Can we see a ref of your sona? Working on a suit on a budget myself so I'd love to help out ^^

Oh man i can't any pics right now because i had my stuff reassorted when i was installing a new OS, but I'm sure that I'll upload it on my FA
the head design tho is kind of visible in my FA icon owo

Currently working on a dragon myself, I got a resin dino blank from  crystumes and modded it with apoxie sculpt.
Gonna paint it either today or tomorrow so it can be worn as a half mask (with a hoodie)
For the hands I'm gonna use some regular latex gloves as a base, add thin foam pieces for the scales + claws, and mix some liquid latex with paint to coat that with the color I want.
Tail will be carved from foam and the same colored latex coating method will be used.

Most expensive part was getting the resin blank (for your character you may be able to find something here http://www.missmonster.com/),
but asides from that the only big expenses left is apoxie sculpt, liquid latex and paint.
Other stuff you can find in most hobby stores or in supermarkets pretty cheaply.

I personnaly use foam and cut short fur to make it look like scales. Of course the technique works better if you want a toony appareance. No i don't have an example of scalies design in my gllery my main fursuit is a...erm thing.