# Scales



## SpringEquinoxx (Apr 18, 2009)

So... anyone got any tips on making scales? I've seen some dragons do just fabric that looks like scales, but the one i'm doing this comish for wants overlapping ones that look more lik the real deal. also, tails that sway advice would be appreciated.


----------



## Cikea (Apr 19, 2009)

I make sclae tails from scale maille if your looking for a more realistic look

they flex and wag real nice

only draw back is time and cost is a little high

about 39$ per sq foot and 10hours

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2161696

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1421720/

but it's not realy hard to make just will drive you nutz quick

if you have anyquestions and ask on here or messge me on FA


----------



## SpringEquinoxx (Apr 19, 2009)

yeah, i've seen some of your vids up on youtube. i asked you there if you thought making a full suit would be possible (i'm zergishzergling there) but i haven't checked back. it also seems like tghat stuff would be really heavy. and good for taisl, but not for arms or legs or facees... but i dunno really.


----------



## Cikea (Apr 20, 2009)

sorry dont check youtube much just replyed there but will reply here also

as for weght it's realy not that bad I use alum scales so the weght should not be too bad

if the suit is made right the weght should all be on the torso and not too heavy it takes about 1 pound of scales to make a tail 

trying find the math for a full suit if I remember right it's not the weght that is a prob it's the cost a full suit is going be some were ~20 pounds and 750$ give or take some thats just the scales. I would want some were around 2k just to make a suit just to pay for all the drugs I would need to forgit that I had made it.

what I really think real scales are good for is as a highlight or acsent in spots that make the suit look better, like the tail, maby the hands, spots on the arms/legs , and some pattern on the head

for scales theringlord.com is good you want the small scales



just ask me I have no prob teaching I will be at AC and OC this year if anyone is at eather I can teach them how to make scale it's not hard but most ppl run screeming 

it might take a bit to get back to you sorry I drive semi's all 48 so some days all I want to do when I get done is sleep.


----------



## Kittiara (Apr 20, 2009)

Probably you'll want to tell the commissioner that the scale 'plating' will have to be limited to accents/areas of interest, and the rest will be a texture.  Besides, it wouldn't look as good if EVERY PART of the body were overlapping scales; just like it wouldn't look good if an entire fursuit had really long hair-- you have to shave it down to make it work.

So probably you could figure out a way to go half-and-half or something.


----------



## Cikea (Apr 20, 2009)

repost from long ago

Sorry my typing gets disjointed sometimes

An all metal suit is possible using chainmaille, would be heavy but not too heavy I just weighed the tail I wore at AC 08, it is some were between 1.6 and 2pounds and has about 1sq foot of metal

But the best would be like *slashersivi *talked about some combination of scales and other if someone knows a plastic molder they could get scales made that way and they could be made smaller or lager easer

If I was making a full suite of scalemaille for myself would take ~27sq feet of scalemaille at about 50pounds but a person would not feel it too bad because it would be spread out the big drawback would not even be the cost of the metal at about 39$ per square foot (1050$), itâ€™s the time involved and 6-10 hours of work per square foot is where the price of chainmaille comes from

At the very low end you are looking at like 108 hours of work too almost 270houres of work and scalemaille really needs the be custom fit not even a dummy works very good, metal dose not stretch

From a fur suit stand point this is the brake down for a scalemaille for me no tail and no head other than just a cover

Chest ~8.5 sq feet
Arms ~4.5 sq feet for 2
Legs ~11.3 sq feet for 2
And coif for the head ~2.2 sq feet

edit my spelling sucks please bear with me

Itâ€™s just like you say attached at the back to each scale it makes it strong but flexible you can lose some Flex and attach it to something else like lather or some other way of attaching it

Pulse chainmaille in all of its forms if halfway sized right will drape and form fit to some extent

Photos and Work Not by me

I use the small from
http://theringlord.com
small scales





thinbk thies are large





and the back


----------



## SpringEquinoxx (Apr 20, 2009)

thanks. i'll let my dragon friend know about this, see what he thinks about it all. *shrug* the scale plating does look awesome though. do the scales ben easy or are they reletivly sturdy?


----------



## X (Apr 20, 2009)

SpringEquinoxx said:


> So... anyone got any tips on making scales? I've seen some dragons do just fabric that looks like scales, but the one i'm doing this comish for wants overlapping ones that look more lik the real deal. also, tails that sway advice would be appreciated.



cut sheets of thin plastic in a scale pattern and overlap it like roofing tiles. sew the top and bottom sets to the actual fabric, and staple or glue the other rows to the ones above it.

i suppose that im a little late with suggestions.


----------



## Cikea (Apr 21, 2009)

SpringEquinoxx said:


> thanks. i'll let my dragon friend know about this, see what he thinks about it all. *shrug* the scale plating does look awesome though. do the scales ben easy or are they reletivly sturdy?


 
it's armor 

I've seen ppl use just blunted real swords on this stuf and just a nick or scrape on the finsh. from a fur suit stand point think bash it, walk in too walls, mud, take a knife to it, dont matter it is armor. just dont shoot it REALY DONT, chain maille is NOT bullet proof it's not just the opsit


but it is realy fun to play with, just showing off  I will take one of my tails and slam it in to concret or try pirce it with a driver and all will do is small dent  the concret wont even realy scrape the finsh off much if you look real close you can see small nicks from that but other than that


----------



## SpringEquinoxx (Apr 21, 2009)

Cikea said:


> it's armor
> 
> I've seen ppl use just blunted real swords on this stuf and just a nick or scrape on the finsh. from a fur suit stand point think bash it, walk in too walls, mud, take a knife to it, dont matter it is armor. just dont shoot it REALY DONT, chain maille is NOT bullet proof it's not just the opsit
> 
> ...



i was just wondering, since its aluminum and all.


----------



## Cikea (Apr 21, 2009)

dont worry it's the shape that really gives strenth and the pattern.

you really have to play with this stuf too see what it can realy do and get a true feal for it

there are cool ways that scales can be used just takes time and the Idea


----------



## Kesslan (Apr 23, 2009)

Well on the issue of damage to the scales, correct me by all means if I'm incorrect, but I belive it's a comparitively simple, though a time consuming and fiddly task to replace any actually damaged ones should such an event occur.

That said, depending on the thickness it should be relatively durable. I mean look at how tough on the whole a pop can is, and yet the alunimum for those is practically paper thin at the walls. If the scales were decently thick I suspect they would hold up to abuse supprisingly well.


----------



## TheRedRaptor (Apr 23, 2009)

Those scales are awmazing.
I have a question: is it possible to make patterns and marking using scales of different coloured tints?


----------



## Meeew (Apr 23, 2009)

Kesslan said:


> Well on the issue of damage to the scales, correct me by all means if I'm incorrect, but I belive it's a comparitively simple, though a time consuming and fiddly task to replace any actually damaged ones should such an event occur.
> 
> That said, depending on the thickness it should be relatively durable. I mean look at how tough on the whole a pop can is, and yet the alunimum for those is practically paper thin at the walls. If the scales were decently thick I suspect they would hold up to abuse supprisingly well.



Chain mail is literally armor, so it's meant to be durable.


----------



## SpringEquinoxx (Apr 23, 2009)

i only ask because someone might be sitting on them, thats all. but i trust in thier durability against swords, claws, ect. looks like an awesome thing, just money and time consuming. i have all the time in the world. money.... i have negative dollars right now. so i'll look into it when i win the lottery or get another job.


----------



## Cikea (Apr 23, 2009)

TheRedRaptor said:


> Those scales are awmazing.
> I have a question: is it possible to make patterns and marking using scales of different coloured tints?


 

Patterns are not that hard as long as you rember that at is bigest the tailes I make are 8x50 so cant get to complex but a shirt or or somthing like a book can make patterns

Pink and black striped tail
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2161696

black with silverish boder
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1599579/

black and silverish Skunk dragon Tail 
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1583270/


----------



## Cikea (Apr 23, 2009)

SpringEquinoxx said:


> i only ask because someone might be sitting on them, thats all. but i trust in thier durability against swords, claws, ect. looks like an awesome thing, just money and time consuming. i have all the time in the world. money.... i have negative dollars right now. so i'll look into it when i win the lottery or get another job.


 
sitting is real nice I wore myn all last AC! just sit will fold down out of the way, unless you are sitting on concrete I would worry more for the scales pos tearing what ever you are sitting on if you are in pants.

if you order your scales order the biggest batch you can! the colors can shift some in any color but black from batch to batch or order smaller batches and mix them before starting

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2161523/

a full tail will fit collapsed down to the size of a fist.


----------



## wolfbird (Apr 25, 2009)

For what it's worth, I'm not sold on the idea of chain/scalemail for a suit. Sure, it looks AWESOME but unless your dragon fursona is made out of metal... yeah. You'll just look like a really cool set of armor, IMO. Not necessarily a bad thing, but most dragons I've met are more organic than that. 

There exist scale patterned fabric, which would be good as a base. I'd suggest making your own larger scales for the more obvious parts (example http://www.testriffic.com/resultfiles/14851white-dragon.jpg), like the back of the neck, tail, belly, etc. That way you'd get a blend of small and large scales at like half the effort, and mixing up 
the scale sizes would add more realism than if everything was a uniform size, IMO.

For the tail, I go with some pipe insulator as a skeleton inside a standard reptile tail and you fill it with polyfil to bulk it out properly. People have used pool noodles, and I have too, but they're way too thick and stiff. A pipe insulator (http://www.herrochester.com/blogs/hartmann/uploaded_images/pipeInsulation-747405.jpg) is a lot thinner and softer, and they've got some awesome wag to them. You can also roll them up, sit on them and basically do whatever you want to them and they don't crack like pool noodles can if you abuse them too much.


----------

