As the title states, i'm trying to skin a car (my first go) and i want it to look something like pop rivetted sheet metal. I realize that it will need to have rivets (i'm doing them by hand atm, its taking a LONG time lol) But i'm at a loss as to how to make the metal look.....well like unpainted metal. If anyone can give me some quick tips, they'd be much appreciated.

Well you need to fake it really - soft gradient transitions work for that usually. But then it depends on the settings you'd have for the in-game shine and the environmental textures.

There's a tutorial on Master Skinnerz - Clickety

I've also found that adding motion blur with a high 'movement' value can give the effect of a brushed finish.

Here's another post from Master Skinnerz forum, I think you'll need to be registered to view it. It's a pack of photoshop style files made by Al Heeley, I used them a couple of times, some nice metal styles in there. It explains where to put the files in that thread.

Master Skinnerz is the place for all skin tips, tricks and downloads.

Thanks all, very helpful indeedly