Lighting etc

[Stormtrooper]

I've seen many skins that start dark at the bottom and get progressively lighter as you go up.
Is there a tutorial or perhaps info on how to do this? My attempts have ended up looking like a striped aircraft so far. Very annoying.
TIA
ST

[Serval]

Look at Adlabs baremetal tutorial. The way to work is pretty much the same.
A big brush, gaussian blur (on a brushed or filled area) and transparency of the layer are the most common tricks.
Also: if you are happy with one shade, paint the next one on a new layer so you can adjust with transparency afterward to have them interact just nicely.

[Stormtrooper]

Alrighty thanks.