Tutorial: Greenstuff Scales

A little while back I started to work on a Salamanders Terminator Squad, but wanted them to stand out a bit. Given the fact that I play my Salamanders as the 1st Company "Firedrakes", they really needed to be done some justice with the customization. I decided each of them would be wearing a Salamander mantle and their armor feature a scaled shoulder as well.

For this tutorial, I'll be showing how I did those scales.

Firstly, you'll need your standard materials tools: scuplting tools, greens stuff, water tray. I don't have a set of sculpting tool, so I improvised with a safety pin.

I already did the unscaled cloak on this one, and as you can see, the shoulder is already scaled as well.

First thing you want to do pull off a tiny bit of greenstuff. Generally I keep it a standard 50/50 mix, sometimes add in a tad more yellow to get it a bit more tacky. Take the bit and roll it into a little ball between your fingers. The amount will be very small and it may get a bit annoying.

Tiny, tiny bits.

I use the simple place and push method, taking the greenstuff and gently placing it on the surface from my finger, then taking the rounded cap of the safety pin and pressing it down a bit, making sure the pin is a little we so you don't pull the piece back up. I tend work from the center of the surface outwards to avoid any space issues.

Once you have it in place, use the side of the sharp end to push the sides of the smushed ball to create more rounded off edges. You want to avoid circles, but also avoid any triangle like edges.

Vary your shapes and sizes to create a more dynamic look.

Once you've got one in, go crazy. It is quite a tedious, time consuming method, but I find the results are satisfying (and its quite relaxing in fact). Pattern your scales like above and mix up the sizes so it looks more realistic. As you push on the sides, they will generally give the scale a bit of a texture rather than just staying flat. I tend to push back down on the scale to make a little dip, then fix the sides if need be.

I generally like to keep the larger scales toward the center and as I move outward, make them a bit smaller. To avoid any accidental smushing as I work, I tend to skip around a bit, depending on the model/ surface area.

Leaving a bit of unscale cloak on the edges, it can give a more skinned look to the drake hide

Finally the model is complete and ready to paint. I have yet to have any issues with scales coming off despite the lack of glue. Generally the sprayed basecoat and paint seals them on good.

Hope this was helpful and have fun!