Creating wings for my Steampunk Pirate Cat sculpture

At first I wasn't sure if I was going to make wings for this piece, or how I would make them, but lately I've been quite inspired by Christi Friesen (who does Steampunk really well), and I had a flash of inspiration.  In my mind's eye I saw wings (sort of like angel wings) with metallic feathers.  My Pirate Cat could strap these wings on and fly not only anywhere, but any TIME.  I'm going to give him a time traveling watch as well.  Of course I had to go all out on these wings and sculpt and texture each feather individually.  This is the start of the wings.
 
I used a wire armature covered in clay and added clay wing shapes over the frame.  This will give me a base to attach the feathers too.  As you can see, I have several different colors of Pearl Ex powders and I used a soft paint brush to dust color onto each textured feather.  Christi Friesen's Gotta Have It tool worked perfectly for adding texture to the feathers, which I cut out with a clay cutter, then shaped by hand.  By the time I was done with one side I had cut and shaped HUNDREDS of feathers!  I think the effort was worth it to achieve this effect.
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The picture really doesn't do it justice, but gives you an idea of how shiny and detailed the wings are.  I'm working on the other side now that this side is baked.  I believe I'll sculpt the polymer clay harness onto the cat and bake it, then attach the wings with glue.  I don't think I want to try attaching them and baking the whole thing together- too much risk for breakage.  I'm nearing the finish line an this project, and I'm so glad you've all shared the journey with me!  Stay tuned to see the final results of all this work! ;-)
-Michelle of CreativeCritters