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Selkish's Yamaya's Gift/Najestic Entertainment Tail Review
Note: There isn't a tailmaker review forum for it yet so I'm posting here.
So at the beginning of April I purchased a tail from Najestic Entertainment for $600 which as we know is quite cheap for a full silicone tail. The listing on etsy promised a 2-3 week delivery as well which, Naja delivered on for sure. It is silicone backed in fabric with a cut finis Rapid in the fluke. She uses the flat scale sheet method to make her tails and airbrushes the paint job onto them. She gave me both a template to figure out colors and a template to fill out measurements which I sent to her and she filmed herself drawing out my leg measurements to ensure they were correct. We did hit a small snafu about 2 weeks into the process as her studio flooded and she needed to remake the sheet molds but she still managed to get me my tail in the timeframe promised. Naja was available to talk for almost the entire process regardless of the fact that we live about 3 time zones apart and even after the tail was delivered is still available to help with any issues I might be having.
Here was my Unboxing video, I'm so sorry I filmed it vertically. https://youtu.be/DBk-tgJwfkI
And I did a quick video of the tail to talk about it as soon as I unboxed it. I apologize for my gravely voice.
https://youtu.be/_b1gHhgzjLg
I'm going to do this in parts so it's easier to organize my brain:
The Good:
The paint job on this PHENOMENAL. I went through about 4 different color ideas before I settled on the sunset palette. The fluke sculpt is also beautiful and it flows in the water nicely. The whole thing photographs beautifully to the point where I was having trouble proving there were certain things wrong with it because of how well it photographs. Naja was super communicative and we were able to talk though the time delay and a mailing snafu. In general, I paid for essentially, materials alone on this tail and got the labor for free. It's an amazing first silicone tail for those of you who want to step up your tail game but maybe who aren't fully on the Merbellas/Finfolk level yet.
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The bad:
First of all, I'm going to reiterate that this was a $600 tail. I wasn't expecting the quality of a $3000 to begin with. I am not upset with this tail at all in the end because of that. The tail shows all the signs of someone with a little less experience working very fast. The paint was peeling off as soon as I got it. A sign that they used too much pigment in the silicone paint. There were also a few uncured spots though whether that was the paint or the silicone it was hard to tell. They also advertise that the tail is backed in neoprene when it's actually backed in neoprin, a small but frustrating difference that results in the inside of the tail simply not drying unless the whole thing is propped up and open. Neoprin is more of a generic term for "thick fabric" and so this mimics sweatshirt material rather than dive suit and does not float like neoprene would as a result. The fit is a bit off. There are pockets of silicone in the sides that are just extra for me while the ankle is a bit tight. This is because I took my measurements with my ankles together instead of slightly apart as the monofin has me stand. This means that there's a lot of bagging at the ankles of the tail and some kind of love handles at the hips which is a bit awkward. There were several holes (hidden by the scales) in the tail and they resulted in tearing when trying to get the tail on so I've already had to do some repairs. The scale mold itself looks and feels like it wasn't well cleaned out between pulls so up close the tail is ROUGH. The side seams are thick and similarly rough. Naja uses Dragonskin 30 it seems with a silicone thinner which is possibly why there might have been uncured bits.
Conclusion:
So I will have to do a few alterations and repairs to this tail. Naja was very kind and sent me silicone and pigment to repair the holes and coat the outside in a layer that will hopefully protect the paint job. And I'm using the opportunity to add A LOT of sparkle. I had to tear out as much of the fabric interior as I could, though some still is attached inside because it would tear more of the silicone. That aside, this is a beautiful tail and Naja of Najestic Entertainment was incredibly honest with me and very sweet. In general I might collaborate with her again if I won't buy a full tail. For those of you who are versed in tailmaking, you get exactly what you pay for with this tail which isn't to say that's a bad thing at all. I'm very happy with my purchase and I can't wait to show it off this summer.
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