Fill up the areas where you want to add scale mail:
Make horizontal, sloping lines to give the basic length of the scales:
Make vertical lines to get the width of the scales, displace each row from the last one:
Use the end of a rounded sculpting tool (helps to get the rounded end of the scales) to draw out the scales final shape. Start from the bottom row and draw out each scale to overlap the row beneath them:
Take a thin tool (I use my scalpel) and add a line to the middle of each scale. Ideally the line should start from the top of the scale and end slightly before reaching the bottom of it:
Thank you very much for this tutorial! I’ve been browsing for a good scalemail method, and yours looks great. I might end up using it soon (so perhaps not all that soon in any-other-hobbyist-than-Antenor terms, but still ).
Alternative approach if your vertical lines are very thin (if you used a scalpel or the Citadel texture paste spatula for instance – the latter, while not intended for such works, was one of my favorite sculpting tools before I replaced it with a metal version):
4a. Use a sculpting tool with a pointed tip to create a small triangular indentation where the scales meet. You don’t want to create triangular scales here, just a small gap such that you don’t mess up adjacent scales when you try to round them off with the rounded tool.
4b. Follow step 4. A silicone clay shaper works also well to round them off.
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