Merman Marinus SLOW Extended Tail Project

[Trident True]

When I did my fins in plaster, one of my molds broke in half. My response was at the time. *uck im not doing this again, where's the glue. Making molds is so time consuming and pouring them with Silicone is even more consuming. As fins are an odd shape they can break its only natural with plaster, however my experience has told me to make the molds as thick as you can using what you have.

Now with my fuke I did I ended up using fiberglass. it worked extremely well however the negative to these are, if you make them thin they will only last for the duration of the pouring process as removing the poured object takes its toll on the cavity itself. also the CAVITY needs to be place on a level surface otherwise it will warp. Fiberglass resins are not cheap especially here in Australia but it done the job. if Made thicker they will last, so being fins are an odd shape fiberglassing could be a better option.

[Marinus Mortimer]

I did consider fiberglass ill have to keep in mind for my next project cause i already invested in all the plaster ill need got like 10 bags on stand by in my closet and 2 for dorsal molding, yes that last dorsal mold was too thin it cracked again and i decided to destroy it yes im sorry i lost my temper but ill use double the amount for the remolding stage that shall begin shortly but for now im focused on getting the fluke finished as smooth as possible as soon as posible well be moving soon to a more permanent housing not in a very good place but i grew up in a place where shootings happened regularly and dead body's were left cold on the ground at least once a month so this place is like peaceful living compared to my Island , but yeah i broke the malformed left dorsal mold into like 20 pieces and it served as a learning experience for measuring the strength of this plaster, and I've gotta say some parts i had to smash twice others broke easily so i think that making it very thick should counter the frailty of the material.


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[.MermaidSophia.]

I did consider fiberglass ill have to keep in mind for my next project cause i already invested in all the plaster ill need got like 10 bags on stand by in my closet and 2 for dorsal molding, yes that last dorsal mold was too thin it cracked again and i decided to destroy it yes im sorry i lost my temper but ill use double the amount for the remolding stage that shall begin shortly but for now im focused on getting the fluke finished as smooth as possible as soon as posible well be moving soon to a more permanent housing not in a very good place but i grew up in a place where shootings happened regularly and dead body's were left cold on the ground at least once a month so this place is like peaceful living compared to my Island , but yeah i broke the malformed left dorsal mold into like 20 pieces and it served as a learning experience for measuring the strength of this plaster, and I've gotta say some parts i had to smash twice others broke easily so i think that making it very thick should counter the frailty of the material.


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Hi! This thread is so cool I've learned a lot from reading it.

In my personal experience you can layer sheets of cheesecloth in the plaster to help keep it from breaking. I know someone already mentioned this but if the molds keep cracking, maybe it would help to layer some sheets in while it's still wet? I've used this method for some extremely fragile molds and it makes them 150% stronger.

[Marinus Mortimer]

Ill have to look into the cheesecloth technique as I've never tried it before if i can find some before i have to mold the fluke ill deff put it to practice thanks you guys for aways giving me great advice!


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[Marinus Mortimer]

Today i finally got to sit down and work on doing some detail work on my biggest size of scales ive gotta say im happy with the result
Here is a picture of my first one,


And heres the reference picture





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[LeeniusUnicorn]

It's looking awesome Mortimer. I highly suggest the layering cheesecloth method. You can find cheesecloth at the grocery store. Or any other kind of netting fabric would probably work.
Also for future info you don't have to start from scratch if your mold breaks. Plaster is pretty easy to work with and carve, you can glue it back together with plaster, then carve the plaster to match how it originally looked.


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[Marinus Mortimer]

It's looking awesome Mortimer. I highly suggest the layering cheesecloth method. You can find cheesecloth at the grocery store. Or any other kind of netting fabric would probably work.
Also for future info you don't have to start from scratch if your mold breaks. Plaster is pretty easy to work with and carve, you can glue it back together with plaster, then carve the plaster to match how it originally looked.


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Yes I've looked into it i actually had some of the medical type of cheese cloth but not enough to make a mold from it so ill have to pass by the supper market soon, I was going to do just that but seeing it brake so easily made me think i made it wrong form as early as when i mixed the plaster so i lost my temper and went all "HULK SMASH!"


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[LeeniusUnicorn]

Hehe, sometimes we just need a moment to turn into Hulks and just vent it all out. It's plaster, is cheap, it's fun too. Plus with all the other crazy stressors in your life lately it was probably very therapeutic.
The year after both my parents passed our toilet creaked and we had to replace it. In the process of getting rid of the old toilet we each took turns taking a sledge hammer to it. It was great, we found it to be very therapeutic.


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[Marinus Mortimer]

Sorry to hear about ur folks. Yeah i would love to smash a couple toilets, it was therapeutic getting rid of some stress especially after seeing it crack multiple times ugh it was horrible i just had to


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[Marinus Mortimer]

Judt an image update for the people who like to see the visual progression did three more but damm its so tedious to do these!


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[Marinus Mortimer]

I also plan to do a lateral line on my tail side like real fish so ill be showing y'all the scales for that soon.







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[Lili]

Damn those scales are magnificent :O I thought my scales took forever, I think yours might be on a whole new level haha

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[Rett]

Woah! Love those scales! The dimension and details are amazing!

[Marinus Mortimer]

Woah! Love those scales! The dimension and details are amazing!

Damn those scales are magnificent :O I thought my scales took forever, I think yours might be on a whole new level haha

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awee thanks you guys that makes this whole thing worth it.

Yes its three basic steps to get them like that first build shape second add the different sections to add dimension these could be 4 parts of three parts then add vertical lines then as horizontal lines and repeat the last step like 5 times until you get the desired detailed look that takes a while lol


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[Hydra1337]

Those scales look BA. Idk if this would work with all the details you have but maybe you could make a couple plaster molds of the scales so you can press the clay into the mold and then gently peel it out. Ages ago I saw an old thread where someone used a method like that but they used a pumpkin seed not a sculpted scale.

[Marinus Mortimer]

Those scales look BA. Idk if this would work with all the details you have but maybe you could make a couple plaster molds of the scales so you can press the clay into the mold and then gently peel it out. Ages ago I saw an old thread where someone used a method like that but they used a pumpkin seed not a sculpted scale.

Thanks ❤️

I actually tried that with a much simpler scale design i have made from when i started and it worked but not like what i hat in mind like 14% of the detail lines where gone and those weren't as half as detailed as these ones, but if i was to do just that with a scale that was half way finished only needing the final detail layer it could work but i already have all the scale shapes made so im kinda halfway already lol thanks for the great advice though.


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[Hydra1337]

Bummer it didn't work out. Still, I'd pick a tedious method over a less detailed one.

[Marinus Mortimer]

Bummer it didn't work out. Still, I'd pick a tedious method over a less detailed one.

I know, yes me two i be criticizing every little aspect of my work and many times find myself starting over but its been a great learning experience i wish i could have put as much skills into my early sculpts!


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[Hydra1337]

The fact that you can sculpt that well is impressive let alone the fact that you have enough patience to do it, IMO.

[Marinus Mortimer]

Thanks alot Hydra that's really nice
Yessssss patience is key in this line of work lol

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