" ...boolean but the thing is, i'm not a NURBS yoda and..." Don't worry Yoda doesn't know how to work with NURBS either, I have heard he is quite good with a lightsaber though. but that could be an unconfirmed rumour of some tabloid no doubt :p . I would do what Gect suggested , metal is mostly shading and for textures you could use procedural 3d textures, in case your uv's are screwed up.