Not a fan of the leather wrap on the handle as is. I'd find a different reference-even if it is accurate. The pattern is odd. As far as the texture of the wrap, it's too clean compared to the beat up sword. Other than that this is looking quite nice.
Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it! I gave this another try to see if I could get some improvement. Went with more of a traditional wrap and tried to paint in the areas where the hands would be gripping most.
I wasn't really happy with the updated handle. The two different types of leather were reading too similar, so I went back in and adjusted my maps to break them up a bit more and give the wrap piece some wear. Let me know what you think!
Looking good! I like the subtle imperfections on the blade, it really reads as steel. The handle could use some more definition. I've seen sword handles that are in sort of a leather sleeve, the way yours is now, but I think if you made it look like it's wrapped, it would really put this over the top. Nice work!
I would recommend going back to the highpoly and cleaning it up. The edges are way to sharp. Also the diffuse for you metals is too bright. Metal has almost no diffuse information at all. It should be mostly black with all information coming from the spec. The handle could use some work as well. It looks like flat colors…