High Elf Chariot, 96% done

I just have to paint the banner and tidy up around twenty or so obviously flawed areas which I attentionalized via ocular inspection of these images:

As you can see, the rim of the base has been painted and the armour on the Elves have been tidied up somewhat. I can honestly say that gold and bronze are the colours that "challenge" me the most. "Challenge" as in: I have no idea what I'm doing. This is wrong, because I have been listening to podcasts, been reading forums and learnt a tip or two (yes, I have heard about the importance of the base colour below the gold - like light brown being a good basecoat before painting gold etc) so I should be better. Still, it looks not-so-good which made me go the easy, leftist way, settling with: There's something wrong with my paint-pots.