Scale Mail - 5 Different Types

These are 5 different types of scales for making scale mail or some other decorative project. You can sew them onto fabric or knit/crochet them in.
I have crocheted with these and each scale takes up 4 stitches of space with a 4mm hook.

Scale01.stl: This one was designed to be printed upright, without supports. I have found that PLA warps around the holes during printing, causing the scales to fall over or snap. You may be able to reduce failures by carefully adjusting the nozzle temperature.

Scale02.stl: This is a plain and simple flat scale that can print flat on the print bed.

Scale03.stl: This scale prints flat but has a more angled/curved 3 dimensional shape than Scale02.

Scale04.stl: This scale prints flat and has a ridge allowing you to fold it and glue it into shape, giving it an angled shape. Since the front face of the scale can be printed flat, you can print this scale, front face down, on a textured print bed to give your scales an interesting look. The one in the picture has been printed on a holographic print bed.

Scale05.stl: This scale is leaf shaped. I printed them front face up. It can be folded, just like Scale04. The veins are indented, so you can paint in the grooves to make them stand out more.

24.9.2025: I've added extra versions of scales 4 and 5 (Scale04Thicker.stl and Scale05Thicker.stl). If anybody has had problems with the original versions snapping in half too easily, the bendable part of these scales is now thicker and hopefully more durable. I've found that the shiny PLAs are generally more forgiving when it comes to bending when compared to most other PLAs.