Nickel Chrome Plating Pewter: Smart, Practical Steps

Summary for nickel chrome plating pewter Discussion

Nickel-chrome plating of pewter toys is discussed as a fairly involved process, and the replies suggest first deciding whether true plating is really needed. Johannes Potgieter asked how to replate Dinky and Corgi toy parts such as bumpers and grills, including how to remove old plating. Raafat Albendary explained that the substrate is mainly silica and said old chrome can be removed with HCl, then nickel and copper with HNO3. For new plating, he outlined a sequence of etching with HF and HNO3, activation with Pd or Ag, electroless nickel or copper, and then electroplating with acid copper-nickel-chrome. A second reply agreed that Raafat gave the general steps, but cautioned that real nickel-chrome plating is an intense industrial process and suggested that a good chrome-look paint might be sufficient instead.