I completed a study in photoshop of a brass roman officer helmet. The reference image on the right was obtained from the website Wulflund. There site had some really great high resolution images of their products. They offer a range of items from ancient and medieval times. If your into re-enactment they have got a lot of really good looking kit.
This was a study to practice rendering materials. This was the first time I had tried to make an image approaching photo realism. This image took between 10-12 hours over a few days. It seems edge control was the key to creating the illusion. It is 29 X 29 cm but only at 72 dpi. The 72 dpi was a rooky mistake. It should have probably been 300 dpi.
The lower resolution made representing the small details to a high finish not possible.
I guess I learned something which was the whole point of the exercise.