I must agree with you, I think that the white is too bright. But the difference between the two halves of the sword is the right way to go. The top half needs to be transitioned up to a white \"Glare\" point
The Golden sword hilt is looking much better by comparison. It\'s much better than I\'m achieving at the moment.
Take a look at Arkaal\'s pictures, as I\'m sure he has a website which gives a good pictorial guide to NMM.