CostMakingTail

I'm most experienced in the construction of equine tails so that's what I'll be sharing here. My
first equine tail was made entirely out of real horse tail hair and constructed by Ed Kline. Very
authentic looking. And rather heavy! It was part of KC's outfit, a costume I wore at WorldCon in
L.A. After that I made Beth the White Guardian's tail and that was made from almost two full
wigs. Very pretty, very feminine. I love how that tail looked. Very light compared to KC's tail.
Next was Red Shetlands. Also much lighter and made from two full red wigs. I really had fun
making that one, knowing it was going to be for me. The next tail I constructed was for Tashta, my
belly dancing zebra and this one had to be light enough to be able to be glued to my tailbone area
so that I could do some exotic dancing with little else on but body make-up. We were successful
and that tail withstood a great deal of shimmying while still staying put! Woo hoo! (There's a trick
to that, which I will also share.)

Here I will walk you through how I make equine tails via a few images and text.

Here I have my dock materials laid
out:

Super Barge cement--very strong
stuff.

Foam trimmed to the desired size of
the tail dock.

Soft glove leather, enough to wrap the
foam and still have some hanging at
the base.

Here is the completed tail dock.
To make it I brushed the skin
side of the leather with cement
and allowed it to set until it was
just tacky. I also painted the
foam with the cement, twice
because it absorbed the first
coat. Then once both pieces are

just tacky to the touch, not sticky, you carefully wrap the leather around the foam. Be careful because
once the two pieces touch, it is almost impossible to separate without tearing them apart. This is why
Super Barge cement is so good. Notice the extra leather left at the base. Then once you have this
together, coat the outside of the dock with the cement. You'll very likely want to apply more than one
coat. Always, alway remember to have plenty of ventilation with this cement. It is very aromatic and
absolutely LOVES eating brain cells and giving migraines. Trust me on this one.

If you turn a wig inside out, you
will see that it is woven in
sections. This is very convenient
for us! Cut a few strips separate
at a time. I'd say no more than
three, otherwise the bloody
things gain a life of their own
and start becoming tangled when
you aren't looking.

Here I have three sections of
wig hair laid out and ready for
gluing.

Next, take one of those sections
of hair, making sure to be careful
to not allow any of the glued strip
to lay against itself, and wrap it
around the very tip of the dock
applying cement side on the strip
to the cement on the dock,
twisting it around like the stripe
on a candy cane--but with no
space in between.

The image to the left shows the
first strip applied.

Here is the tail. It is not quite finished. There are many ways
to do the finishing touches. It can be permanently cemented to
a part of a costume. Several sort of belt type harnesses can
be designed for it. It all depends on what your needs are.

If the tail is to be glued onto a person, I cement the base to a
leather pad that has had velcro cemented onto the other side.
Then THAT is attached to velcro on a similar pad that has
been cemented with a special skin cement--we use Skin-Bond--
to the person's tailbone area. This way if some idiot tries to
yank the tail off, it may hurt but skin will not be ripped off.

If you do use a skin cement, always buy the adjoining solvent.
For Skin-Bond the remover is Uni-Solve.

This stuff works fantastic. A little anecdote: Several years
ago, during Tashta's last performance at the CF Cabaret Fur
le Dance, Omaha the Cat Dancer asked Ed and I if we had any
good way to attach her tail. Of course we did! Ed and I
carefully applied the tail with the skin cement.

Little did they know that Ed and I were the ones who had attached it that year. Everyone watched,
anticipating that the next shimmy, wiggle or spin would send her tail flying into the audience. It never
happened, much to everyone's shock and Omaha's delight. *grin*

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Here's the trick I was talking about: You apply the cement in the same way you do the Barge cement.
You put a layer on both the tail base AND your tailbone area. Then you must wait until the Skin-Bond
becomes tacky, not at all sticky. Once it's just barely tacky you press the two halves together or
rather, press the tail firmly against the tail bone. Voila, That sucker should stick like crazy. It's
getting it to let go that's the hard part! *grin*