Driving in a car that looks like it was made from the space of space is now slightly more possible, as evidenced by this modified black paint job that DipYourCar applied to a Mitsubishi Lancer. The resulting car, noticed by Gizmodo, absorbs 99.4 percent of the light, but contains mottled shiny spots that make it look like the night sky.
The project required the use of Musou Black paint made by Koyo Orient Japan and the application of HyperShift, pearlescent particles used to create shiny finishes on cars. After a little tinkering with paint thinner, the final result is beautiful, even if it is as fragile and impractical as DipYourCar suggest.
The effect is reminiscent of Vantablack, a light-absorbing material made from carbon nanotubes. Wild applications from Vantablack are well documented, from cartoon holes in museums to other cars, like this BMW. But this project actually highlights one of the stranger aspects of the material. The rights to create art with Vantablack have been granted exclusively to one artist, Anish Kapoor. According to the creator of the material, Surrey NanoSystems, Vantablack needs ‘specialist application to achieve the aesthetic effect’, and Kapoor is apparently one of the few people who can apply it. Kapoor’s license and the other use of Vantablack in the military and aerospace industry kept it out of the reach of the average artist or car enthusiast, making its visual effect even more appealing.
Watch this video for more information on Vantablack’s origins.
The exclusivity of Vantablack has sparked competition from other artists, and the creation of products such as Musou Black, which is close to the effects of true Vantablack. As you can see with DipYourCars project it is more than enough. My advice is to locate a suitable space music, throw a poison from the car and drift away in the emptiness of the weekend. You deserved it.