Kalani's Hybrid Tail Adventure

[Grey Gambit]

This is looking so cool!!
I'd been thinking about using DAP silicone to add to my fabric tail that's in the works and I have to say this is really motivational!

[Seraphina Suds]

How's it coming, Kalani?

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[Ashe]

Pssst, hey there. Guess who started working on this thing again? It's me!

Gosh, its been so long and I could give ya'll so many excuses but I save you from that. In any case, its summer and I finally have time to pick this tail back up again! It's completely sewn up but now I'm taking a step back to look at where I want to go with this tail. I'm toying around with fins, silicone, and maybe even sequins? I think that whatever I do, I want to put a lot of thought into it because I want this to be my main tail for a while.

Today I'm going to work on fins and research what materials I might use to finish this up. We'll see!

If I get any notable progress done today, I'll post a couple of pictures

[Saelyyia]

the stippling looks great Kalani and what nice summery colors! I can't wait to see the finished product.

[Mermaid Alea]

Mwahahaha! The seams have vanished! Great job on hiding them!

[Keiris]

nice job Kalani!!!

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Kalani!!! This is looking so fantastic! I've just gone through this whole thread... I can't wait to see you finish! <3
Also a few questions, well one main one really. You see I made a neoprene-fully-sequined tail last summer and used E6000 to glue them down and it worked wonders... but the glue that CArtwright's uses to attach the shiny foil to the plastic of the sequin... not so much. And I'm now looking for alternate ways to reinforce my work (which was a lot, even gluing lol), beside hand sewing. I've read a few threads now on machine sewing (still really iffy on that), and not necessarily what I'm looking for, but latex tails with sequins. I was thinking of brushing a thin layer of clear latex or silicone over top my sequins for protection. But I'm having trouble finding the right stuff... safe, stretchy, flexible, clear enough to still see the shine of my iridescence. I'll attach a picture so you can see what I'm saying. But yeah. I'm just trying to find help with mers who are attempting somewhat similar things.
And again, I literally can't wait to see this cross the finish line!!! <3

[Ashe]

Caspiana I love your tail! You know what, I know I've seen a mer or two cover a sequin tail in silicone, I'm just going to have to dig around to try and find it for you. It really does look amazing though!

For a cheap option, I think DAP would be the way to go. In all honesty though, my experience hasn't been amazing. Since its more caulk-y than anything, its a little goopy and hard to work with (at least on the spandex I'm using, it's going to be different for neoprene). I am thinking of finding a silicone thinner that will help it to become a little bit slicker, but even with that I'm not sure if I'll use it on this tail except for the fins. Unfortunately, when I tested the silicone on my holographic fabric, it dulled down the effect quite a bit. It's still noticeably shiny, but you don't quite see the rainbow as much in the sun.

As for updates on my tail, it's coming along! ...after I completely changed the color again
I took her out into the sun and really wasn't in love with how the blue and the gold looked, so she's back to being green again! I'm happy that I made the switch again. I'm so indecisive haha. In any case, the paint (which really makes this look like a latex tail) is super thick and rich in color so you can't even tell. Just look at the pictures I posted earlier and you'll see.
I thought about my fluke for a while last night. If you look at the picture of the frankenstein tail I made in Hawaii, the fluke looks completely flat at the end. It's not really, the fabric just flopped over and behind the monofin which wasn't too pretty in pictures. I have a couple ideas so I'll try to sketch them out because its hard to explain, but in the end the fluke will be stiff enough to hold up out of water, but really nice and flowy in the water.

I'm going to start scaling the tail today using my previous method and show you all what I get done!

[Ashe]

Alright, I've started tracing my scales, its just taking a lot of precision because I am not going to scale the belly (the gold part). However, in the future when the holographic print inevitably wears off and I repaint the whole thing, I'll probably want to do scales on it. Does that make sense? Haha

Here's a little peek at the green layered with the gold. I'm really loving how this came out (and I promise no more color changes!!!)

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Caspiana I love your tail! You know what, I know I've seen a mer or two cover a sequin tail in silicone, I'm just going to have to dig around to try and find it for you. It really does look amazing though!

For a cheap option, I think DAP would be the way to go. In all honesty though, my experience hasn't been amazing. Since its more caulk-y than anything, its a little goopy and hard to work with (at least on the spandex I'm using, it's going to be different for neoprene). I am thinking of finding a silicone thinner that will help it to become a little bit slicker, but even with that I'm not sure if I'll use it on this tail except for the fins. Unfortunately, when I tested the silicone on my holographic fabric, it dulled down the effect quite a bit. It's still noticeably shiny, but you don't quite see the rainbow as much in the sun.

Thank you! It took a long time. Lol... But thanks for the advice. If you find the other mer with the sequin-silicone thingy... please let me know. I'm floundering right now... pun intended. Haha I don't think DAP would work, considering I'd need to cover almost my entire tail and it comes from a tube. Lol... I think I have to aim at more of a brush-on or spray. But thanks! ;D

And btw... Loving your tail improvement!!! ) <3 =D

[Ashe]

Just a photo of what I think my scales will look like, I'm really feeling the pointed scales I've decided I might scale the gold part of the tail as well. I was liking the idea of having only scales on the green and then a smooth belly but I think I will be consistent. What do you guys think?



Also, I think that if I do the gold scales, I will want those ones to be smaller than the green ones. So, bigger scales on the back and then transitioning to smaller scales on the belly. Has anyone here ever done this before? How did you get everything to match up? Thanks! xx

[mermaid_rebby]

How is the stretch on the tulip paint? I was considering using it for my first fabric tail


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[Ashe]

The stretch is fantastic but only if you use certain types. I know they have slick, puffy, metallic, glitter, neon and a few others. I've tried the majority of them on different tails so I speak from experience.

The main paint I use is Slick. This is for all my base colors like the green you see here. It is extremely stretchy and sticks great to most fabrics. The downside is that it gets a little sticky and if two different parts of your tail painted with this touch for too long, it will stick together and can damage your tail if you try to separate it. To prevent this, I sprinkle my tails with baby powder when I'm transporting them.

The second paint I use is Metallic. I normally use the gold but I used to use the blue a lot, I haven't seen it in stores in a while. Anyways, this works almost exactly like Slick, but it is not as sticky and the stretch is compromised just slightly.

My favorite paint to use for accents is Glitter, but only for accents. This paint does not stretch much at all so I don't recommend you use it to scale an entire tail. It does, however dry completely without getting sticky.

Lastly, I've used Puffy and let me tell you that I will never make that mistake again. The puffy paint gets puffy when it is heat set. Well, thirteen year old Kalani didn't put two and two together and realize that if a Californian mermaid swims in 110 degree weather, the tail will quite literally explode. I wish I had pictures of it but I tossed that poor tail a while ago. Basically, the puffy paint puffed up so much that the air bubbles inside it grew too big and popped! The scales were huge and thick and lumpy. Not great!

I think that once I am done with this tail, I am going to make a Tulip paint guide so everyone knows how to use it, but for now reference people back to this thread

[mermaid_rebby]

That'd be awesome! But thank you so much for the info I'll give it a try :3


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[Mermaid Caspiana]

I love the idea of two toned scales covering the whole thing, you could, with the paint, probably blend the colors well to make a nice smooth transition from color to color. I'm so excited to see you finish and can't wait to see it swim!

[Ashe]

Alright, I've seen tracing my scales onto my tail for the past couple of days. It's getting tough because it's been getting up to 113 degrees fahrenheit where I am and I'm tailmaking in the garage! I can only work for a few minutes before it gets too hot I'm also back in school for a few weeks (hooray for cruddy geometry teachers who failed half her class!) so I'm slowing down a bit. That's all

[Iamonlyme@me.com]

Any updates I am using the same material for my daughters tale put hers is pink base coat and DAP also


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[Ashe]

Not too much has happened unfortunately. I just got out of school again but I've been tied up with another costume project because my tail worktable is currently being used to hold a plethora of film cameras and drones haha. Should be able to get back to work soon, but I'm not sure if this will be done by the end of summer. It's just too hot to work!

[Vrindavana Starfish]

Not too much has happened unfortunately. I just got out of school again but I've been tied up with another costume project because my tail worktable is currently being used to hold a plethora of film cameras and drones haha. Should be able to get back to work soon, but I'm not sure if this will be done by the end of summer. It's just too hot to work!

Film cameras and drones... sounds like a dream come true!

[Ashe]

Film cameras and drones... sounds like a dream come true!

Haha, its what happens when your mom, dad, brother (and soon, yourself) are all in the film industry