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  for Metal Finishing since 1989
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IR recognizable paint

My wife is a Law enforcement pilot who flys at night. While watching a live chase on TV I came up with the idea to try and create a paint or coating that cannot be seen in normal conditions but can be seen by Law enforcement FLIR equipment. Unmarked cars can be marked and seen from the air at night. The same would also work on 'bait' cars that the police use to apprehend car thieves. I was thinking of a product that would absorb heat during the day and then retain it longer than the surrounding paint. It would have to be clear or part of the primer coat. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Kenneth M. Coe
Hobbyist - Oak Hill, Florida, USA
2005

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Cool Idea! I'll bet the military already has something that does that, maybe something can be attached to the underside of the hood of the unmarked police vehicles so that it absorbs the engines heat and creates a pattern or number that can be recognized by the infrared, but wouldn't be visible from the outside at all.

Sheldon Taylor
supply chain electronics
Wake Forest, North Carolina
2005

Taking the hood / engine heat concept one step farther, you'd just have to insulate the hood selectively, using some kind of ceramic coating, etc, e.g., a big cold X.

Michel Moninger
- Sarasota, Florida, USA
2005