My brother-in-law, a fine gent, was waiting in line in a museum gift shop when he saw a rack of Metal Earth kits. For the benefit of those who don't know - Metal Earth is a Chinese company that produces little model kits made entirely from photo-etch stainless steel. They fit together with tabs and slots (no adhesive necessary - supposedly).
My brother-in-law picked up the Black Pearl, and gave it to my wife to give to me.
When I first looked at the two little sheets of metal I noticed two things: the quality of the etching was superb, and the people who designed the kit had no idea what a Western sailing ship looked like. I told my wife that it would take me an hour, or at the most two, to put it together, so she could snap a picture of it with her phone and send it to her brother. Big mistake on my part.
About four hours later I had almost gotten the masts together and mounted to the deck. (That's step one in the instructions.) The instructions say that a small pair of pliers will be "helpful." That's the understatement of the century. I had to use the smallest needle-nose pliers I've got (from the jewelery department at Michael's), to bend those infernal little locator tabs - most of which measure about 1/64" x 1/32". And getting them into the slots (which are just barely big enough) required a magnifying lamp, two other lamps for additional light, and a string of memorable cuss words. (The problem, of course, was my failing eyesight. I think I could have done the job with no magnification - thirty years ago.) I managed to break a couple of the tabs off, and had to resort to CA adhesive.
After two sessions of about four hours each I finally got the thing together. My wife was ecstatic with the result; she sent some pictures of it to her brother, who said he was glad I'd had so much fun with it. Hah.
No, I'm not going to post a photo of it. But here's a link to the manufacturer's completed version, which looks just like mine:
https://www.google.com/search?q=metal+world+models&biw=1324&bih=898&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=EIQEVcHWGImWNoqSgYgI&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg#imgdii=_&imgrc=WxXr1WlqD_vXUM%253A%3B14a50ILeji5jpM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fhz00.i.aliimg.com%252Fimg%252Fpb%252F710%252F825%252F213%252F1213825710_873.jpg%253Fsize%253D86791%2526height%253D750%2526width%253D750%2526hash%253Dff37e1a47fd1f0955ed4c1866ca7ab11%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.aliexpress.com%252Fstore%252Fproduct%252F2014-hot-latest-Build-Metal-3D-Models-Metallic-Nano-Puzzle-simulation-model-educational-toy-Corsair%252F1180829_1767781650.html%3B750%3B750
What the dealers don't tell you is the size of the finished model: overall length, bowsprit to stern - 4 1/4". Folks, that's small. And don't ask me who got the notion that sails look like cheese graters.
A day or so after I finished this imposing project, I paid a visit to the local Barnes and Noble. There, in all its glory, was a rack of Metal Earth kits. They were packaged in fancy white boxes (mine was in a simple black envelope); the Black Pearl comes in a box that would easily hold a model twice as big as mine came out. Does the company make two different Black Pearls in different scales? I don't know; none of the kits at B&N offered any hint of the finished model size. There were all sorts of subjects: aircraft, buildings, bridges, the Titanic, a Ferris wheel, insects, and one that did catch my attention: a box of three WWII tanks: a Sherman, a Tiger, and a T-34. I figure that if one is determined to build a model entirely out of photo-etched metal, a tank would be a good choice. But no hint of how big they'd be. At $25 for the box, I passed.
A Forum search on "Metal Earth" brought up quite a number of posts from folks who have really gotten into this line. They have my profound respect.
This story has two morals. One - if you're thinking about building a kit from Metal Earth, be aware that you're embarking on a time-consuming and challenging project. (And if you don't have good, young, closeup eyesight - forget it.) Two - beware of well-meaning inlaws.