Lots of good videos on the subject. I can tell you the steps I took but I'm a total rookie at this.
To Make the solution I used a gallon of distilled vinegar, two 1"x 6" nickel electrodes ($10 ea on eBay) and a couple of tablespoons of common salt.
I had an old 9V 300ma wall wart that I used to make the solution. They say the higher the voltage the faster the solution will form. I let mine go for a full day.
I then added one tsp of sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS $10 for 8oz on eBay)
This is suppose to stop the bubbles that form on the part as you plate from sticking and causing spots in the finish.
The better your part looks going in the better it will look coming out. Sand, polish etc to get the look you want. The plating hides nothing.
I cleaned the part with brake cleaner
I mixed up one gallon of distilled with one quart of muriatic acid and dipped the part for a couple of minutes to clean/etch the surface
Dipped the part in clean distilled water to rinse off acid solution
I kept both of the nickel electrodes in the solution and connected a jumper wire between them along with the positive lead from the wall wart.
I used a 5V 550ma Motorola phone charger for the actual plating process
Connect your part to the negative lead of the charger and dip/hang the part in the solution.
Smaller parts I left in for 15-30 min. The larger scorpion I left in for an hour.
The parts don't come out shiny but look like a nickel.
A quick trip to the buffer however can produce quite a nice finish depending on how nice it looked before being plated.
The plating solutions you can purchase probably would give you a brighter finish but this works for me.
For an investment of about $35, I'm very happy with the outcome.
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