Hi All,
I’m in no sense of word a master of zbrush was wondering if anyone could help me with modeling good scales for snake?
Thanks for reading
Firstly, I suggest you get some good references. Google is your friend for that sort of thing. Look at them, study them for a bit, then try to recreate them on a plane in zBrush.
Secondly, if you’ve gotten to that stage, try using stencils/textures based off the original images to imprint the detail onto the surface. Standard, inflate, and pinch brushes are your friend for modifying the scales to make them stand out more too.
That’s my two cents worth…from a non-master of zBrush to another non-master of zBrush. 
The Master Elite
Another way is to make an alpha. There are great alphas in the alpha library. All you need to do is download and start. 
The new tilt modifier for brushes was made for this sort of thing in R3. If you aren’t on PC, it still isn’t too hard in 3.2, just experiment on some test meshes and you’ll find a workflow that works. Use the standard brush w/ drag and a scale alpha.
Also, you can read through this post where I helped someone w/ fish scales. I basically created one scale on a plane and then created my alpha from that, rather than a picture. Then you do all the scales on a layer so you can adjust the intensity, etc:
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=77079&highlight=fish+scales
Here’s an early render of the bass I made a while back. The final looks better, but I’m not at work. This technique gives a natural look because you drag on each scale individually, but the tilt brush is at least a thousand times more efficient.
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This is all fantastic guys thanks very i’ll defo post the finished think when i get it finished thanks again
I made my own brush with Maya and Zbrush
Attached is my test brush
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