Lorelei's First Silicone Tail Attempt!

[Ilonka]

Awesome! Ur almost there!

[AniaR]

you tail making people blow my mind. I am way too lazy for that. (well honestly, just busy and not very good with fine-motor control lol)

[Mermaid Lorelei]

[sup]Haha, silly Raina. But thank you both.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

^{(Weird post above...)Haha, silly Raina. But thank you both. Today Orion and I poured the first layers of mold on the fluke. We almost had enough to finish it, but not quite. I have ordered more, but I'll have to wait a few days. Poo. Anyways, after the mold is done, I get to pour my silicone! Woot! And after that comes the scale mold and the silicone scale sheets! I almost can't believe everything's moving so fast finally.}

[Spindrift]

/*Spindrift sets up a tent on this thread to wait in anticipation and starts twiddling thumbs*/

[Mermaid Lorelei]

You make me so happy Spindrift. <3

And just for you, here are some fun progress photos.

It's so freaking hot here (above 100 F) that we just went ahead and moved inside. :P


You can get a feel for just how big this thing is. It's not acurate to the exact shape, because there is space for re-enforcement of the mold, but the fluke really does reach to every edge of this board.


Yes, that is a full foot ruler. I think I posted the full measurements somewhere on mernetwork, but it was something like 3ft by 3ft with a huge cut out of space in the center. (modeled by the cut on the monofin.)

So yup. Progress!

[Kanti]

Wow I can't wait to see your tail. It's seriously going to be amazing.
I already like what I see, the fluke reminds me of a wrasse or a parrot fish~
I'm really glad you're keeping everything updated, it's awesome to see tails unfold.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

It's partially based off of wrasses and cichlids, so good guess. :>
I'm trying my best to update frequently. Most of the time I just forget to take pictures. :'P

[Spindrift]

Looks good! I can't wait to see it finished!

[Ilonka]

You go girl! The same thing happened to me, progress went flying! Ul be done in no time!

[MermaidAliyah]

what are those scale looking circles? i've seen them before but never knew what they were.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

^{Those are foam cut-outs that were glued into place.}

[Keiris]

Were you able to find a suitable glue to anchor the foam circles that worked ok witht the silicone? Progress looks AWESOME!!!!!

[Mermaid Lorelei]

^{I actually found foam that came with an adhesive already on the back. And thank you! Also, I'm almost finished with my dorsal fin! It's huge, colorful, and I can't wait to see it in the water! Woo!}

[Keiris]

It sounds beautiful Lorelei! I have to tell you...I REALLY admire how you jumped fin first into this whole silicone sculpt without ever doing one before! I have wanted to try one for years having made tails from everything from sequins to shower curtains. Now that I actually have a lot of time off for the summer, the thought of doing it without all the necessary steps is daunting. I don't relish the thought of a huge silicone disaster on my hands. What has been the most daunting thing so far for you?

[Mermaid Lorelei]

So far, the amount of time you have to invest is the most daunting thing I've run into. As long as you do all of your research, the rest of the process should go very smoothly. :>

[MermaidAliyah]

where did you buy the foam cut outs?

[Mermaid Lorelei]

where did you buy the foam cut outs?

I had to hand punch all of the scales. They came in sheets of raw foam.

NEWS! Alright, so, my dorsal fin is nearly done. I'm waiting for the last colors to settle before I add some orange spots. At that point, it'll be done. :>
Also, I ordered some more shell shock the other day and HOPEFULLY it will be in tomorrow so I can get to work on my fluke again.

Little confusion fixer: I think I might have mentioned that the orange fin I showed pictures of earlier was my dorsal fin, but it's actually a hip fin. :'P My bad. In any case, I'm going to try and pour the second one later tonight.

Let's see... I've also started looking into making my own fiberglass monofins. At the moment, it's just a thought, but hopefully I'll be able to make my own monofins instead of having to rely on buying them.

[Keiris]

Is it hard to cover those annoying ridges on the bought monofins?

[Mermaid Lorelei]

It can be very difficult, yes. I have a monofin that has no ridges in order to get around the problem. I have heard of people sanding them off though.