about the light leaking through,would this happen because the light isnt casting shadows? if so,then wouldnt the problem be solved simply by using shadow casting lights.
Before Exporting your Images out of zBrush, set Render to Best. This will Help to avoid Black Seams in Photoshop. Its an old Bug :( and never really solved.
Ok so I'm nearly done with the low poly and shader, just few Normal Edits to solve. Here's the current result: and for fun : Next step will be animation !
Thanks for the surprisingly rapid response you guys. :) Granted, the problem hasn't been solved but I really do appreciate people taking the time to look. pf
Yeah I think that was probably it! It looks much better, thank you! Shininess issue easily solved by adding a skybox, of course (as seen in another reply here).