?
I'm just wondering because as I had mentioned, I will probably want to order one with no paint and just a base color, so when I paint it will have a better idea of what that would entail. (heehee pun intended)

The urethane is on top of a thin spandex (we're still figuring out which fabric is best)!As for paint, the urethane itself is pigmented. The best way to paint the scales would be to mix up pigmented urethane and thin it with mineral spirits, then airbrush it like regular paint. I'm also curious about premade urethane paints, I'm not sure how well they work just yet.

[AniaR]

soooo awesome. Soooo proud of you

[laamberry]

soooo awesome. Soooo proud of you

That's such a sweet thing for you to say! Thank you so much

We did a quick test swatch just to have something to show you guys.

[ShyMer]

Those scales look gorgeous!

[mermaidcatherine]

It's so pretty!

It looks really thin though- how durable is it?

[Mermaasai]

^ yes, thin. Durability. hmm
^.^ Love how blatant the scales are though, really popping.
Are you bonding it to the spandex in some way?

[laamberry]

We cast this test in a kind of urethane that doesn't stretch too much, otherwise I would stretch it for you :P it's super durable! Think rubber car parts. Te best part about it being so thin is how close it'll be to your real skin.As for the fabric, the urethane actually soaks through the spandex itself so it's sort of melded together. Hope I answered your questions!

[Ayla of Duluth]

Can this urethane be transparent? I don't know this material too well, but it looks hella impressive.

[laamberry]

Can this urethane be transparent? I don't know this material too well, but it looks hella impressive.

Yes, it absolutely can be ;]