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missfit1023 — my tail tutorial
Published: 2011-05-19 05:20:02 +0000 UTC; Views: 108650; Favourites: 762; Downloads: 1508
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Description
i have been asked by many people, and here it is! this is the exact method i used for my tail.**PLEASE READ COMMENTS BEFORE YOU ASK QUESTIONS!**
I did forget to mention the Spray Silicone in the first picture, which is $9 on Amazon.com. It is used for divers, and should be applied to the finished tail to prevent stickiness!
This tutorial was a collaboration from many of the mer community on Mer.Yuku.com
**DISCLAIMER**
Do not swim in a mermaid tail without supervision - This particular tail-tutorial makes a tail that is easily 40-50bls when finished. It will be weightless in the water, but will double in weight after being wet on land.
I suggest practice swimming with a monofin while in the process of making your tail - it will help you learn how to move with the fin and build the necessary muscles to swim with it.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN COMMISSIONING A TAIL:
read this first: [link]
Related content
Comments: 289
Hmmmm-is it possible to swim without the monofin? I am trying to make this as cost effective as possible as it would be for an underwater photo shoot only. I am an excellent swimmer and very good with the dolphin kick and swimming with arms only as well.
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If you use spandex to make the tail without all of the extra things mentioned, it's possible to make a tail without a monofin. I have made a spandex-only tail without a monofin and I was able to swim relativelty well. Be weary though, unless you swim a lot, or are in very good shape, you will get tired quickly. I was in the water for 15-25 minutes and I was very fatigued.
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I would HIGHLY advise only swimming with a monofin in the tail.
The tail is very heavy, and without a fin of SOME sort inside, you could drown from the weight of the tail.
Finis makes a type of monofin that is very cheap, about $60 and its called the Foil. I hear its really good, actually. Or, you can get two standard divers fins, use something like zip ties to hold them together, and use that instead. Walmart sells a good pair for about $20-30.
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can i swim in the pool with this is it hard to swim in? Do i need a monofin? please reply ASAP thanks
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If you look at my other mermaid photos, you can see that I am using it in a pool.
So, yes.
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you can wear this in the pool right? And do you need a monofin? Please reply!
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I have heard from several sources that latex chips easily. Is this true?
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i have found that if the latex is not cleaned and dried properly, the latex can begin to break down. my blue tail (pictured in the tutorial) has some wear and tear on the fluke, especially where the monofin ends.
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Thank you for replying so quickly! Do you think that if the latex were coated in a clear silicone it would hold up better?
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i really don't know, i've never tried it! if you want, try experimenting with it.
although, i imagine it would weight down the tail a great deal...
what a lot of the mermaid community did was take strips of neoprene, made some latex scales on them (and if you wanted to try it, put silicone on top of it), and did water and scrap tests.
they would some strips in chlorinated water, some in salt water, others in fresh water and wait several hours to see if they deteriorated or anything. they would also scrap the swatches over cement and other surfaces in order to test the strength of it.
i say try it! let me know what ya find out about it
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It probably would... I've heard that all-silicone tails can be up to 45 pounds out of water. I'd imagine that would cause some serious transportation problems, especially after it's wet. I think I'll just test out a thin, airbrushed layer of silicone first and see if that's enough to keep the latex from chipping.
The swatches sound like a good idea, I'll definitely test it out and let you know how it goes!
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I have both a silicone and a latex tail - the latex is DEFINITELY heavier than the silicone, and it feels even lighter in water.
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Question... what type of silicone is your other tail made of? C:
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its a caulking, from stores like home depot and lowes.
its not the best material, buts this tutorial is for those looking for affordable and easy methods of making a tail
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Oh, okay. 
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I cannot really answer that - I've never used dragon skin!
But if you get like the sample-sized container of the stuff, you can test it with and without fabric.
i do think that most dragon skin silicone tails are made without the fabric though, and they require a mold and a lot more products too.
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I recently found out that dragon skin doesn't bond with neoprene, so I don't think I'll be using that! I decided to go with slip casting latex instead of silicone.
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Wow, I would have assumed silicone would be heavier! Now I'm not sure whether to use silicone or latex...
If I do use latex, I'm pretty sure I won't use ALEX. I've heard it turns white and flakes off in the water.
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THANK YOU SO MUCH! Every professional mermaid tail maker I could find just refused to explain how they made it 
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no problem! shelley uses a similar method, but she uses silicone instead (which has some required extra steps), but this is a great starter tutorial
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How much would this cost to make? ^^ (without the monofin and in dollars/pounds) But thank you for uploading this, it's helpful and well done :3
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roughly $250-300 before the monofin?
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where did you get your metal sheet? I've looked EVERYWHERE. I can't find anything so I've had to bs my scales with torn up fish net.
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try homedepot.com or lowes.com.
look for grating or chicken wire.
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hm..I'm just gona have to ask around @.@ lol. Looks like I gots lots of places to try tomorrow! XD
thank you! btw I love your tail. <3
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I am in love with this tutorial and will be using to make my first Mermaid Tail. Although, there many criticizing you for using Alex Plus Latex, I don't see anything wrong with it if you're using it for a starter tail. I did, however, find a paintable silicon caulk at Lowes that I'll be doing swatch tests on first. I hope it turns out as good as the Alex Plus. And Thanks so much for posting this tutorial
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My only crtisism (as a mermaid myself) Is that Alex plus shouldn't be used for tails, not only is it harmful to your skin and the environment, but it degrades pretty quickly, flakes off and even turns white regardless of paint job, rendering you with an unusable tail pretty quickly if you use it on a regular basis.
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Your tail looks amazing, but I would put in your description that people should only use Neoprene if they are to use ALEX PLUS latex. All in all ALEX PLUS shouldn't be used in open water or even be used. It dangerous to one skin, health and the health of the environment. The link below is to the Mermaid Network to a forum that explain why it should not be used it also it has alternative that are safe to use in place of ALEX PLUS. I though I would let you all know ^^ happy mermaid making.
[link]
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What's the seam allowance that you used on your tail? I bought some neoprene to make a new one but I don't know if i should sew it with a seam allowance or having the edges together with an interlocking stitch.
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I opted for the interlocking stitch, but it was VERY difficult. I have a few merfriends that just "glue" the seams with access latex.
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yea, I saw on mernetwork that the mers who made a neoprene tail had to use special techniques to not kill their machine and actually get the fabric together. I'm wondering about it since mine's the 3mm from Jo Ann's (which is going to double to 6mm)and I don't know if either of my sewing machines can handle heavy duty fabrics. It did pretty well when I sewed my vinyl tail, but that is not as thick as this stuff. I know Capt Nemo on Mernetwork said that she usually hand sews neoprene.
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you got your neoprene from JoAnn's? do you remember how much you paid for it and how much you bought? i'm trying not to buy from the internet so i won't have to pay extra money for shipping that i could use to maybe buy some latex or lexan.
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If you are going to get it from Jo Ann's do it fast! It's now a clearance item. The price for it at the Jo Anns near me dropped from $19 to $12. I bought 3 yards of it just in case I needed that much. It really depends on your body size and monofin/tail size since the width of the bolt is about 3 feet.Otherwise you would need to double the amount needed to make your tail. For example, my hips are 41" around and I have a Finis Rapid so the 3 feet width will be enough for my body but barely folding over for my fluke/tail (might need to use the extra to have it not be too tight around the fin).
They have it in burgundy, teal and black with sunburst pattern. I bought mine in teal and when back for the burgundy, but they did not have enough left for tail making. If they have 3 yards of the teal left. I'm going to pick that up since $12/yd for neoprene is a great deal.
I hope this helps.
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thanks! it does, i'm going to need about 3 or four yards too. (my fluke will be about this size:
[link] )
so i'll probably have to measure it out again to see how much i'll need exactly so i dont have to make two trips.
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The ones on the right look wider than the ones on the left.What monofin will you be using?
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I'm going to be making my own from lexan blade since i'll be paying $60 for at least 2 or 3 monofins that i can make from one good sized sheet instead of paying maybe $40 for one off the internet that i'll have to pay shipping for also.
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Sounds cool! Plus you get to make your own fluke design!
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This tutorial is amazing! Thanks so much!
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This is so awesome! I can't wait to try this out over the summer! Thank you for posting this!
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omg thank you so much for this! i've had a regular spandex tail before, but i wasn't satisfied with it. It looked more like a wet hot mess instead of a majestic mermaid tail when i swam. I've been looking for a realistic mermaid tail for a while now and all have been extremely expensive. This is now going to be my official project
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thank you so much for putting this up! Because i didn't know how to get the scales right.
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THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!
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How long did it take you to make this tail? (I don't think I saw that question in the comments, if you did already answer it somewhere, I'm sorry)
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Its ok! It took about a whole month, from start to finish - BUT I go to school full-time, so I did have like a good part of my weeks that I didn't/couldn't work on it.
The longest/hardest part is waiting for everything to dry!
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This is amazing! I've been looking for years for a tutorial like this!
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