How to copper plate a Hot Wheels die cast car at home.

[@drewcifer2a]

When me and my boys do it we is a 6v lantern battery and copper tube. 6v lays it on smoother along with if you agitate the car while plating it eliminates the real ruff copper on the car ( been doing plating since I was 12 own a shop). And I saw someone say do gold. You can get a small gold kit for about $24. And I believe that can is like a zinc phosphors based product. Great video man love seeing others doing this!

[@baremetalHW]

Thanks!! will try that out!

[@lilmelon5400]

baremetalHW You have to restore a r32 or r34 skyline gtr, that'd be SICK!

[@boco-e6s]

can this be done without total ground?

[@randomconsumer4494]

After stumbling into your videos i have found new ways to do things. I'm not really into cars, but the way you restore the small items lends perfectly to what i have been doing. I never even considered copper plate on some of my plastic parts with such extremely cheap items. It would be perfect cuz (they are just going to sit on a shelf) and look cool.

[@GuitardedAndBroke]

I like to put my spray paint cans in the hottest water I can get from my tap for about 10-15 mins to help the paint spray more smoothly for a more even coat. That might help with the thickness of the paint your using.

[@baremetalHW]

I do that too... I did not do that here but will give it a shot.

[@dyanagrenke1596]

Guitarded And Broke I

[@felo2527]

baremetalHW how can i get in touch with u to send u some cars to restore.

[@mohitpanjwani8803]

You can send the cars to 703, spenta chs., thane w., Maharashtra, india

[@geineddie]

Mohit Panjwani you must be customer service.

[@greggv8]

Shouldn't have to apply anything like that conductive paint onto zamak / pot metal to electroplate. You can do brush plating with the root killer. Flatten a piece of copper pipe then wrap one end with a piece of old stock (fuzzy side out), making sure there's none of the pipe poking through. Connect the other end to the + of a DC power supply, an adjustable one is best. Connect the car body to the - of the power supply. Put on some nitrile gloves then dip the sock covered pipe into the weed killer solution and brush copper on. Should get a smooth application pretty quick. What you don't get is a thick application. Then you switch over to dunking the whole thing into an acid copper plating bath for building up thickness. The strike plate from the root killer brush job protects the pot metal from any initial acid attack while the plating gets started. Shops that do good restorations of pitted parts for cars will plate on zinc then carefully sand down, leaving built up metal in the pits. Each time the super cleaning process has to be done to ensure the pits will plate. When that gets close to smooth they'll do the same process with copper until it can be buffed shiny. Then its nickel plated and buffed. If the part is going on a pre-chrome plating era car, that's the end. If it's newer it gets chrome plated over the nickel. Plated steel parts used to get a zinc, copper, nickel, chrome process. Then someone figured out a way to plate chrome directly onto steel (and even lead), which resulted in chrome lasting much shorter time. Lead? Yup, at times from the end of WW2 through the Korean War, zinc and copper were in short supply, but lead wasn't. So car manufacturers resorted to using lead for cast trim and somehow forced chrome to plate directly onto it. Chromium plating is difficult to do because for a dip bath it takes 1 amp of current per square inch, unlike plating most other metals. Chrome baths also don't "throw", you won't get any plating on the side opposite the anode, so you have to surround the item with anodes that have direct line of sight to all surfaces. Brush plating to the rescue! Fun fact: The hubs that connect parts of the International Space Station have mating surfaces that are chromium brush plated. Why? Because it wasn't feasible to build tanks to dunk the entire part in, and it would've required several thousand amps (or much higher, depending on surface area) to plate the whole hub.

[@chemistry7119]

Search " Terminator frog" copper on spray.

[@nickkk420]

Nothing in my house is safe now, copper plated everything

[@zoomzoomtoys131]

Hahaha :) Too many like minded folks on this channel. Now if he does a silver and gold plating tutorial then we can all gold plate our real cars.

[@simulationjunkie]

Fantastic diy! 👍

[@the_mad_ratter]

ZoomZoomToys - exactly the same method, once finished copper plating, replace the sacrificial copper with sacrificial silver _et voila_, silver plating :) For gold, you'd want to nickel plate after copper and then gold plate on the nickel, or plate over the top of silver plate for a better finish.

[@painkillersclan]

LOL, I nominate this comment for *The Comment of the Day!* award!

[@lilmelon5400]

nick longstaffe Even A copper fit?

[@bullitt7544]

WoW. Eye popping results. Your videos are so well done and narrated as professional as any tutorial on uTube. I have amassed a quantity of Hotwheels, Corgi's and others that I would love to see restored, and more importantly learn how to do it properly, safely, and have a bunch of fun doing it. Your videos are more than helpful at doing this. My results are not that good after my first restoration, using inferior products and just being a hack, but I did have fun. Thanks

[@RiverasHotWheels]

I like the end result 👍🏽 Will patiently wait for next step, nickel plating.

[@greensun5998]

Fantastic video. It's great to see a cheap but effective plating system that everyone can try as some of the professional home plating kits can cost hundreds of dollars. Looking forward to future vids on chroming.

[@tommurphy4307]

you can get more affordable kits/supplies at micromark.com

[@ElGatoLoco698]

You can get a similar product at the big box stores. It's a graphite dry lubricant in the automotive/lubricants section. It's basically just graphite powder mixed with solvents and it's under $5.

[@BDUBZ49]

I definitely would've picked a different car. That was a beautiful original paint job and decals.

[@jimmysjamin1]

This is just so techno savie I'm loving every second of it ! can't wait to try this out. thanks for sharing this ! job extremely well done !

[@kurtemigh9546]

Caswell plating has an alkaline solution that will plate zamac. I've done numerous drag busses with it. You can build the kit yourself and just buy the refill solutions If you dont want to pay the cost of the initial kit but it's well worth it because you dont need to do anything but plate it, no rough paint sprays

[@brianartillery]

The finished car looks beautiful in burnished copper. I hope you clear coated it, as copper tarnishes very easily on exposure to air and moisture in the air. It will darken a bit, and then turn green - just like the Statue Of Liberty, which had a bright copper finish when new.

[@broms316]

Dude I love this channel. You sound EXACTLY like James Woods lol!!!

[@beaverdamraceproductions6857]

Thank you for the ideas. I'll heading to the hardware store this weekend. I believe this will look really cool on a custom im gathering ideas for.

[@painkillersclan]

Thats a neat finish, thanx for sharing the process, i think i might give this a try. ;) the only things i thought of as you were explaining the paints texture, was that maybe warming the car body up a bit and also maybe the can as well, i put my little cans under my desk lamp for a bit before i use em, it seems to help. that torino looks almost steam punkish, with the texture and little black showing thru, like something you would see in a museum that the curators had restored and displayed ;)

[@delsolcol9383]

Great videos! ....there's a conductive paint that's designed to repair heated rear windows on cars, you paint it on to the glass to repair the original broken heating elements, this paint is thick but also very smooth it may work better than what you're using, and may be able to be used with your airbrush if you can find something to thin it out with.

[@brinkrod]

Thin film carbon coating using thermal evaporation would be an great way to get a VERY thin coating of conductive material on the car. you would need a vacuum chamber, a decent vacuum pump (you can use old fridge parts), and a voltage source, but the process is not hard

[@brian5o]

I would love to see a 1968 Custom Camaro done like this then have the hood, top and trunk lid painted gloss black. I think that would look awesome!

[@IntegraDIY]

Very nice, maybe a Popsicle stick with some 1000gritb sand paper, will help as a mini block sander to help level the copper down flat

[@the_mad_ratter]

There's an alternative method if you're not afraid of heating the shells up a little... Heat the car shells, then use a brass or copper wire brush to transfer-plate parts. More involved method, but works well if you want the brass/copper finish rather than as a base metal for another plate.

[@GalaxyStranger01]

I contacted MG Chemicals to get more information on their conductive paint. I bought the Nickel coating in hopes that it will help the process along. It does have less resistance than the Carbon coating. The MG Chemicals technician that emailed me back said that Acetone should work fine to use as a thinner, however, they do have a thinner specifically for these paints. It's "MG Chemicals Thinner 1". Since I'm using this on more delicate plastics, I may go this way if I run into problems but it's kinda pricey.

[@shredBucketheadshred]

Great video man, I think eventually a few tricks and a method could be developed to really get this working, I wonder if there is a way to get the raw diecast can be copper coated without that spray. Also I kinda feel like some of my past comments have influenced this video being made hahaha

[@Bloodray19]

I don't know if you had sorted it out by now or not, but i would be really interested in the final video where you do the conductive paint to go on smoothly and then plate it with copper followed by nickel. Still, a really interesting video on it's own

[@GalaxyStranger01]

I read on the manufacturers web site that it's an acrylic lacquer. Therefore I'm gonna try to thin it with lacquer thinner - also I'm going to get the Nickel coating as it has less resistance - maybe that makes a difference? Also, you may not have let the paint cure enough for sanding. That would explain your sanding issue.

[@hunterwessels2678]

What if you used this method on some of your Mad Max builds and have some of the actual metal showing through?

[@robertwooley9625]

Would like to see it painted and finished! Very relaxing voice

[@GHOSTJERKER]

Great results! 👻

[@GalaxyStranger01]

I've seen people thin that paint with Acetone. I would try that out to get it into an airbrush, which I plan to do unless I can find a better conductive paint.

[@dutchstewart9462]

What would Spectra Flame paint look like on the copper plating, I think it might be a new and interesting look for one of your custom hot wheels.

[@chemistry7119]

Search on youtube! Terminator frog copper on spray.

[@Unclejake]

I’ve been doing this for years on guitar parts but never used the conductive paint, So my question will the die cast take a copper plate without using that conductive paint? I’ve just ruffed the surface of the parts and used the bath of copper sulfate (root killer works great and is cheaper) and a 9V battery. Then polished it up.

[@danmack3173]

If you ever have kids, they will be the coolest kid on the schoolyard forever

[@kevinmichaelbergman8276]

Very nice job am bragging about it to my Brother who is trying to get good at it.

[@shootisttx15]

I really enjoy your videos, and have watched all I can find. Observation...the finish is still pretty rough even with the polishing. Do you think that the nickel plating might smooth the finish even more?

[@uberitup84]

That looks awesome, great job.

[@sinformant]

I realize this video is old but have you tried making a conductive paint using graphite powder mixed with a solvent, thinning down the graphite far enough to make it sprayable?

[@daltonjones3319]

If you were to spray the total ground from the aerosol can onto wood, could you copper plate a wooden block? If you don't know that's fine, I just thought it might be an interesting idea for a Christmas gift.

[@daveayerstdavies]

It is possible to copper plate directly onto Zamak (die-cast zinc alloy) but you need to use a cyanide copper bath rather than acid copper.

[@Chevroldsmobuiac]

Nice! Would you put clear Spectraflame over it to prevent the copper from turning green?

[@JamesDutka]

Copper phosphate is the best alloy to plate, to get a better surface finish, look into copper plating leveler and refiner. Use constant current, keep temp around 35-40 degrees Celsius And bubble the surface of the piece to be finished to prevent any bubbles staying on the surface of the piece to be 'plated'. Apply auxiliary anodes in hard to reach, low current density areas, Alot of this aside for nuances apply to both copper and nickel, but nickel is very sensitive.

[@laxr5rs]

Another fantastic vid. Thanks.

[@Frambhueee]

Thr copper plate can only be done over that black paint?, Can it be done directly over the metal?

[@EcoDARK1855]

How could I do one silver plate? I have a silver source (some mexican old coins) but you added for this kinda a salt (the blue grains), for a silver one what could I use? Silver Iodide maybe?

[@spikeshostagetv5935]

who do you look like ?? show your face..... it's always good to see artists behind things like this?

[@zolivarga9873]

Will you do a video about how to put water decals to a diecast, I have a 2006 Ferrari 248 F1 diecast which has antennas and I have no clue how to put them without damaging them.

[@Gleamoz]

If you do a real gold plating , I want to see the result, by the way , it looks awesome, awesome techniques. Thanks for the great info,i like watching your KZbin videos.

[@MrYancakes]

Any chance on doing a time lapse next time you do this? I know the blue water makes it a little tricky to see but it'd be awesome to see the gradual progression as the car gets plated.

[@baremetalHW]

will give it a try the next time I make one..

[@MrYancakes]

You're the best :D no pressure!

[@327rebelradio]

have you tried sliver plating, or is that nickel/silver plate like old cutlery

[@VacFink]

I would imagine the conductive paint is only needed for non-conductive parts. Have you tried this on the bare body. It should collect the plating roughly the same. When large parts are chromed, the copper is often used as a soft buildup. You could apply the same theory here. Make your model as smooth as possible, plate a build up layer, sand smooth, repeat until its uniformly smooth with built up copper to fill in the small defects.

[@DS2CV]

Have ever tried restoring 1:18s?

[@1oxkar1]

You can reduce the coating grain by adding 1 gr / L of sulphonated phenol, with this the plating will be smoother...

[@RodolfoPolanco]

Fantastic...always very Job sorprise

[@bob_._.]

Hi, it's been a few months and I'm not a channel regular so I don't know if you're making progress with the carbon paint finish, but you might want to investigate "sprayed-on chrome" which isn't chrome at all but two-part silver nitrate paint with the B part being a chemical that reduces the silver nitrate to silver (it's the same basic chemistry used in photography). It gives a mirror finish on any paintable surface. A bit pricey, but on a cost per car basis it probably wouldn't be too bad.

[@baremetalHW]

Where do I find it?

[@kevinmaas9032]

How would it look with using that as a base.

[@apodis4900]

Awesome, thanks for the tips.

[@reconphil]

You can use an old phone charger or dc charger for a low voltage power source and it will be more consistent over a long period of time.

[@s.a.f.r.a6403]

Could you do a video on plating plastic parts and bases

[@LucasDad]

Can't wait to try it. Thanks

[@giltrakh]

is it possible to gold plate hot wheels and matchbox cars the same way?

[@kirby-nz]

Could the copper plating process be repeated a number of times to get a thick copper layer, and then polish more harshly to get rid of the rough surface? Or would it need to be a different metal each time you plated?

[@baremetalHW]

Yes you could repeat and build up the layers but it would cover up the details over time...

[@drewcifer2a]

k7rby copper is good for mush buffing. Where you put it on in layers and buff it into the imperfections. The goal is to have a perfect base like painting a car. But smoother the metal brighter the shine

[@WS-gw5ms]

I'm sorry if I missed it but why didn't you just plate the bare body? I feel like if you buffed the body fist then plated the end result would be much smoother.

[@baremetalHW]

The bare metal won't plate using these chemicals...if you put die cast in the bath the bath will just turn it black and start dissolving your car.

[@MikeyFraz1]

So what would happen if you hadn’t applied the paint before attempting to plate?

[@johnnyz999]

If you're not happy with the finish can you put it back in the jar again

[@Ericbuyslunch]

could you, in theory, create small "rust holes" for a custom by not painting them entirely and having the process eat away at the metal?

[@joshuabell6476]

Could this be used in zinc to replicate chrome?

[@ronsaps26]

I would like to see a 1968 charger bullet build

[@TheSFMCreators]

So what about an 1/18th scale diecast car? Will I just need a bigger jar/bucket or will I also need a stronger battery (something like a 9 volt)

[@baremetalHW]

Yes a bigger bucket and probably 2 D cells.. It the car plastic or die cast?

[@TheSFMCreators]

Diecast, so I assume the rest of the process is as you described in the video.

[@NandiCollector]

Man, you have put some really bad ideas for the REAL counterfeiters out there. LOL!

[@boco-e6s]

can this be done without total ground?

[@jamesg872]

Hi, did you have to clear coat to prevent possibility of oxidation?

[@baremetalHW]

no I did not because I plan to nickle plate over the copper.

[@challenger635channel6]

I very much prefer the finish on the Custom T Bird you did a few months ago.

[@jeffreyplummer6626]

Could you leave a car just copper plated and somehow seal it so it don’t turn green or brown like a penny does over time?. I think copper looks bad ass!. Please let me know?. Thanks Jeffrey

[@favoritemustard3542]

Yo Jeff, you def 'nitly want to spray some clear! I prefer a high temp, but am usually working on lanterns, etc. & yessir, matte, satt, flat, & glossy do make a diff! It's been approx. 6 mōs, how'd it goes for yōz?

[@Gleamoz]

If it works with copper, does it also work with gold, and silver? Cool

[@sourishghosh7309]

sir can u plz make fast and furious 5 matte black dodge charger with the back grill.

[@1musicsearcher]

With all due respect it’s not the paint that matters, it’s the smoothness of the base metal. The metal these cars are made of is poor. If the base metal was able to be “smooth” that black paint would be unnecessary. The copper is only a few molecules thick and telegraphs any defects from below. Keep up these great videos.

[@TheFlektogon]

May I know if I can change the copper to gold? Is it will be the same? Thanks.

[@favoritemustard3542]

Ooö! I, too, would like to do this to copper, also..!

[@notrox8262]

does somebody know if the gremlin grinder from 1947 is valuable? the green one because i have one in home is the only one left from my childhood my dad gave it to me.

[@misfits010]

woo hoo new video! nice

[@horaciodiecast]

Fantastic job

[@farouq1983]

How would you prevent the petina from forming on the surface of the car? As you know, copper tends to oxidize from the air.

[@GodWeenSatan]

Vagabond 1983 try a clear coat

[@farouq1983]

Eastwood Unforgiven Ok nice idea!

[@baremetalHW]

Yeah you just clear coat over it..

[@farouq1983]

baremetalHW Thank you sir. I will.

[@chocochipthepug1]

awesome! i might try this!

[@fabts4]

Can't you sand and polish the car directly? (i.e. no plating)

[@stefankeet]

You have to increase your current for a better result, when your current is to low you will get a matt copper colour result like in your case.

[@eribertogovea9524]

how do you remuve the top

[@themachine03]

How do i send you a car that you can modify. It is broken thow.

[@karlnapp7564]

How do you reconnect the bottom and top ?

[@baremetalHW]

You drill and tap the posts and then use small screws.

[@karlnapp7564]

Thanks.

[@darkeyce02]

I copper plated my actual real car in places. along with everything else lol nickel will help a lot In some cases like aluminum and stainless steal.

[@pro_slime_gameryt3184]

Nice car 😍

[@thesourceofthenile]

The process used to get the copper finish is known as electrolysis and is used to do metal plating by factories all over the world. It's pretty cool to see somebody using it on one of their hotwheels cars.

[@WhatIsKenDoing]

Why do you need to use the total ground? Wouldn't the copper stick to the die cast if it was scuffed up some?

[@baremetalHW]

no... wish it would..

[@SianaGearz]

I read somewhere that Zinc can be directly electroplated in alkaline electrolyte; otherwise, the surface oxide layer prevents any other metal from sticking to it.

[@MrBJBlazkowicz]

Zinc Spray will not be better for this?

[@WS-gw5ms]

BJ Blazkowicz I don't know why you need any spray. Unless this cast metal won't plate but I don't know why it wouldn't.

[@PrenticeBoy1688]

BJ Blazkowicz He mentioned that the acidic bath would eat through the die cast; sulfuric acid more dramatically so.

[@baremetalHW]

It won't plate.... Not with these chemicals... You need a cyanide bath to plate them..

[@uzi1951]

Put a cyanide copper strike on it first then acid copper, no paint. Add air agitation to improve the plating finish by introducing fresh copper ions to the surface.

[@uzi1951]

Try electropolishing the copper plated car, that should smooth and brighten it.

[@JohnnyArtPavlou]

Very cool!

[@rrichmond1212]

Hello my name is Richard and I just would like to say that I enjoy your Video. I just started doing customs. Your video are a big help to do customs I'm learning a lot from you. Thanks When I watch this video I have a question are you want to do nickel or would you like to do Chrome if you want to do Chrome there is a video I like you to search on KZbin. ( Budget chrome kit - Tutorial ) Yes I think it is a little expensive But when I'm able to get it I'm going to try it myself. But if anything I hope you enjoy the video

[@jorgedelaconchapicazo3243]

Está muy ingenioso gracias por compaetir

[@PaulWootenwrfcustomsdiecast]

awesome thanks for sharing

[@hmhsbritannic7765]

Hey uh, can you do a custom of my Nightburnerz Nissan 350Z?

[@hmhsbritannic7765]

And fix the spoiler? I sent it off a track but fell off my staircase and uncentered the spoiler. I mean the spoiler isn't level with each side

[@hmhsbritannic7765]

Well I sort of fixed it by that the spoiler is lower

[@joshuabell6476]

Could tou show us when you get a better result please

[@georgeshelton6281]

My pop/father George D. Shelton; even Duane G. Shelton, both never could stand low riders.

[@erikpeterson4873]

Ever try chrome paint?

[@baremetalHW]

yes... pretty much all of them...none work as well as real metal.