paint on cars that change colour

kateman

i was wondering what this type of paint (the type you see on cars that changes colour as the car moves around) is called?

and more importantly, how it works?

is it just the different shades of light that reflect the different colours?

turbo

The painters I know call it flip-flop paint. Not sure how it works, but some of the color changes can be dramatic. A friend of mine customized his wife's Harley and had it painted with a blue-purple flip-flop. It looks great when she drives by on a sunny day.

brewnog

The effect is called iridescence, and it's the same phenomenon observed when looking at soap bubbles, or an oil slick on water. Interference from light being reflected off different layers of the paint (or oil film) causes the object to appear different colours at varying angles of incidence.

Danger

It sure messes up witnesses to a hit-and-run.

kateman

cool, thanks for that
its been on my mind for a while