Sean_OBrien wrote:
BTW - for the tools he lists at the top of the page...

I use brass stock that I shape as needed for those sorts of things. He actually uses bits of leftover sprue. I find it helps to make my triangular (what he calls the "Angler" tool roughly the size and shape of my scaled that way I can just stab up into the GS to refine the shape.

I've probably got a half dozen of them now - and I keep a few pieces of brass on hand in case I need to make a new shape. You can also cut more custom shapes for scales that are not diamond shaped but in the same general design (I have one that I use for making "coin/fish scale" armor for example).

For doing "inset" work like that - I will occasionally work on the flat instead of on the model itself. Keep your sculpting as thin as possible while still being structurally sound. After it has been sculpted and cured - bend it around the object (greaves in the case of the picture). Trim to fit and then sculpt edging as needed. I find that this works faster than having to hand sculpt all the half scales that are around the edges of the armor. To do that though - the putty has to cure flexible. GS works, but many other putties are too rigid to bend without snapping.

Compound curves like the shoulder pads generally still need to be dealt with on the curve - but instead of trying to sculpt the partials - use a sharp knife to trim the access putty to the final shapes. Again - a bit of a change from his tutorial as he recommends sculpting those areas after the bulk has cured...where I tend to be impatient and would rather get it done in one go.