"correct place" for the shine? there's no such thing.  study from life a bit instead of relying on what other people have done.  Newest edit is going backwards IMO - it's getting softer instead of cleaner.

Yeah that looks much better now that the shine is in the correct place.

Sorry, I didn't quite get what your first message meant.

Hope this fixes it up. (and stays realistic enough)

nice wip.           

You still haven't really fixed my critique. You should keep the black at the very bottom, not the middle. And move that shine up!

it helps, but maybe try to use light, too, to define edge.  edges are created when extremes meet, and many people forget that this includes bright lights as well as dark shadows.

Does that fix it a bit?

it's not bad for basic metal shading, but one thing to keep in mind is that if you don't accent edges they become lost in the contrast.

Good colors on this one. My only critique is that shine. It should be on the same level as the hand but it seems to be slightly downward. If you know what I mean.