chroming plastic

Like a panel for paint, the part to be chrome-plated is cleaned of all paint, chrome or whatever. Chrome is vaguely similar to paint in that conventional mods-like body filler- are used to fill gaps in metal. Once clean, any chips, nicks, cracks or pits are repaired with a filler and sanded smooth, and copper electrodes are glued to pre-drilled holes.

The process of chroming is called electroplating and the bright, reflective finish is achieved by applying several layers of an electrically conductive media to the surface. While an electrical charge is run through the part, the plating only bonds to the pre-treated area.

To have a part, be it in plastic, timber, glass, porcelain, fibreglass or whatever you want chrome-plated, all you need to do is disassemble the parts and get it to the Chrometech guys. They prefer to clean the parts themselves using solvents that won't harm the part or the finish.

The part is given about 3-4 coats of primer which bonds to the base material and allows for 3-4 coats of plating. The part is then copper, nickel and then chrome-plated for a minimum of eight hours to assure a solid coat covers the entire part.