Flouresent and neon, is there a difference?

[martinfan5]

Just as the title says, is there a difference between the two?, I bought some florescent colors for a build , but by mistake, I should of got neon colors.

If it helps, the colors I am using are green and yellow

[Danno]

Yes.

[CadillacPat]

Yes, Fluorescent reacts to a Black Light, typically.

Neon can be a label for many different shades of a color, bright like Fluorescent but not necessarily luminous.

Both of these labels are used on paints that don't necessarily have night reflective qualities.

CadillacPat

Edited October 7, 2012 by CadillacPat

[Danno]

Seriously,

What CaddyPat said!

[martinfan5]

Yes, Fluorescent reacts to a Black Light, typically.

Neon can be a label for many different shades of a color, bright like Fluorescent but not necessarily luminous.

Both of these labels are used on paints that don't necesarily have night reflective qualities.

CadillacPat

So I should find the colors in neon then?, as if I use the fluorescent colors, it wont give me the match I need ?

Thanks guys

Edited October 7, 2012 by martinfan5

[Art Anderson]

Are you trying to spray "fluorescent" (also better-known as Day-Glo) colors over a dark surface? If so, that doesn't work, as Day Glo colors are NOT pigmented paints, but rather use light-enhancing dye to create that brilliant, "knock your eyes out" color.

Painting with Day-Glo colors is a three-step process: First, you need a white ground base (almost always white paint), then a coat of Day-Glo, followed by a clear coat--the white is what picks up the light, reflects that back THROUGH the translucent Day-Glo color, and the clear coat protects the dead-flat surface that most all Day-Glo paints will have, to prevent fingerprints (your skin oils along with airborne dirt) from ruining the color. This is what I learned from spending 4 days at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1966, with a garage pass (STP Racing Team had to repaint their cars nightly during practice, as debris chipping left white spots, so STP shipped in their Day-Glo red by the 33-gallon drums weekly during the then-three-weeks-of-practice for the Indy 500). I got to see Lotus 38 nose cones being repainted each time I was there at the Speedway that Month of May so saw it happen in all three steps.

This does need to be a spray painting operation, as Day-Glo colors brushed on will be very "blotchy" given that even the smoothest hand brushed paint surface will have thick and thin areas--brush marks if you will--resulting in differences in shade all over the work. Also, the white paint you use needs to be smoothly sprayed on, otherwise noticeable "orange peel", along with any runs or sags, or even bits of dust or dirt in the white will be greatly enhanced in the sprayed on Day-Glo. Last, the clear coat not only seals the Day-Glow's flat finish (meaning no shine whatsoever in almost all cases, brands and types of the stuff), but will also enhance the color a bit, deepening it only slightly while retaining it's brilliant shock value, and enabling you to get that gloss finish. In doing all this, you should be absolutely sure that the white base color, the Day-Glo color, and the clear coat are compatible. Most Day-Glow paints are either enamel based, or water-borne acrylic flat finish materials. While neither of those will affect a cured enamel white base, and certainly won't bother a lacquer white, for sure a lacquer clear will spoil things very quickly.

I had to learn how to use this stuff 44 years ago when MPC released their 1/20 scale kit of the 1967 STP Turbine Indy Car, which was painted entirely in Krylon Rocket Red (the STP Corporate color back then!). It took two tries for me to figure it all out, but the effect was stunnning! In 1969, while finishing my college degree, I did all three versions of the MPC 1968 STP Lotus Turbines in the method I described, and used those cars in an annual display of Indy cars at the hobby shop downtown here in Lafayette. You could see those cars at night, in that lighted display window from half a block, they were that bright (so were the real cars on the track at IMS!).

Day-Glo, Fluorescent and Neon often get used interchangeably, and regardless of what you call the colors, if it's got that super, eye-watering brightness, it will be the same thing. It should not be confused with some automotive colors, which were termed "Neon" this or that by actual carmakers--those are just extra bright pigments, NOT light enhancing dye such as used in Day-Glo/Fluorescent paints.

Hope this helps!

Art

[Danno]

What IndyArt said! (Outlines it better.)