Yes, this mesh is modeled using LW. I think you made a good choice switching over to LW, it's a very good 3D software for the price. I spent over a thousand dollars on the software already, and don't feel like upgrading for awhile yet! I render in LW's native render engine, and used Butterfly net render for my now obsolete render farm.
I don't think this thread is the proper place to discuss CGI techniques in detail. Maybe there is a technique section elsewhere? These renders are very simple just to showcase the progress of the mesh. Basically, the lighting effect is achieved by using radiocity. The settings are found on LW Layout by clicking on the Render tab on top, then clicking on the global settings tab from the LHS menu. To create a light source, create a large basic mesh such as a box or sphere, set the luminosity of the inner surface to a high value (0-100 percent), place your model mesh inside the shape, set your camera so that the box or sphere is unseen in the renders, create other light sources as desired for highlighting purposes, and turn off the ambient default lighting.
This a sample of a scene using a cobra mesh I was designing for a kitcar forum using this basic technique. Not that great by other's standards, but got the job done.
