How to model a good plumage

Question

I made several attempts but I can't even do something that looks like the plumage of the helmet in the picture.

I tried the hair's generator and feathers one but I always get bad results, any suggestions?

Answer 1

Fastest way to do this and probably the easiest is:

1) Place a plane and apply an alpha texture like this:

2) Place the rest of the maps (albedo, metalness, etc)

3) With this plane and the alpha map, add some details to the mesh so it's not flat.

4) Position on the main mesh using a replicator or particle or fur system.

Done!