I'm working on my hand painted textures and thought I'd start with this sword, first rendition of this thing looked like crap, this one looks a lot better but still needs some work, crits and tips welcome, still learning hand painting techniques
I agree with the color scheme needing some work. One other thing though is that you could use more contrast / dark areas. It also feels like the details on the surface are a bit wobbly.
Gradients are great and all, but I think you should go back and try to better define your materials. The textures and the model aren't matching up in terms of what you're describing. For instance, you have this lattice work on the handle, but looking at the silhouette of the model the bumps aren't lining up with the…