Wulfamain

I need help on how to create a scaly effect for this piece I'm doing, preferably without having to use plug-ins coz my laptop hates them. Also, the picture I'm drawing has a lot of curves that the scales have to fit to. There's loads of tutorials on here for fur, metal, etc, but I couldn't find one explaining scales. If anyone could give me any tips or advice, that's be great~ ^^ Thanks in advance. - Wulfamain