What kind of metal is this antique spanish galleon?  It is wrought and
either soldered or welded, about 15" high x 12" wide x 3" deep.  The
piece weighs about 1.5 lbs.  The metal is soft enough that i can bend
a .5cm section between the fingers of one of my hands.  However,
repeated bending doesn't noticeably weaken the section.  When the
paint is scraped off, the revealed bare metal is pinkish in color. 
The color is similar to that of a U.S. penny with the oxidation
scraped off, but duller than the metal of the penny.

copper ?

It sounds like a copper or copper alloy. Maybe brass. It would be
difficult to tell without seeing. A couple of very easy tests you can
do at home. Stick a small piece in a open flame. If you get a nice
green coloured flame then its copper or copper based. You can also
measure the density of the product and then look it up in a
metallurgical handbook.
Other than that you have to resort to more expensive analytical
techniques such as emission spectrometry which will identify it
exactly.
Hope that helps.