In article , Hul Tytus
wrote:

You might search via google for "electro less" plating. This is,
reportedly, a misnomer that referes to a non external electrical process.
Copper and nickel varieties, and I believe I've heard reference to gold
types, exist.

Hul

Billy Wains wrote:
Is there an affordable way to DIY gold plate plastic?

Needs to be gold plating, can be stingy, ok to use some kind of base coat
or
base layer. A little extra work and or creative scrounging is ok, but the
base cost of kit, chemicals, materials needs to be kept low.

Foiling is not a good alternative for the application.

Typical approach is to metallize the plastic with a purely chemical
plating solution, then electroplate it with whatever the surface needs
to be.

Alternately, graphite is used to make the surface conductive enough to
get started.

Not all plastics can be plated. ABS is the best choice.

There are many companies that will metallize plastic objects on order,
and Caswell will provide the chemistry if one will do it oneself.

Joe Gwinn