Professor Woozle Posted May 17, 2022 Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 Last night while half-watching BBC4, I saw something that piqued my interest. It was a special light-absorbing black paint, which even when it had a torch shone on it just sucked the light up. The magic to it was that it was a coating of carbon nanotubes that were end-on tothe surface, so any light got pulled in, bounced around and its energy dissipated. Of course, my immediate thought was "how cool would it be to have a guitar body coated in that, a black hole guitar!" although I guess this stuff needs applying at a specialist facility, is horrendously expensive and may not be particularly robust either. Still, it's nice to dream... Link to the programme on iPlayer is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0017frm/secrets-of-size-atoms-to-supergalaxies-series-1-1-going-small 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted May 17, 2022 Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 BBC IPlayer only works for UK residents, but there are some paint products floating around that claim to have similar "light sucking" qualities. I think one if them is called Black 3.0 or something (sounds like a Lynx deodorant)? Dunno if they're particularly hard wearing, or if sealing them under a clearcoat might ruin the effect? But I agree, it would certainly be eye catching to (not) see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Woozle Posted May 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 Sorry, forgot about the BBC links not working for outside the UK, or not unless you set up a VPN tunnel to a UK IP address! Had a quick search and found this page with some useful info - https://www.coating.co.uk/vantablack-coating/, sounds like nanotube paint is becoming more accessible but still eye-wateringly expensive and it also suggests it's not very robust. I do note the mention of a sprayable alternative, wonder what that would be like under a matt laquer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gogzs Posted May 18, 2022 Report Share Posted May 18, 2022 Saw this some time ago, the story of the blackest black is actually pretty funny. The folks behind Black 3.0 have a beef with the IP owner of Vanta Black (Kapoor)... even in the terms of use/sale, it's stated that anyone can buy Black 3.0 besides the Kapoor hahaha.... I was looking into ordering it and painting a few things with it for shits and giggles. But it's extremely fragile, and anything painted with it needs to be handled with care, so it's not a color to paint an everyday item with. I've seen it live, and it's super interesting and bizarre. You paint a contoured item with it, let it dry, and it loses all contours. It ends up looking like a 2D object, and when you rotate it, and it starts changing shape, it's pretty mindf**king. All in all, Black 3.0 can be ordered at: https://culturehustle.com/products/black-3-0-the-worlds-blackest-black-acrylic-paint-150ml?variant=41147281342622 I'm now again tempted to order it and paint a few decorating items in my house with it haha... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Woozle Posted May 18, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2022 Thanks for posting the link - at that price, I'm tempted to buy some and just try coating a test piece, then putting a matt lacquer on top. If the results are good enough then I can see a future project being done with it. I also keep thinking of the bit from "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" with the band Disaster Area's stunt ship, with the black controls on a black background... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gogzs Posted May 19, 2022 Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 If you put clearcoat over it, no matter what kind, it will make it reflect more light for sure, you'll get a less black black as a result. I know that vantablack is super flimsy, Black 3.0 should be a bit more resistant but still... thinking of it now, I'll probably order a bottle, I have an artsy friend whose b-day is coming up, will use that as excuse to get it and see what she does with it and how it'll turn out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted May 19, 2022 Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 i have seen the infomercials about this quite a while ago... they paint a doll head black and then shine flashlight on it... similarly I instantly thought of applications with guitar. as mentioned... once you clear over it, you are essentially going to negate the effect but at the time I was thinking this would be absolutely stunning to use on the inside of an f hole... and then perhaps do some sort of contrasted wood sitting on a 'peg' seemingly suspended in air inside the f hole. it's on my list to try. def if anyone trys the finish - would love to hear how that goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Woozle Posted May 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 (edited) Definitely something to experiment with, I'm wondering if it would work to carve out the face of a guitar, paint the recessed area with the superblack so you'd only see the outline shape with the pickups, bridge and controls apparently floating in the void! Hmm, when I'm a bit more flush with cash maybe I'll get some of the paint and pick up a junk body off Ebay... Edit - not strictly relevant to the thread but this old Persil advert popped up in my mind, what with black being under discussion! Edited May 19, 2022 by Professor Woozle added youtube link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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