Comment by bigiain

Comment by bigiain 9 days ago

Have you come across Stuart Semple/ Culture Hustle?

He makes a lot of interesting paints and pigments, and is UK based.

https://culturehustle.com/collections/powder

I've bought a couple of versions of his blackest black paint, and one of his whitest white, and they've all be extraordinarily good.

I have some of his "LIT - THE WORLD'S GLOWIEST GLOW PIGMENT", but I haven't used it yet. I have no doubt it'll be great as well.

(I have a vague plan to paint a motorcycle in Black4.0 to see if it's unreflective enough to evade the IR laser speed detectors cops use here...)

djsavvy 9 days ago

That's a great idea. I'd love to see if it works.

I've wondered whether it would be possible to design a motorcycle with a surface that's non-reflective to radar because of it's shape or texture, like how stealth planes work.

EDIT: I realized the super black paint is probably the worst thing you could do for your own safety on a motorcycle, but that's besides the point...

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bigiain 9 days ago

I've been riding motorcycles for about 30 years now, I started back when Neal Stephenson's Zodiac was still new, and this part was still ringing in my head:
“I had to ride slow because I was taking my guerrilla route, the one I follow when I assume that everyone in a car is out to get me. My nighttime attitude is, anyone can run you down and get away with it. Why give some drunk the chance to plaster me against a car? That's why I don't even own a bike light, or one of those godawful reflective suits. Because if you've put yourself in a position where someone has to see you in order for you to be safe--to see you, and to give a fuck--you've already blown it... We had a nice ride through the darkness. On those bikes we were weak and vulnerable, but invisible, elusive, aware of everything within a two-block radius.” ― Neal Stephenson, Zodiac

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exmadscientist 9 days ago

My brief experience with Black 4.0 was not particularly impressive. This video pretty much hits it dead on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKOC3Z9tDiI
I didn't compare with the other paints (I only found that video after ordering the paint...) or with the difficulty of painting (I got the intern to do it!) but in terms of the final result, that's exactly the same result I got.
I also have some of their glow pigment and it's a lot more impressive. This particular color doesn't glow very brightly or for terribly long, but the hue... glow pigment isn't supposed to be this color!

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