The dragon tail is giving me some problems

Here's how my dragon's tail started out: 

I like the spiny back of the beast, but not the spiny tail.  For me the best way to deal with a situation like this is to leave the project for a day or so and then come back to it.  So I did, and I quickly realised what I didn't like about the original tail.  It's too irregular and too asymmetrical, and all those spines are just a bit much.  So I pulled out a lot of the spines and cut some of them down, and replaced the ones I pulled out with smaller nodules like the ones I used on the back of the neck.  Much better!

I think I will put a single long spine on the tip of the tail.

 

Why are some of the spines brown?  Well, that's because I sped up the drying process by putting them in the bottom of the oven while I baked some bread.  They're a little burnt because the temperature I use for bread is really a bit hot for paper mache.