Simple Scale Pattern

Would you like your model to boast about that giant lizard he's slain? Or maybe you want to give him a set of scale armour?
Look no further!

This time I'll show you how to make a simple scale pattern.

You will need:

A clean hobby knife and, of course, some sculpting putty. I will be using Green Stuff for this tutorial.

A small piece of smooth plastic bag, roughly three times the size of the scale pattern you want to sculpt.

A tiny amount of baby or sweet oil.

When you measure the amount of putty needed, a good practice is to prepare about half the amount you think you are going to need for the job. If you don't prepare enough you can easily add more, but if you prepare too much you will - in the long run - end up wasting a significant amount of potential sculpting material.

Start by adding a very thin layer layer of oil to the inside of the bag piece.

Mix your putty and place it inside the bag piece and flatten it to about 1 mm/0.03 in, then cut the whole thing into roughly the shape you are after.

When this is done, remove the plastic from one side of the shape so that you can sculpt directly onto the putty.

Take your knife and carefully draw diagonal lines across the shape, keeping about 1 mm/0.03 in between each line. When done, repeat the process with the angle of the blade reversed to create small squares.

Let the putty cure for about 10 minutes before continuing.

Now, starting with the bottom row of squares, use the flat side of your blade and gently press the top edge of each square down so that the mass of the square gets pushed towards you.
Repeat this with each row until all squares are 'tilted'.

Now you have the basic shape of the scales.

When this is done, gently press the tip of your knife into the creases that were created when you tilted the squares to create a level of depth in the scales.

You could call the scales done now if you want, but I do recommend that you sharpen the points of the scales to make them look less sculpted. This is achieved by pressing the side of your knife against the sides of the scales. You might need to flatten the scales afterwards by repeating the tilting process.

If you want the scales to look like armour, take a toothpick and gently press the tip into each scale. This creates a small recess in the middle to represent the fastening onto the leather foundation.

When you are done, let the Green Stuff cure for another ten minutes and then remove the piece from the plastic.

Place the piece on the rest of the model and gently press the corners of the scales with the toothpick to fasten it. Finally, make tiny balls of putty, place them in the recesses made by pressing the corners onto the model and flatten them.

Now you have a good-looking scale pattern on your mini!