3D Metal Millennium Falcon Model

I got my husband a 3D metal model pirate ship last year and loved how it turned out.  Well, for Christmas he got a few more of these metal puzzles, and here's the Millennium Falcon.  The pieces fit together using tiny tabs that go into slots and must be either folded over or twisted.  My husband found the tabs hard to manipulate (for fear of breaking them and due to curves, etc.) so I got to make this one for him.  :D

Here's the 2 metal sheets the pieces come in with the instructions and the top of the ship partially done.

And here's the completed model.  It looks really cool.  The company did a great job of etching the metal so the finished ship has a lot of detail. 

The tabs are a bit hard to manipulate (sometimes one tab won't fit while all the others are in and it's hard to coax it into its hole without popping the others out), and doing curves was kind of tough.  The model itself took somewhere around 2 hours to complete, but once I got the hang of it, it was a lot of fun.  My only real complaint was that using pliers to bend the tabs down scuffed the metal plates, which looks fine on the Millennium Falcon (as it's supposed to be a beat up ship), but wouldn't look so great on some of the other models they produce.

The same company does some Star Trek models too.  I'm thinking of asking for the U.S.S Enterprise for Christmas this year.