I have a lil' tip for the scales.
Imagine you've got a sheet of scales, all the same width all the way across the sheet. Now mentally wrap that sheet around a cylinder. The curves at the top and bottom, from your viewpoint, will make that sheet roll over and look gradually flatter as they roll over the top and bottom edges and onto the other side (which you can't see). And as it goes flat like that, those scales appear to look thinner and thinner untill you don't see any more because obviously they start wrapping down the other side of the shape. Hope that's not too confusing.
But anyways. Basically wherever there is a curved edge, the scales get thinner and a bit smaller than the ones nearest your view (in this case, the scales nearest your view are the ones in the middle).
I can quickly sketch something up if you need a visual aid, or there's probably a good example somewhere on Google. I'll take a look and post it back if I can find it.
That picture is -awesome-, by the way.
Edit: Phew, okay, I got it right this time. xD This image should be less confusing than the explanation above.
Note you can also see the black (heavy shadow) areas underneath scales that are flowing back towards you due to perspective.
