Paint Reflectiveness

[jem58]

I saw a Tahoe the other day that,instead of paint they used black spray on bed liner on it. So my question is,would lidar bounce back to the gun as easy as regular car paint or would it not bounce back

[category4]

I'm betting this will be pretty stealth. Not only is it black and non-reflective but it's an irregular surface that will tend to scatter the beam in a multitude of angles.

I would love to test it to see how it does perform.

[fire65]

I read elsewhere that a guy had rhino liner and ran with tailgate down and got great results. He did some testing and it was way better that with the gate up. It would have to be, any roughed up flat black surface is going to do better the smooth and shiny.

[jem58]

Originally Posted by category4

I'm betting this will be pretty stealth. Not only is it black and non-reflective but it's an irregular surface that will tend to scatter the beam in a multitude of angles.

I would love to test it to see how it does perform.

It does look pretty stealhy, it even looks kind of cool. If I could afford it I think I would do that to my vehicle.Its also a large vehicle which I wasn't sure about. Its for sale I might ask what they want for it.

[vschuel]

Originally Posted by jem58

It does look pretty stealhy, it even looks kind of cool. If I could afford it I think I would do that to my vehicle.Its also a large vehicle which I wasn't sure about. Its for sale I might ask what they want for it.

I would! The darker the color the better (against LIDAR that is)!!!

[fatchick1o9]

Actually, surface texture and reflectivity play a big role in how light (diffuse and coherent) act.

For example:

In the laser lab we used cinder blocks to absorb the beams from 50w & 100w industrial lasers after we had aligned the tubes and optics. Obviously there was some beam scatter but not as much as you might think. Now a cinder block is light colored (concrete colored) but has a very rough texture. But compare that to another device we used which has flat metal surfaces but painted a semi-gloss black. These devices caused more coherent reflection. The cinder blocks cause much more diffuse scatter. So if you had a surface with a rough texture and dark color you would get the best protection. Dark for maximum light absorption (converted to heat energy) and rough for maximum scatter.

If you have a car that you don't mind painting, Rustoleum makes a nice rattle can of Textured Indoor/Outdoor spray paint for ~$4. I painted my entire car using this stuff (because my old Mustang did not come from the factory with Clearcoat). It has the same rough texture as an old Char-Broil BBQ grill lids. It will peel the skin right off you knuckles if you rub against the car too hard. It feel kinda like the skin of a shark. When my car is parked in a parking lot, it basically looks like a "black suck-hole" of light. I've lost my car in a dark parking lot more times than I can remember. Of course you would not have to do the whole car like I did. Just painting the front nose clip of the car (and maybe the side mirrors) would help with reflectivity a good bit.

The Rhino Lining idea is sound in principle, but pricey in execution. And probably no worth the price / performance ratio.

[jem58]

Originally Posted by fatchick1o9

Actually, surface texture and reflectivity play a big role in how light (diffuse and coherent) act.

For example:

In the laser lab we used cinder blocks to absorb the beams from 50w & 100w industrial lasers after we had aligned the tubes and optics. Obviously there was some beam scatter but not as much as you might think. Now a cinder block is light colored (concrete colored) but has a very rough texture. But compare that to another device we used which has flat metal surfaces but painted a semi-gloss black. These devices caused more coherent reflection. The cinder blocks cause much more diffuse scatter. So if you had a surface with a rough texture and dark color you would get the best protection. Dark for maximum light absorption (converted to heat energy) and rough for maximum scatter.

If you have a car that you don't mind painting, Rustoleum makes a nice rattle can of Textured Indoor/Outdoor spray paint for ~$4. I painted my entire car using this stuff (because my old Mustang did not come from the factory with Clearcoat). It has the same rough texture as an old Char-Broil BBQ grill lids. It will peel the skin right off you knuckles if you rub against the car too hard. It feel kinda like the skin of a shark. When my car is parked in a parking lot, it basically looks like a "black suck-hole" of light. I've lost my car in a dark parking lot more times than I can remember. Of course you would not have to do the whole car like I did. Just painting the front nose clip of the car (and maybe the side mirrors) would help with reflectivity a good bit.

The Rhino Lining idea is sound in principle, but pricey in execution. And probably no worth the price / performance ratio.

Yea I kind of figured that type of color/texture would affect bounce back.

[fatchick1o9]

Just FYI....You should also paint your windshield flat black too.

Then you could just scrape off a 2" tall x 2' long strip so that you can see out of the car. I'm sure that would not draw the attention of a single LEO.

[fatchick1o9]

I stopped by AutoZone & Schucks looking into Herculiner/Rhino/Line-X products. I found a small can of Herculiner for a reasonable price. So I've decided to treat the front nose clip & rear of my car with the Herculiner. My car's already painted flatblack so it wont be a drastic change. Except for being MUCH more rough and prone to scattering LIDAR after I'm done.

The only thing I don't like about the Herculiner is that it has a bit of a sheen/gloss to it when it is new. So I will probably wait 'till it cures fully then hit it with a light dusting of the textured flat black paint that I did my car with so that it matches the car and kills the reflectivity.

I'll post up some before/during/after pics hopefully this Sunday after I'm done. And a full price breakdown from start to finish.

[fatchick1o9]

Ok I couldn't wait till Saturday. So I did it today.

Before pics:





After Herculiner but before painting it flat black. This is how shiny it is after it cures/dries:







....post continued due to pic limit....