Plating Gold onto Stainless Steel infused with Bronze?

[tcarlson]

I've been playing with 3D printing from a place called Shapeways (shapeways.com). Their metal objects are printed in stainless steel, the result being porous. The objects are then infused with bronze, which fills in the teeny holes. The result isn't an alloy, rather, it's, well, I don't know exactly what to call it.

Anyway, I'd like to try gold plating some of the things I've "printed" using the Plug N' Plate system. But I don't know what kit to use. I don't know if I should etch it due to the stainless steel? Or plate it in nickel first, due to the bronze. Or both? Or neither?

(Shapeways does offer gold-plating. But the printed objects are quite rough without post-processing, which is a service they don't offer. So, it's not an attractive choice for the things I'm printing. I want nice smooth gold.)

One drawback to this material is that you can sand it smooth, but can't really get a shiny finish. Would nickel-plating it first help with that, even if it's not required?

[STAINER88]

Id try copper plating first then nickel and gold