This paper briefly describes the current physical model of metallic structure and bonding. An alternative model is introduced. It shows that the new model, which calculated internuclear distances of Group 1 and Group 2 crystalline binary salts to a remarkable degree of accuracy, can be applied to calculate metallic radii (equal to half the internuclear distances) of Group 1 and Group 2 metals precisely. A simple expression previously used to calculate lattice energies using the soft-sphere radii concept is applied to calculate enthalpies of formation of Group 1 and Group 2 metal ions and results compare well with observed values. A few of the limitations of the current models are described and properties of metals which can be accounted for by the soft-sphere model are discussed. The work functions of Group 1 and Group 2 metals are shown to be inverse functions of the soft sphere ionic radii
