Electroplating 3D Prints | Color Metal

Let me show you how to create beautiful authentic props, like this #pokemon pokéball by #electroplating and coloring the metal of your 3d prints. #3dprinting and metal plating combined will create convincing objects for you prop collection or the next comic con. #cosplay
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If you like the stuff that I'm doing you can buy me a coffee:
www.buymeacoffee.com/hen3drik
This is the stuff I used for electroforming/electroplating in this video.
Chemicals for the prints:
🛒 Copper Anode: amzn.to/42XdwZS *
🛒 Bright Copper Electrolyte: amzn.to/3zk2S1F *
🛒 GRAPHIT Paint amzn.to/3YtPZhD *
🛒 Gold Electrolyte amzn.to/44NNwRp *
🛒 Palladium Electrolyte amzn.to/3DDr8hD *
Optional:
🛒 Conductive Copper Paint amzn.to/47cpbpR *
🛒 Galvanic Degreaser amzn.to/3rV4v5r *
I used this printer:
🛒 ELEGOO Saturn 2 8K amzn.to/44Js3Ja *
(*) These links are affiliate links. From time to time, I recommend products I know well and use, and, as a result, I may receive a commision if you purchase them using the affiliate link. Puchasig from affiliate links is at no extra cost to you.
▶ Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:28 Creating the 3D Print
00:50 3D printed Golden Pokéball preparation
01:43 Electroplating golden pokéball
04:37 Polishing electroplated copper
05:05 Nickel golden pokéball
06:15 Gold plating pokéball
07:50 Coloring electrolated 3D prints
08:32 Assembly of the pokéball
08:50 Results
▶ For the galvanic bath:
* a container
* acidic copper electrolyte
* nickel or palladium electrolyte
* one or two copper anodes
* one nickel anode
* banana plug & alligator clips
▶ You may need:
* Degreaser
* Distilled water
* galvanic brush + pen
Have fun. Try it. 🧡
▶ Pokéball by intentional3d
www.thingiverse.com/thing:411193

[@bkobinger]

"It is super simple!" Proceed to crafting the next rocketship who will lead us to mars.

[@Broeckchen]

That's engineery brains for ya haha

[@bett0diaz]

Please help Thomas Sanladerer with his electroplating efforts! hahah

[@RobinGerritsen1995]

My first thought also😅

[@NielsNL68]

I second this 😂

[@jesperskovjuul2170]

That is just stunning work! Could you be pursuaded to do a "this is what you need to get started"-video with all the solutions and anodes for plating various metals and settings for the powersupply etc.? 🤞 Looking forward to watching the rest of your videos :)

[@minibigs5259]

I've just learned that in book binding, gold guilding is laid over the top of red. Never white, so as to make it stand out. I think that's worth exploring in your next attempts 😃

[@DarkTrapStudio]

Make sense cause the red is the highest in vibration of the color spectrum ! thanks for sharing

[@1337fraggzb00N]

Interesting!

[@Darnetal57]

Just wanted to leave a quick comment to thank you for your guidance. I gave electroplating my first try a few days ago following the process you documented in your videos, and even though I still haven't cracked the secret to the ridiculously mirror-y finish you achieve, my first piece came out gorgeous. So thank you for your work, it's a whole world of metal parts that just opened to me!

[@richardkirkland6805]

The gold electroplate would be a cool idea for the GS Ball, so named because it's gold and silver colored, and has "GS" etched into the top hemisphere where the M was on the master ball

[@kspec2001]

amazing as always. I appreciate the efforts you go to to talk about proper PPE! "its all fun and games til you lose an eye" was a phrase i remember from the 80s/90s and its still valid today lol

[@Londrino]

Incredible results, I can only imagine how awesome it must be to see and hold them in person

[@hsd0971]

Amazing work as always! I always look forward to your videos. And most of all, THANK YOU for sharing your techniques with everyone!

[@fpham8004]

Way better results than i would ever imagine you can do at home.

[@hen3drik]

That’s what I’m thinking every time I do this 😉

[@fpham8004]

@@hen3drik Well, as an engineer myself, total kudos for perfecting the workflow. I can't imagine better results even in industrial settings.

[@flavacreations]

Ive done this with melted aluminum then nickel plated. Never knew you could do 3d printed stuff. Great job you just got yourself another subscriber 👍

[@skyrider4789]

Thanks for the words of encouragement at the end. I will finally be getting my materials together later this month to execute what I've learned from this and your other videos. Many thanks! 🙏🙏🙏

[@akeuc5770]

Blimey you did really well🎉 looks incredible

[@_donny_9473]

totally blown away this was possible and definitely want to try it out!

[@SuperMakeSomething]

Wow! Just beautiful! 🤩

[@aprintedworld]

I’m so glad I stumbled on your channel. I never thought of taking post processing to this level.

[@Michelincat7034]

this is art itself... respect you bro

[@stevrgrs]

That looks legit !

[@Leofraga172]

Amazing, wonderful, unbelievable, love it!

[@christianaquino5230]

now this is the type of 3d printing that I like to see

[@viktormyslikovjan5938]

Really nice

[@Stroobants-solutions]

I'm just getting started with electroplating. Thanks to your channel 😊

[@balua9]

Perfect timing on the subscribe reminder - right as I was thinking “thats pretty cool” - ‘Subscribe’ - “yeah, he earned it”.

[@Miketz]

Your electroplating results are getting pretty impressive, although have you considered using your transparent black acrylic for the black bits? Or even blackening nickel? I am interested in the "micrographite" results, although I suspect there won't be much difference unless there is an increased amount of graphene in it. Have you experimented with carbon nanotubes in the graphite mix?

[@gambitshvarev380]

Beautiful job man. So shiny ✨

[@rikkisharma2128]

Danke vielmals!!... for all this great info.

[@mofoeugen]

Bruh, you got me... Hook, line and sinker!

[@user-tf1oo9rj6u]

Electro-de-greasing is a new one for me. I wish I knew about that back when I was making jewelry. I would make them out of brass, but then silverplate. My biggest issue was trying to get the polishing compound off without losing the polished uncorroded surface.

[@leungkaho1728]

Wo~~~Amazing work

[@bornstellarnova1991]

I've always wanted to see a GS Pokeball in real life and you've made it possible, well at least the closest thing that we'll ever get to a real Pokeball. Thank you for your masterpieces! ❤❤

[@Streetduck]

Wieder mal eine schöne Arbeit von Dir ... 👍👍👍

[@jrbarker7362]

Amazing. I think this will be the first electroplating project I attempt. Simply because the surface is easy to sand and polish lol

[@computer1up]

Imagine making Christmas ornaments like this 😮

[@briant444]

very nice, thx for the info

[@evFPV]

Wow! It looks veeeery easy!!! LOL

[@dennisdecoene]

Amazing results❤

[@bruceyoung1343]

You are a craftsman. I hope to get into electroplating. ❤

[@zachhainline1601]

What a bunch of work... looks great though!

[@skyty0]

You GOTTA etch a little emblem on the gold one and make the GS ball from the anime

[@SlotHits777]

looks great!

[@NeilGates]

If you use “dry graphite lubricant” spray from Home Depot you don’t need an air brush. The results are excellent as it’s made with alcohol. It’s all I use and haven’t had any problems. You can let it air dry to let it thicken to paint in areas that you don’t want to wide spray.

[@rossanadehache165]

This sooo cool!

[@ExE-Merc]

wow Amazing

[@karolgolden231]

You make such a great things man!

[@TheExtremeElementz]

I am in awe on how beautiful those Pokeballs look and you’d never know they were printed on an FDM printer. Amazing work and thank you for the brief tutorial.

[@Hadji-sw3ct]

You are amazing, congratulations !

[@diyfireking]

This looks so cool 😊😊

[@gstatz9062]

Gut gemacht!

[@Shypooper]

I freaking love this channel!

[@user-lx9jm1wo3h]

9:43 You should make a floating magnetic stand so the pokeball floats and rotates.

[@NOXFPV]

Liked and subbed.

[@kurtlindner]

Your content only gets better.

[@rob612]

I love your new video and the finishing,, i an super impressed, i was actually talking to uncle jessy in a live stream about your videos as well i hope you make more super prints and plating videos i love your work ps i bought my own plating kit because of your videos so thank you so much HEN3DRICK

[@hen3drik]

Thank you for your kind words!

[@rob612]

@@hen3drik No thank you for your work and time and Inspiration

[@samykamkar]

Great vid!

[@3dhelpdesk]

this is incredible.

[@JeffRumburg-MSF-CEF]

Great video, love that you stress health and safety during plating.

[@hen3drik]

Cannot stress enough!

[@DerGreve]

Das ist genial!

[@gpoleze]

Really cool stuff.

[@hen3drik]

Thank you.

[@Snigzou]

Really beautiful results, I admire your patience. Maybe you could try doing it on ABS, and skip all the conductive paint thingy to get a perfect first conductive layer using electroless palladium deposition? That's how most plastics get their metallic shine ! I like this method as it's less labor intensive haha, you let the chemistry work its magic.

[@hen3drik]

Yes, ABS Dotierung is super cool. I actually did some research about that but it very hard to get the chemicals and since I just want to do simple diy tutorials i think it‘s a bit over the top.

[@Spirited282]

Another great video, i really enjoy these

[@hen3drik]

Thank you!

[@remotelycontrolable]

wow! nice!

[@Caleb-fm2fq]

That red looks amazing, even through the camera. Really enjoying the content and looking to try it out for myself one day. Tschüss!

[@hen3drik]

Merci!

[@Gavosh1977]

Very interesting, I have been wanting to make a few props with my 3D printer, but elecro-plating frightened me off, I am going to watch the video again and try it, thank you

[@derekcjain]

Every project you’ve done has been a work of art

[@hen3drik]

Thank you, I appreciate that! 😇

[@andreasthaler7068]

Sehr cool! Tipp zur Oxidation von Kupfer ... Ich tauche die Werkstücke nach dem Galvanisieren kurz in eine Ascorbinsäurelösung. Ist eben sanft reduzierend.

[@plasmamac]

Super 👍 gemacht

[@johnynzunza584]

True alchemist!

[@bigpoke]

Thank you for this. Could find any answers online besides here!

[@sircaptain8358]

Absolutely incredible! I also had no idea you could paint acrylic on metal like that and it still shine. I wonder if this could also be a good way to get a cheaper gold metal look by just using acrylic over nickel? Can’t wait to start my journey into electroplating soon :)

[@AlfonsoCarvallo]

What he's doing here is called a Candy Coat. It has been used in cars for ages, basically means: Silver or Chrome background with clear coats of any particular clear color on top, usually acrylic for hobby projects. Tamiya and Vallejo have both Clear colors in their range for this kind of applications. It's also super common to use either Alclad or Gaianotes chromes for the background layer as well, instead of doing Electroplating, which takes ages and it's hazardous as a process, at least more hazardous than enamel or lacquer paints.

[@sircaptain8358]

@@AlfonsoCarvallo Interesting! For acrylic is it specifically a ‘clear’ coat version of a colour or just a regular colour sprayed thinly?

[@shinichi10]

@@sircaptain8358 Tamiya sells small hobby sized bottles specifically of tinted clear colors. Ex. Clear Red, Clear Green, Clear blue. In this video he uses tamiya's clear red paint thinned down for airbrush

[@smotardo6504]

@@AlfonsoCarvallo Thanks for explaining :) So you would not recommand this for example for Mando helmet or chest plate etc? Could be result a disaster?

[@somekid1302]

@@shinichi10 is it ok to use Tamiya clear over metal?

[@yurycz8933]

👍Wow, exselent

[@LuisCederborgDesign]

At 6:19 I thought you had a baggie with a pipe and some bud 😅😂 Great video and amazing job with the pokeballs! 🔥🔥🔥

[@agepbiz]

So shiny! 🌟

[@kurtlindner]

One day... a tiny shiny plane in an egg, or shiny giant generic-building-block-not-associated-with-LEGO parrot?

[@agepbiz]

@@kurtlindner He did make me a gold mig-23 egg a few years ago and it is the coolest gift I have ever received 😊

[@RamoArt]

Very cool! If I had the supplies to do this I think I'd turn everything into silver jewelry. Imagine a cool lego brick or something in shiny silver.

[@t.holzenhauer7097]

Ich finde den Prozess großartig. Vor wenigen Monaten habe ich mein Mandalorian Kostüm vervollständigt und ich bin tatsächlich geneigt das ganze nochmal zu machen und Stück für Stück die Rüstungsteile auszutauschen gegen welche mit Electroplating. Vor allem bei Cosplay mit schichtdicke ist das von Vorteil. Man kann diese wohl sehr dünn halten ohne Füllung mit nur wenigen Wänden stärke beim 3D Druck. Glasfaser innen und Elektroplating außen geben die nötige Stärke.

[@hen3drik]

Toi Toi Toi! 🙂

[@danielresurreccion6341]

That electroplated red color should be used in the next live action movie

[@child_of_God316]

The way you talk and the way you formulate your plans I can tell you definitely have pretty high IQ🎉

[@TheOrganicOverdose]

Geil! Sieht gut aus! Ich versuche einfach Molotow Chrome Farbe zu benutzen, aber diese ist eine tolle Idee. Nächstes Experiment!

[@jangrewe]

Kaffelo? Cufalow? Oh, "Car Filler", as in Primer Filler Spray for Cars ... took me a minute ;-)

[@hen3drik]

Autokarosseriespachtelmasse :-)

[@gunnerroo6514]

I'm into custom Halo figures and the visors for the helmets are typically chrome plated from the factory but customs are usually hand painted. This would be a game changer if somebody's willing to go through the carcinogenic process of making them. My brain says yes but my body says no because there's too many chemicals involved but ay thanks for the video, it was informative and entertaining.

[@justthisguy]

Awesome! That metallic red would be perfect for an iron man helmet!

[@christianklassig8009]

Absolut geil! hätte ich das geld und den platz für diese sachen wäre ich das ganze wochenende nur noch damit beschäftigt

[@user-xi3pr9ik1y]

Very Good

[@pkmnvalley]

Magnifique 🤩

[@JudgeNLN]

As much as I love the result, the beginning line about why you like FDM over Resin (that "They're ready as soon as they come off the bed") is kind-of killed by the *entire* rest of the video. Sanding them down to remove layer lines takes probably 15-20 minutes, minimum (when you're doing the steps you listed), while Resin can be cleaned-up and cured in 10% of that time basically automatically (since many people use a Wash & Cure station of some kind that does it all for you). I love my FDM printer, but I also absolutely love the Resin printer for many things. They both serve a purpose.

[@aosterkamp]

Freakin awesome

[@avenuex3731]

2:58 electroforming is when the metal deposited is removed from the substrate.

[@Anim8ionManiac]

cool vid

[@uhrmann42]

beeindruckend!

[@chucknavarromark]

I use the same micro graphite in a mix with UHU HART and acetone (roughly 30/10/60) which worked best for me so far. Starting with 0,2V and ramping it up to 0,7V as soon an area of around 2cm in diameter is covered with copper. I had several issues with the copper paint. It clogged my airbrush quickly, then first it was too conductive so I had very low copper deposition in recessed areas and once the jar was opened and the painting exposed to the air it totally lost its conductivity after a couple of months. So i guess it has a limited shelf life once opened.

[@abhishekmsful]

9:38 'soon there will be something very big again'. Watching this video in the toilet. This words strikes in a very different level😂😂

[@deetoxvengeance]

Dieses "Moin" gefolgt von einem komplett englischen Video war wunderbar. Sieht nice aus, nebenbei!

[@alainga3883]

Is there an alternative for the tifoo electrolyte? Here in Mexico is very hard to find or very expensive.

[@tengkusulaiman]

Hi boss. Thanks for the tips. I plan to replate my bike parts. I think it was direct steel to nickel plate. Poor factory job maybe to save cost. I will double plate with cooper then nickel.

[@teckleongwong3912]

so complicated but really looks good.

[@EricPham-gr8pg]

Liquid metal dipping is cheap too but electroplating less metal need

[@matthewsinclair8751]

Thank you so much for making these tutorials. I love your videos and your channel. I am going to start electroplating my own 3d prints and I would love to know more about the voltage meter that you use as well as the wand for applying the secondary chemicals. Also can the copper electrolyte be reused? I would love to know more about the electroplating part of the process. Thank you!

[@hen3drik]

Thank you, for the power supply: any power supply that does support constant current will do the job (min 5A). The wand is just an anode with a nonwoven. The copper electrolyte regenerates by the anodes, so yeah, this is actually my first electrolyte. Still kicking.

[@matthewsinclair8751]

@@hen3drik Thank you so much Hen3drik! It meant alot that you took the time. I hope to make prints as nice and clean as yours.

[@Sweetandsourman]

These are inspiring, and I’m looking to do this for cosplay soon! Something that I’m wanting to mitigate is the effect on nickel on the skin. Have you explored protective layers (for both the metal and the skin) like nickel guard?

[@hen3drik]

Great! Use palladium instead of nickel. I don’t know how good Nickel guard works.

[@cheeeeezewizzz]

layer of a metal protectant might work as well.

[@joshclark44]

You should have done black metallic finish for the trim. That would be sick

[@sophiebelle6555]

Awesome stuff! I saw your last video using graphite spray paint and was wondering how long after you sprayed the stuff on did you polish it? As I have followed your steps and am using the same stuff you are, but when I try to polish it just seems to come off slowly. Thanks again 😊

[@hen3drik]

I just give it a quick polish by hand or around 1 hr in the tumbler. Not sure why it comes off. Reduce polishing time 🙂

[@americancolor2]

🔥🔥🔥