Low tech invisibility for cars

[dieseltaylor]

There was an old joke about Skodas [before VW owned them] and being seen in one was fatal for your image

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/8030766.stm

[Michael Emrys]

Very good. But she didn't hide the shadow. BTW, shadows were also a giveaway of attempts at wartime camouflage.

Michael

[gunnergoz]

Very good. But she didn't hide the shadow. BTW, shadows were also a giveaway of attempts at wartime camouflage.

Michael

Yep. The old camo manuals recommended countershading in white or light gray to ease the problem. Thus you'd see the underside of the fenders, bumpers and gun barrels painted in white or some other light color. Only worked until the first time they hit dust or mud, of course.

Funny how, in the end, daubing on local mud and foliage worked as well as any fancy paint scheme for the most part.

And "soon" we'll all have invisibility cloaks, right? Happy day on the freeway when that happens...

[Michael Emrys]

Yep. The old camo manuals recommended countershading in white or light gray to ease the problem. Thus you'd see the underside of the fenders, bumpers and gun barrels painted in white or some other light color.

No, I was referring to shadows cast by the object on the ground or other objects. If you are covering, say, a tank park with a camo net, but the shadows of the tanks can still be made out through the netting, it really doesn't matter how you've painted the tanks. Might as well paint them Day-Glo orange.

Michael

[JonS]

I'm pretty sure that skoda trick only works from a certain angle and distance.

From any other angle and distance the effect would have very noticeable discontinuities ... although, you'd know something was was there, you'd probably have trouble figuring out what the something was.

[gunnergoz]

No, I was referring to shadows cast by the object on the ground or other objects. If you are covering, say, a tank park with a camo net, but the shadows of the tanks can still be made out through the netting, it really doesn't matter how you've painted the tanks. Might as well paint them Day-Glo orange.

Michael

Actually, the countershading, especially that on surfaces closer to the ground, was intended to reflect more light into the shadowed areas on the ground or in the wheel wells, thus minimizing the actual shadows themselves. Obviously, the effect would be minimal except with fresh coat of paint, but that's how textbook solutions are. But it is correct that shadows are a dead giveaway most of the time, no matter what the paint job. I have those old manuals in storage - some day I'll get them out and scan the color examples for the forum to enjoy.

[JonS]

Why things are seen? 5 S's and an M:

Surface, shape, shadow (cast and contained), silhouette, spacing and movement

[Affentitten]

On one of our news channels the other day there was a piece about a Russian company who are selling inflatable military gear (like Scud launchers) as a means of fooling overhead imagery.

Everything old is new again....... (Though there was some higher tech additions. Like in-built electric blankets to simulate heat signature.)

Anyway, hiding a Skoda is minor compared to WW2 efforts like this: Lockheed factory

[gunnergoz]

The Lockheed factory photos bring to mind a related anecdote from the era; it seems that the Corps of Engineers used Hollywood backstage set-making and film prop talent and ideas in making the Lockheed plant camouflage system. After the Lockheed plant was done, the movie studios in Hollywood clamored for their own camo system to be set up, arguing that movies were essential to war morale and that they would thus be high on any Japanese bombing target list. The Corps of Engineers then duplicated the job they'd done on Lockheed, covering the studios with painted netting, etc. Months later, after a studio head flew over them on the way back from a business trip, the movie moguls were very distressed to find out that the studios had been camouflaged to look like the Lockheed plant from the air - the perfect diversion to further insure the real aircraft factory's safety from Japanese bombers.