A good substitute for silver ? (not tinning)

[Theodosius the Great]

Avete,

I'd like to silver my brass helmet, but no Jeweller or foundry seems to offer that service. Plating is VERY expensive and out of the question with my budget.

So, I was wondering if I could just chrome it.

My question is : Does anyone know if chrome has a different look from silver ?
Nickel is another option, but it has more of a yellowish tinge to it compared with chrome which is more blue.

Thanks in advance for any insights anyone can offer.

Theo

[FAVENTIANVS]

Ask Tarbicus, he has a Silvering paste to do it! Very easy!

[Theodosius the Great]

I have a silvering formula, but this is closer to tinning than silvering. I'm doing a Tribune impression, so a tinning appearance wouldn't really be appropriate.

I should've mentioned that first.

So I'm wondering if chrome could pass for silver in terms of mere appearance.

[Tarbicus]

Ask Tarbicus, he has a Silvering paste to do it! Very easy!

It's very interesting you should mention that Favi, because just recently I've noticed the silver tarnishes, so needs to be re-applied on what looks to be a 3 or 4 monthly basis.

I'm still happy with it, but regular maintenance is definitely needed even without physical wear and tear. No different to silver plated spoons :wink:

[Theodosius the Great]

[size=109:9xlwalv3]Maybe nickel is closer to silver than chrome. Anyone agree ?[/size]

[Peroni]

It's very interesting you should mention that Favi, because just recently I've noticed the silver tarnishes, so needs to be re-applied on what looks to be a 3 or 4 monthly basis.

What you need Jim is a "Goddards silver cloth" They're about £2.00 from any hardware store. It's impregnated with silver cleaner, but will not remove any of the applied silver. If left, silver will actually go black!

@Theo.. Chromium plating is very different in appearence to silver. Silver has a softer appearance than chrome. Chrome is TOO reflective and noticeably modern.

The silvering solution and cleaning cloths we are talking about can be found here.. HOWEVER this stuff only works on copper alloy items, not ferrous, so copper, brass and bronze are excellent, but steel won't work!
http://www.tableaurpm.co.uk/metal_care.htm

There's a short video clip of just how easy it is to apply. I have silvered many of my items of kit, including helmets with this stuff!

[Tarbicus]

Thanks mate, I think my local Sainsburys has it.

[Theodosius the Great]

@Theo.. Chromium plating is very different in appearence to silver. Silver has a softer appearance than chrome. Chrome is TOO reflective and noticeably modern.

The silvering solution and cleaning cloths we are talking about can be found here.. HOWEVER this stuff only works on copper alloy items, not ferrous, so copper, brass and bronze are excellent, but steel won't work!
http://www.tableaurpm.co.uk/metal_care.htm

There's a short video clip of just how easy it is to apply. I have silvered many of my items of kit, including helmets with this stuff!

Thanks, Peroni. I'm going to rule out going with Chromium then. I already have one of these silvering compounds that you mentioned. They contain "pure silver" and you have to reapply it to maintain the coating. But doesn't it give a tinning appearence as opposed to true silvering ? I'm told that the lower ranks would resort to tinning as an affordable alternative to silvering.

Since I'm doing a Tribune impression I want to avoid that type of look. So I'm now thinking of going with nickel. Unlike chromium, nickel has a slight yellowish tinge to it.

[Peroni]

But doesn't it give a tinning appearence as opposed to true silvering ?

I don't think so. Have a look at my Coolus E.. The lighting isn't great in this picture, but it really is shiny!

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/ ... CF1689.jpg

[Peroni]

and here..

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/ ... /Land2.jpg

[Tarbicus]

You can see the results against both steel and brass with these two helmets I part-silvered (not the best photos, but...):




On the brasswork on this one:

[Peroni]

love the use of a wine bottle as a helmet stand Jim! :wink:

Nice job on the cavalry helmet too.

[John M McDermott]

The silver plating formulas work on stainless steel, because it has nickel in it and they work with nickel.

[Theodosius the Great]

Peroni,

Yes, mine turned out shiny as well when I first used the silver compound.



But when the time came to re-apply another coat I got a really splotchy look and some of the shine was gone. :? I guess it started to look more like a tin job than silver.

The silver plating formulas work on stainless steel, because it has nickel in it and they work with nickel.

That's good to know. My helmet is made of brass.

[Tarbicus]

I just used the Goddard silver cleaning cloth and the silver solution plating came up beautifully. Thanks Adrian

I then gave it another coat of silver solution and it's just as it was when I first did it, if not even better.