The story of the car paint. (part II)
May 15th, 2008
by: Christine Zafra
Forensic paint analysis is an anti-crime division of the authorities in charge of tracking down bad guys who have utilized cars in their crimes. If ever you wonder how they do it, here’s how.
The paint of the car is coated many times. The first coating (direct to the metal casing of the car) is the electron coating. This coating is dark gray in color. Then another batch of paint is added, this time, the color is either light gray or red brown. Then, the third and final batch is added (the color that is visible to the eye).
Now, here’s the coolest trick. Have you heard of the color spectrum? No matter how alike the colors of the cars are, the spectrum says otherwise. If the car bumps another car, or a post or a person, a part of the car paint chips away and sticks to the other. Forensic paint analysts use the spectrum method to determine the color of the car, the model (some car manufacturers only use a certain type of paint) etc.
When enough data is gathered, they go search for the culprit and believe me, this has been proven effective.
Photo taken from http://mediagods.com