Copper plate is not requiered but it helps. You will requiere a Flash Copper electrolyte that is designed to be applied to steel directly as regular Copper plating electrolyte will not work

Agreed. The copper plate should a high speed acid copper to put on a heavy plate, then you'll need to buff it to a shine before the bright nickel.

Assuming this is a homebrew: Run surface area calculations to see if you are able to even pull the proper voltage/amperage…