[Wookie]

311,
I have no other "magic" methods besides the ones you've described; however, I do have a suggestion which is a variant of the second method. Instead of doing a grey wash base paint the area grey (or whatever is the darkest color you're using for that area.) Then do a heavy drybrush of your medium color and then highlight with your lightest color (obviously white.) A dark wash on a light color will make it look "dirty" so IMO your best bet is to build up from your darkest color to your lightest color. May I suggest using something other than grey as your darkest color? I wouldn't use grey because there isn't much choice of a medium color between grey and white. You really need at least 3 shades of a color IMO for a good transition of dark to light. I would use colors something like this:

Example #1:
dark color = shadow grey
medium color = codex grey
light color = skull white

Example #2:
dark color = bronze flesh
medium color = bleached bone
light color = skull white

Example #3:
dark color = regal blue
medium color = ice blue
light color = skull white

Hope I've helped out.

Sincerely,

The Wookie