I have seen several vehicles painted with the chameleon paint and it looks like ass. Accents on flat surfaces can add tastfully to the car's visual impact, but the stuff destroys the lines of the body when used on curved sheet metal. I 'spose its really all in what look is being sought, but what's interesting in small scale can be overwhelming when as large as a whole car.
I have seen several vehicles painted with the chameleon paint and it looks like ass. Accents on flat surfaces can add tastfully to the car's visual impact, but the stuff destroys the lines of the body when used on curved sheet metal. I 'spose its really all in what look is being sought, but what's interesting in small scale can be overwhelming when as large as a whole car.
I'll have to second this one big time. There is an Astro van and a Prelude around here. There is NO spot that you can look at the car and see one colour. To me it really destroys the look of a car.
It can be nice as a small accent.
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07:48 AM
LT-5Fiero Member
Posts: 336 From: Charlotte, NC Registered: Oct 2002
there is a fastback running around the forum somewhere ive seen it before might try to find that it didnt look to bad but not my cup o tea..hehehe i just went to schucks and got that 3can set....painted my computer case with it though....
I think it looks good on certain cars. Like that old truck, or a volkswagon, anything thats got a lot of circular curves will be interesting. But on a car like a Fiero, with a lot of flat sweeps, it would look odd, instead of interesting. Remember that many of the color change colors are, if taken alone, horrid colors. brown-yellow-golds, salmon pinks, and off-greens with muddy-gray transitions. Then you have to consider the cost, where some of these paints run hundreds per pint just for the basecoat. On the good side, they're easy to repair compared to candy colors.
If you dont know how these paints work, its rather interesting. They have small reflective flakes that have a transparent film over one or both sides. The film is thin to the point where its about the thickness of a wavelength of visible light. As you move, the average thickness between the surface of the transparent layer and the reflective layer changes... causing different wavelengths to bounce back. Interesting, eh? I wonder what other optical tricks are in store for us in the future. Perhaps something related to micro-glass beads, or strange little crystals embedded in the basecoat or first layer of clear. :O)
PPG's version has some different colors available, but under a lot of conditions the color shifting paints look brown. That is great and wonderful if you like brown though
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08:26 PM
DonB Member
Posts: 13 From: greenville,pa,usa Registered: Feb 2003
I think it all depends on you personal opinion, and the quality of the paint. The 96 Mustang Cobra mystic can look dirt brown in some light, green and gold in others. I must say the blue/purple Fasrback that JD86GT350 posted looks good. That paint has come a long way since then. But just remember, you get what you pay for with the chamealon paints. I have heard of unconfirmed prices from $100 pr pnt, to $800!
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08:32 PM
Feb 3rd, 2003
rogergarrison Member
Posts: 49601 From: A Western Caribbean Island/ Columbus, Ohio Registered: Apr 99
My professional opinion. Their fine on custom built cars that have hours and hours of hand blocking. Plastic cars (anykind, Fiero, Vette, etc) are inheirantly wavey. That affects how the color reflects. To me it just looks tacky for the most part. I stick to pearls myself. They look a lot classier. I know a guy that did his late model 'plastic' Camaro, and I thought it looked like #%^*. (jmho)
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07:38 AM
PFF
System Bot
Philphine Member
Posts: 6136 From: louisville,ky. usa Registered: Feb 2000
i've always thought, if a car was just painted two tone, would i want the two colors that the paint flips to. that made me not like them, but they seem to be getting better combos going. i might consider blue/purple or that kind of burgundy/gold combo. especially on my convertible 'cause i think of it as a crusier anyway.
i wonder if a car could be painted in a magnetic field to control how the flakes line up. or are the flakes even metal? that might be interesting.
