TOPIC: Reflective coating for lens

I just saw this topic and it looks like a great idea.

While looking for a good (read: relatively cheap/effective) option i came across this.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?1149984-SPAZSTIX-Mirror-Chrome-Painting-on-lexan

The car is lexan polycarbonate, so there shouldnt be any major issues with solvents actung on the lens.

Whats interesting is that he is using that spray paint on the INSIDE of the car, so when it dries it will leave a near mirror finish showing through the plastic, and for this idea you need the reflective finish to be facing in towards the plastic.

I'm probably going to order a can off amazon or something and do a test run. I'll post some pictures when i do.

As a personal update, my pictures are now pending the arrival of two 32" Photon blades from Vader's Vault. Really hoping it makes the lime green pop, and I thought using thin walled blades might make variations clearer. According to USPS those hit my doorstep at 3 this afternoon. I'm in the office 'til 8 today, but I plan on wrapping my comparison up by Wednesday.

Updating to confirm that the paint actually made the brightness worse. No decent pictures yet, but the blade is noticeably dimmer with the silver paint. The most interesting thing about it is that the LED seems brighter when looking directly at the module.

I got the paint in today and sprayed some on a lens from a module i dont often use to use as a test subject.

Link to pictures: https://imgur.com/a/Qfkks

Forgive the dirt on my lens, the lens cover got smashed at work so the actual lens collects dust.

Its hard to say if it has actually made anything brighter or not. Both sabers are yellow, leds were ordered at the same time, and both sabers are fully charged.

If it has made any difference in brightness, it is that there seems to be a bit less base flare. In person the painted lens definetly has less cast-off light, though it is not a very significant difference, if noticeable. The reflectored blade appears very slightly duller to the eye, though not at a glance, you have to be looking closely. This may be because i am getting more amber light in the mix now, which is just not as bright to the eye.

I definetly agree with Jas-ot on color mixing, however. The *only* thing i dont love about the yellow, is that it can sometimes come off as a bit "yellow-green". You cant see the color in the pictures unfortunately, because of the core effect, but the color on the painted lens has definetly softened, and has not a hint of green. They are both still yellow of course, but the difference is noticeable.

Both sabers were at a full charge, and they are almost blindingly bright for about 15 minutes when fully charged, so maybe it will make a bigger difference once the leds dim a bit.

Maybe a reflector might make a difference with some light but not with others? Maybe lower energy light is more prone to refracting out the side of the lens? That would explain why i seem to be getting more amber. Maybe it would make a bigger difference for red but less for green or blue?

Edit: fyi: the paint i used is spazstix ultimate chrome spray paint 3.5 ounce aersol can. Cheapest i could find was a site called hobby recreation products

I'm going to do a photo dump because I haven't had time to take better pictures. Excuse the dog-hair covered carpet.

http://imgur.com/a/xN3YB

The module on the left has the silver paint. The first few pictures show the modules alone and how different they look with the coating, since they do look the same when I swap out the lens for a non-painted one. The next few pictures have a side-by-side Photon blade comparison. I also used some v4 blades to compare them, and in all blades I noticed a loss of brightness especially towards the tip. It was a bit brighter right at the base of the blade, which may indicate a decrease in the focus of the module.

The final picture is the same two modules, but I replaced the painted lens with a fresh narrow-spot Carclo lens from LEDSupply. The blades illuminated fairly evenly in this case.

The biggest difference with the reflective coating comes when you run just one or two Dice from the X4 star. You'll see a slight uptick and more even lit blade with all 4 dice lit, but you'll REALLY notice improved brightness with only 2 dice lit, like on a Spark2 that is wired two channel.