model car parts

[Jwalker]

hi all i would like to know what kit to get to chrome plate model car parts? has anyone done this before? how do you chrome plate plastic.i really dont want to buy a big kit thanks wayne

[sswee]

Any non conductive material to be plated must be made conductive. Caswell has several products to do just that. There is someone here plating leaves for jewelry. Most plating of plastics has been automotive related. You can do a search on that or fill out a Caswell pre sales question. I'm sure they will give you a list of everything you would need.

[chrisk]

Ive recently been plating plastic parts with copy chrome.
I use silvaspray in an airbrush to make the parts conductive. DONT BRUSH paint them, they wont plate evenly. The main problem I had initially is connecting the parts as they could not be hung. Also the parts come out dull (im guessing due to the thick nature of the silvaspray which gives a dull, matte finish) and need buffing, might be difficult with small intricate parts. Consider using electroless krome as this will bypass any problems physically connecting parts to a power supply.