Flat Red Paint and Street Lighting
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I had asked a bodyshop about this a few years ago because i uesd to have a red car.
The explaination was the sodium content in
street lamps cause this. It is typical in all
colours but red is eceptionally bad for it.
The explaination was the sodium content in
street lamps cause this. It is typical in all
colours but red is eceptionally bad for it.
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Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 1,214
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David
I'll try and explain. Fear not ...theres nought wrong with yer car or the paint job!!!!
Colour is an important part of life. We are conditioned from birth to react to colour in an emotional and psychological way. We are also taught to obey certain colours..red to stop and green to go. We also use colour to give warnings...blue means cold and red means hot. Colour also describes our moods...envy = green, blue = feeling down, anger = red etc etc.
Physically colour is a property of light and without colour light does not exist. To understand colour you need to understand light.
Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation
that moves in a wave form. Visible light waves vary from 4000 angstrom units (one hundred millionth of centimetre) to 7000 angstroms.
white light as we see it is a mixture of special colours each characterised by a definite range of wavelenghts. These colours are the colours of the rainbow...red, orange, yellow, blue, green and violet. The shortest wavelenght is violet and the longest red. Shorter wavelenghts than violet are ultra violet and x rays and longer than red are microwaves and radiowaves. The combination of wavelenghts in light changes according to the source of the light and therefore colours look different under daylight than they do under flourescent or tungsten or even sodium lamps.
for colour to be experienced 3 things are vital...a source of light..an object to reflect light and a receiver to see the reflected light ie your eyes.
A coloured surface appears the colour it is because light is reflected from it in that colours wavelenght only. All other wavelenghts are absorbed by it predominantly. A blue object reflects blue light but absorbs mosyt of the red, orange, yellow, green and violet. In your case a red object reflects red light but absorbs most of the orange, yellow, green, blue and viole.
Black and white are somewhat differnt as they are not strictly speaking "colours". hence white is a mixture of all the colours and black is the absence of them all. White surfaces reflect all or nearly all colours whereas black surfaces absorb them totally.
Metallic or pearlescent finishes complicate matters somewhat as the mica used also reflects other colours and therefore under certain lighting conditions each panel will appear to be a different hue or shade of the same colour. This is due in the way the mica lays and therefore reflects light.
If your paint is metallic then your have 2 colours which are not opposite each other in whats called the chromatic circle. When placed together they appear further apart. In this case the two colours can change completely in relation to one another as the light source changes eg like yours from daylight to sodium street lighting. This little phenomena is acalled metamerism.
This is why you see each panel differently under streetlighting in particular every ripple in dent/ding makes a dramatic effect.
The answer is to view your paint under a brighter and stronger source of light..that is daylight and only daylight will suffice for checking paint match etc.
Hope this answers your query.
Regards
Mark
I'll try and explain. Fear not ...theres nought wrong with yer car or the paint job!!!!
Colour is an important part of life. We are conditioned from birth to react to colour in an emotional and psychological way. We are also taught to obey certain colours..red to stop and green to go. We also use colour to give warnings...blue means cold and red means hot. Colour also describes our moods...envy = green, blue = feeling down, anger = red etc etc.
Physically colour is a property of light and without colour light does not exist. To understand colour you need to understand light.
Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation
that moves in a wave form. Visible light waves vary from 4000 angstrom units (one hundred millionth of centimetre) to 7000 angstroms.
white light as we see it is a mixture of special colours each characterised by a definite range of wavelenghts. These colours are the colours of the rainbow...red, orange, yellow, blue, green and violet. The shortest wavelenght is violet and the longest red. Shorter wavelenghts than violet are ultra violet and x rays and longer than red are microwaves and radiowaves. The combination of wavelenghts in light changes according to the source of the light and therefore colours look different under daylight than they do under flourescent or tungsten or even sodium lamps.
for colour to be experienced 3 things are vital...a source of light..an object to reflect light and a receiver to see the reflected light ie your eyes.
A coloured surface appears the colour it is because light is reflected from it in that colours wavelenght only. All other wavelenghts are absorbed by it predominantly. A blue object reflects blue light but absorbs mosyt of the red, orange, yellow, green and violet. In your case a red object reflects red light but absorbs most of the orange, yellow, green, blue and viole.
Black and white are somewhat differnt as they are not strictly speaking "colours". hence white is a mixture of all the colours and black is the absence of them all. White surfaces reflect all or nearly all colours whereas black surfaces absorb them totally.
Metallic or pearlescent finishes complicate matters somewhat as the mica used also reflects other colours and therefore under certain lighting conditions each panel will appear to be a different hue or shade of the same colour. This is due in the way the mica lays and therefore reflects light.
If your paint is metallic then your have 2 colours which are not opposite each other in whats called the chromatic circle. When placed together they appear further apart. In this case the two colours can change completely in relation to one another as the light source changes eg like yours from daylight to sodium street lighting. This little phenomena is acalled metamerism.
This is why you see each panel differently under streetlighting in particular every ripple in dent/ding makes a dramatic effect.
The answer is to view your paint under a brighter and stronger source of light..that is daylight and only daylight will suffice for checking paint match etc.
Hope this answers your query.
Regards
Mark
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Mark.
Wonderful reply and I do understand most of it. But what is the difference between the new paint and the old paint that causes 'streetlight' to be absorbed in different amounts. This is the second red car I've had to do this.
One further question. Does anyone know if, during manufacture, the front and rear bumper panels are sprayed at the same time as the car or somewhere else in a different paint bath. An answer to this would also help me lots.
P.S. Mark: I was s'posed to get you to work your 'magic' on the car at the start of the New Year, but as you may have guessed, I've only just got it back. Still needs a bit of a spring clean, mind. I'll be in touch.
Wonderful reply and I do understand most of it. But what is the difference between the new paint and the old paint that causes 'streetlight' to be absorbed in different amounts. This is the second red car I've had to do this.
One further question. Does anyone know if, during manufacture, the front and rear bumper panels are sprayed at the same time as the car or somewhere else in a different paint bath. An answer to this would also help me lots.
P.S. Mark: I was s'posed to get you to work your 'magic' on the car at the start of the New Year, but as you may have guessed, I've only just got it back. Still needs a bit of a spring clean, mind. I'll be in touch.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by DavidLewis:
<B>Thought yours was due back last week too?[/quote]
Still some work to do! If I didn't get them to add on my toys it would have been ready this afternoon!!
It took them most of today to fit:
Prodrive Suspension
Morette Twin Lamps
Bridgestone SO2's
Brake Support Bracket
Cold Air Feed Pipe (to replace resonator)
And flush engine
Tomorrow:
The geometery will be checked and the window seals will be replaced.
A bit
today, but I dare say it will be 
all of tomorrow!!!
But the damage has been repaired very well, and the STI6 front spoiler looks great!!!
Andy
<B>Thought yours was due back last week too?[/quote]
Still some work to do! If I didn't get them to add on my toys it would have been ready this afternoon!!
It took them most of today to fit:
Prodrive Suspension
Morette Twin Lamps
Bridgestone SO2's
Brake Support Bracket
Cold Air Feed Pipe (to replace resonator)
And flush engine
Tomorrow:
The geometery will be checked and the window seals will be replaced.
A bit
today, but I dare say it will be all of tomorrow!!!But the damage has been repaired very well, and the STI6 front spoiler looks great!!!
Andy
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