[NO] Squirrel by Black Dragon Studio Maker Information Black Dragon Studio Year of Project2026 Completion Time (?)13 - 23 Months ETA AccuracyYES - the ETA was accurate An ETA is the Estimated Time of Arrival for a project. In other words, an estimated turnaround time. An ETA is not a deadline. Review Date6 November 2026 RelationshipThe maker is NOT a friendThis relationship was indicated by the reviewer at the time this review was written. Review InformationReviewerAnonymous Prior ExperienceI have owned 7 fursuits and 3 fullsuits and typically wear my other fursuits for up to 12 hours at cons and outings. Wear Time10+ hours Informed Maker of IssuesHeavy language barrier, and there is very little that can actually be done about the issues now. When I pointed out one of the bigger mistakes in the design I was told it couldn’t be fixed. Full Digitigrade Fursuit Negative ProjectThis item was a commission Paid: A Lump Sum of $3000 - $4999 Initial Contact: January 2025 Completion/Ship Date: February 2026 Shipping Origin: China Type: Fullsuit Style: Kemono Padding: Digitigrade SpeciesName: Squirrel Found in: Glires(?) Features: None Concept Art Photos of Completed Product Overall Initial ContactVery easy, contacted through twitter and moved to WeChat for further contact. They post slots through twitter. Maker CommunicationThe maker always responded the day they recieved the message (usually the night of the day I sent it, because of the time zone differences) so response time was good and I was never ignored. WeChat’s automatic translation features made basic communication pretty easy but it was the lack of communication that made things frustrating. I was given a timeframe of when the suit would begin work and it started as I was told, but the wips I was given were minimal, probably under 15 total for the entire process. I was given 1 wip for the bodysuit to make changes before the entire body was fully sewn and completed, which is why I didn’t have a chance to correct the style of paws, the pattern for the paws, the markings and how they were sewn, and then when they asked if there was any changes I wanted to the suit I asked about the markings and was told there was nothing they could do about it because it was too late. It felt like the maker was not consulting me for any part of the suitmaking process or notifying me when it was happening so it didn’t really feel like things were supposed to be customized to my liking, more like I gave them my idea and they completed it however they wanted while I was allowed to make small tweaks after the fact. I don’t really enjoy this since I’m super particular with my fursuits. I feel like that kind of process is more on par with an artistic liberty suit which this was definitely not. I was not even told which part was being worked on or shown it before they worked on it, only sent results after the fact for most of the parts. When it came to making the tail the maker told me before commissioning that the tail would need to be sewn to the back of the suit; I was fine with that. When it came to actually starting on the tail the maker told me they didn’t know how to do it and asked me what to do with the tail, offering a few options that they said “might” work. I probably would have gone with a different style of tail if I had known they didn’t actually know how to do the type of tail they proposed. It was kind of frustrating and ultimately I’m not satisfied with the tail either and I’m wondering how well the other options could have worked. Project Completion TimeI think it took about 2 months maximum. The completion time was good. Overall Project QualityHonestly, I was super excited for this suit and I saved up for a good while and it just isn’t at all worth the sum that I paid, even if I were to fix the issues that I have with the suit, it still wouldn’t be worth the money. This maker seems to have skills and knowledge of fursuit making given they claim to make 30 fursuits per year but the techniques used on my suit are techniques from about 20 years ago that generally most makers don’t use. As I mentioned before, this suit is not durable and extremely fragile to wear. It has all but disintegrated in the 2 and a half cons I’ve worn it to, and all in all the experience of wearing it was so miserable that it was only about 5-6 hours max in both the cons combined because I wanted to get out of it after that. Components Head Wear SatisfactionHaving owned many fursuits before this I was unfamiliar with this type of head which has a helmet on the inside that needs to be strapped on with a chin strap, it’s heavy hard plastic and felt uncomfortable. It is pretty much incompatible with my glasses which I told the maker I wore under my suits and they told me it wouldn’t be an issue; simply trying to pull the head on or taking it off will knock my glasses off and they cannot be adjusted inside the head. I cannot breathe very well at all inside the head and the lack of air makes me have to take breaks extremely frequently and in case of an emergency or situation where I would have to rush to take my head off I felt like it was a huge ordeal. Once the head is on you basically cannot reach under it or adjust anything on the inside; and due to the mouth size there is no reaching inside or ability to touch your face. Because of the poor ventilation my glasses would almost always fog up after 1 minute of wear, I used a balaclava that covered my mouth to negate this, but it would always slip or get messed up anyways, and it couldn’t be fixed without fully unbuckling the head strap, unzipping the back of the head and fully taking it off, which can take up to a minute. Not sure what type of mesh the eyes are made out of but vision is incredibly impaired. If I’m out in the sun, glare from the sun reflects onto the eyes and makes me unable to see through them at all. I was fully blinded at times from light. Notably, the whole entire mechanism that holds this “helmet” inside the head to wear it at all, was held in by some kind of craft glue and ultimately fell out entirely after 5 months of owning the suit where I’ve worn the suit under a grand total of 15 hours maximum. Visual SatisfactionI love the face and the teeth and I feel like the style and what I wanted was captured well. The hair could be better but it’s a hard style for most makers to do and they hadn’t had much experience with hair anyways. For some reason one of the hair pieces on the side of the face is curled and I have never been able to fix it without safety pinning it down. The shaving is very haphazard on the face and makes my suit look poor quality in most lighting, especially in professional photos. One-Piece Body Wear SatisfactionI had about 10 popped seams and holes in the body upon arrival at my second con, before that time I had only worn the suit a good 2-3 times for less than an hour each. Had a professional fursuit maker friend remark that the sewing on the inside of the bodysuit was ridiculously poor while helping me fix it. The padding has a hole in it already and feels like it will rip easily. The leg padding is not attached in any way to the suit nor does it have anything to hold it up when you wear it, its simply like a cushion you are meant to pull out of and stuff into the suit between washes and travel. You are meant to step into the leg padding like pants once it’s inside the suit. there is nothing to indicate which direction to wear it either. Because of the fragility of the suit so far I cannot comfortably sit down, bend over or really move around quickly because I fear the tail will rip off, the bodysuit will rip or pop more seams or something else. It’s been straightforward to clean so far and no differences from my other fullsuits in the process of washing it. Visual SatisfactionThe bodysuit is alright, but the markings are incorrect, the underbelly marking stops about a foot before it is supposed to and I felt it makes the legs look even bigger than they are supposed to be. The small marking on the belly is too small to be distinguished and I wouldn’t have had it added had I known it would be unintelligible. The legs are much bigger than they were supposed to be and I don’t love how you can see the top of the bodysuit at the ankles since the feet are seperate from the bodysuit. I was shown the patterning stage of the legs where I asked them to be slimmed down a bit, and they were, but on the final product they ended up being pretty much the same as before; somehow Hands Wear SatisfactionThe paws have zero dexterity which is to be expected from this style of paws. I usually can’t put them on without help because of the lack of dexterity. Visual SatisfactionThey are mochi paws, I don’t like this style of paws but I wasn’t asked before they were made or shown any wips. I really like that my wrists don’t show as extra fur on the arms/wrists from the bodysuit covers them well. I feel like because of the style of the paws they are disproportionate to the head and the rest of the suit. Tail Wear SatisfactionThe zipper that attached the tail is not good quality and has outright fallen off 3 times so far since recieving the suit 6 months ago. I had asked for a tail that zips on and off for storage, travel, and in case I ever wanted to switch my character’s tail. When the tail is unzipped the backside of the suit has the large hole where the tail goes. The tail is attached to a strap that can go around the waist or shoulder, but the only way to have it stand up correctly is to fasten it around my neck. Visual SatisfactionThe tail is an awkward size and the strap that holds it is black and pretty much unable to ever be hidden completely. Feet Wear SatisfactionI was asked for a shoe size but there is basically nothing on the inside of the footpaws but a sandal strap to put my foot into. They are very loose and risk falling off if shaken around. There used to be outdoor paw pads on the sole of the footpaws which were really cute and I loved but they all fell off within about 2 weeks of owning the suit and when I first realized they had fallen off it was in a place they were already not retrievable. They were attached with some kind of craft glue or bad hot glue Visual SatisfactionThe size of the footpaws is good and the paw pads were very cute and perfect while they lasted just not well made causing them to last very short time. RatingFursuitReview rates by asking the question: Would you recommend this maker? NO This review has been marked with a negative rating. This means the reviewer would NOT recommend Black Dragon Studio unless they significantly change their practices. Final CommentsThis maker takes a large amount of commissions and while they complete them on time it feels like they are just spending the base line amount of time on each suit and not making sure that every suit they complete is good quality. The only way I could foresee any of the damage that my suit has taken simply by wearing it is if I only displayed my fursuit and took it out to wear for 10-20 minutes. This suit was not designed to be actually worn like other fursuits. After 6 months of owning this suit is has become fully unwearable, not just by my choice that it was too uncomfortable to continue dragging my cons down trying to wear, but also the fact that the head has fallen apart and the body is coming close after it. Ultimately, it’s okay but I wouldn’t pay the price I did for this kind of suit. I wouldn’t reccomend fullsuits from this maker. If you like the style of head, I would reccomend having a different maker refurbish or reinforce the inside of the head after recieving it. Are you the maker of this item? Would you like to leave an official response? Click here. In case the button above doesn't work, you can click here to launch the maker response form.
