also this is from reddit so take it with a grain of salt but heres what someone said about the color problem, "If you want an aluminium appearance, I would recommend plating with tin, indium, silver or zinc which are pretty easy to plate with."
Very interesting. I wonder about surface prep for maintaining adhesion - perhaps a fine sanding before painting may help the conductive layer better. Also, in terms of the finish, it has been my experience with electroplating that pH plays a role in how rough a finish it gives. Lower pH tends to give shinier brighter surfaces.
It has been many years since I've looked into electrochemistry. Here are some of my thoughts. Take them with a handful of copper sulphate, I mean salt, metaphorically speaking. In order to ensure that you have a more uniform solution concentration (so that submersion depth becomes less relevant) you might be able to use a fluid pump that does not allow the solution to contact the pump mechanism (something like a peristaltic pump or a diaphragm pump) in order to recirculate the solution. Another concern would be electrode placement. there may be different deposition rates depending on the distance between the copper electrode and various points on the model. Some kind of copper coil around the perimeter Surface texture, as you noted, can cause issues. Rough surfaces tend to plate well on the outermost points of the surface, but plate worse on the innermost points of the surface (pits, grooves, etc). Electrolytic decomposition of water on the electrode surfaces can also interfere with the plating as the bubbles will prevent plating. Another benefit to recirculation is that the recirculation can help to dislodge larger bubbles. I am not sure how something like a magnetic stir plate and stir bar (instead of a recirculation pump) would affect the solution, but it might be worth investigating nevertheless, especially if it's a heated stir plate, since you would be able to control the temperature of the solution. I am not sure whether using a warm solution (that can hold less dissolved gasses) would compare to a cold solution (that can hold more dissolved gasses). What kind of plastics are your models made out of? Certain plastics are more or less amenable to direct electroplating. You might need to start with something like a graphite layer, then a nickle layer, then a copper layer. You might consider types of conductive paint used for electroforming. Chemical vapour deposition is also a potential route, though it can requires some expensive and specialized supplies.
so, even if successful, while it would be cool to display at home, if you were to take the finished model to a competition, would it be disallowed because of the layer of real metal? Would they consider it a die cast at that point? I ask because I've never entered a model into a competition, let alone even been able to attend a show, but it would seem that modification of a kit to that extreme would make it a different animal altogether.
I like the 'idea' of the electroplated surfaces, though it seems the repeatability is just not there. Painting is obviously easier and repeatable. That considered, there are many paint companies researching how to better achieve a metallic reflective aluminum surface saving you both time and money. I do applaud your tenacity.
i see where you are coming from. However, as long as you can dial in the best method (i.e. Solution mixture, time per part, metallic paint, ect.), electroplating is a highly repeatable process. a lot of things you see every day are electroplated and I've seen plenty of applications for electroplated plastic including rocket engines by a channel named Integza. Furthermore, if you want a metallic feel i dont know of any ways to do that other than maybe glazing and you cant do that to plastic as far as im aware.
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Seeing all the variables is pretty cool. I want to see more of the test spoons and explanations.
Amazing work 👍👍
keep up the effort this is really cool and I've never seen electroplating applied to model making.
also this is from reddit so take it with a grain of salt but heres what someone said about the color problem, "If you want an aluminium appearance, I would recommend plating with tin, indium, silver or zinc which are pretty easy to plate with."
you could also try Chemical Vapour Deposition to plate with actual aluminum but from what im reading that is hard to set up and rather finicky
That would be the way for sure
Very interesting. I wonder about surface prep for maintaining adhesion - perhaps a fine sanding before painting may help the conductive layer better. Also, in terms of the finish, it has been my experience with electroplating that pH plays a role in how rough a finish it gives. Lower pH tends to give shinier brighter surfaces.
Ph might be part of the equation. I have a feeling that it has to do with the paint dissolving in the acid. Might need more cute time
It has been many years since I've looked into electrochemistry.
Here are some of my thoughts. Take them with a handful of copper sulphate, I mean salt, metaphorically speaking.
In order to ensure that you have a more uniform solution concentration (so that submersion depth becomes less relevant) you might be able to use a fluid pump that does not allow the solution to contact the pump mechanism (something like a peristaltic pump or a diaphragm pump) in order to recirculate the solution.
Another concern would be electrode placement. there may be different deposition rates depending on the distance between the copper electrode and various points on the model. Some kind of copper coil around the perimeter
Surface texture, as you noted, can cause issues. Rough surfaces tend to plate well on the outermost points of the surface, but plate worse on the innermost points of the surface (pits, grooves, etc).
Electrolytic decomposition of water on the electrode surfaces can also interfere with the plating as the bubbles will prevent plating. Another benefit to recirculation is that the recirculation can help to dislodge larger bubbles.
I am not sure how something like a magnetic stir plate and stir bar (instead of a recirculation pump) would affect the solution, but it might be worth investigating nevertheless, especially if it's a heated stir plate, since you would be able to control the temperature of the solution.
I am not sure whether using a warm solution (that can hold less dissolved gasses) would compare to a cold solution (that can hold more dissolved gasses).
What kind of plastics are your models made out of? Certain plastics are more or less amenable to direct electroplating. You might need to start with something like a graphite layer, then a nickle layer, then a copper layer.
You might consider types of conductive paint used for electroforming.
Chemical vapour deposition is also a potential route, though it can requires some expensive and specialized supplies.
Oh. You have some conductive copper paint. I was only at about the 6:00 mark when I wrote all of that.
so, even if successful, while it would be cool to display at home, if you were to take the finished model to a competition, would it be disallowed because of the layer of real metal? Would they consider it a die cast at that point? I ask because I've never entered a model into a competition, let alone even been able to attend a show, but it would seem that modification of a kit to that extreme would make it a different animal altogether.
Interesting. Would be curious if someone raises an issue
I like the 'idea' of the electroplated surfaces, though it seems the repeatability is just not there. Painting is obviously easier and repeatable. That considered, there are many paint companies researching how to better achieve a metallic reflective aluminum surface saving you both time and money. I do applaud your tenacity.
i see where you are coming from. However, as long as you can dial in the best method (i.e. Solution mixture, time per part, metallic paint, ect.), electroplating is a highly repeatable process. a lot of things you see every day are electroplated and I've seen plenty of applications for electroplated plastic including rocket engines by a channel named Integza. Furthermore, if you want a metallic feel i dont know of any ways to do that other than maybe glazing and you cant do that to plastic as far as im aware.