Sculpting Dragon Scales in Curvy 3D—A Tale of Precision, Chaos, and Mild Existential Dread

[Simon]

Creating dragon scales in Curvy 3D was an adventure filled with technical wizardry, unexpected deformities, and a few moments of sheer panic. Using Proxy Arrays, Deform/Bend tools, and Brush Strokes, I set out to craft a majestic, armored beast—but at one point, it looked more like a lumpy potato covered in shingles.

Experimenting with dragon scales using Proxy Array, Deform/Bend, Brush Strokes to create, wrap and deform the scales into place.

dragon.jpg (78.57 KiB) Viewed 6765 times

Step 1: Proxy Arrays—Because Manually Placing Scales Is Madness

The first step was creating a single, perfect scale—a tiny, curved masterpiece that would soon be duplicated across the dragon’s body. Using Proxy Arrays, I quickly multiplied the scales, ensuring they wrapped around the form like a natural exoskeleton.

At first, things looked promising. Then, I realized half the scales were floating in the void, completely detached from the dragon. After some frantic adjustments (and a brief existential crisis), I managed to anchor them properly—because floating scales are only cool if you’re designing a ghost dragon.

Step 2: Deform/Bend—Making the Scales Actually Follow the Dragon’s Body

Once the scales were in place, it was time to bend them into submission. Using Deform/Bend, I carefully wrapped the scales around the dragon’s curves, ensuring they looked natural and battle-ready.

Of course, my first attempt resulted in a dragon that looked like it had been through a terrible laundry accident—scales twisted in every direction, some overlapping like a medieval roof gone wrong. After some fine-tuning and deep breaths, I finally got them to flow smoothly, making the dragon look like a true armored beast rather than a reptilian fashion disaster.

Step 3: Brush Strokes—Adding That Final Touch of Chaos

To give the scales extra depth and texture, I used Brush Strokes to warp and tweak individual pieces, ensuring they had a slightly organic, imperfect feel.

At one point, I got a little too enthusiastic, and suddenly my dragon had a few scales that looked like they were trying to escape its body. After reining in the madness, I managed to strike the perfect balance—scales that looked tough, natural, and ready for battle.

Final Thoughts—A Dragon Worthy of Legends (or at Least a Decent Screenshot)

Despite the many sculpting mishaps, this dragon turned out to be a masterpiece of precision and chaos. Whether it’s guarding treasure, terrorizing villages, or just looking majestic, it’s got presence, power, and a whole lot of carefully placed scales.

For more dragon scale techniques, check out this tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5xVd3OMvnM

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[moogaloonie]

This looks great! Unfortunately, I still can never tell when you are posting images made in Curvy and when you are posting Curvy models rendered in blender. I know you were working on a new material system and lighting rigs, but have not noticed any new beta releases.
I can see Curvy's potential for making base meshes for refinement elsewhere, but always liked the idea of Curvy becoming something like Deluxe Paint for 3D... A program for making 2D game art, icons, etc. without need for another program. Every 3D program now tries to fit into a pipeline of some sort, there aren't many 3D programs designed for beginning to end illustration. zBrush comes to mind of course, but it's also expensive and has a steep learning curve due to having had so many things shoehorned into it.

[Simon]

This one was a Layered Screenshot directly from Curvy, then mixing the ambient occlusion layer with the plain render. Using Curvy's regular lightmaps (matcaps).

I agree with the 3D tool to make 2D graphics, I added a set of isometric views to help in that regard.