Forensic Paint Analysis Services

Offering a professional Forensic Paint Analysis and Forensic Paint Expert Witness Services, Forensic Resources uses specialist technology to analyse all forms of paint layers to aid criminal investigations for defence solicitors across the UK. Our service is also utilised by insurance fraud departments to investigate fraudulent claims on vehicle crashes.

As paint is made up of three main components, the carrier, the binder and vehicle; our forensic paint experts are able to identify the different layers of paint in a hit and run or road traffic accident (RTA) for example. From this point our team will collate the chemical information they collect, allowing them to put together a report of makes, models and year of manufacture of motor vehicles where the paint may have originated.

Painted surfaces are everywhere, so it is not surprising that paint is an important source of trace evidence. The most common form of paint analysis comes from paint chip analysis in car accidents either from one car to another or, in the case of a hit-and-run, from the car to the victim. When analysing paint chips on cars, it is often the under most layer of the surrounding paint that is most informative to a forensic expert thus great care has to be taken to preserve it. Matching chips with flakes of paint that have been knocked off a vehicle during a collision can prove vital when individualising evidence, so great care must be taken not to disturb any features of the surface during evidence collection to allow an accurate match and a detailed analysis to be conducted by a forensic paint expert.

If, for instance, a paint flake is located on the clothing of a victim of a hit and run accident, then the perpetrator's car should show a similar chip that matches that of the flake collected at the crash scene. Forensic Resources paint experts use a light microscope, a stereomicroscope, and also a scanning electron microscope to look for a jigsaw-like fit of the edge of the chip and the flake. Our expert forensic paint analysis team can potentially identify the make, model, and often the year of a car, making it easier to catch the driver or owner.

Extracting quality paint samples from a crime scene can often prove a challenge to any forensic analysis team. Paint is found on a variety of objects including clothing, vehicles, and tools. When paint becomes mixed with other materials such as dirt or grease its removal will be a specialist task for an onsite forensics expert. In many circumstances paint can prove complicated to examine due to its exposure to dirt, rain, and other contaminants. Forensic Resource expert paint analysts are experienced in seeing past the elements to provide accurate evidence when needed for all forms of paint related investigations.

Forensic Resources Ltd provides the following paint expert witness and paint forensic analysis services:

Car Paint Analysis
Clothing Paint Analysis for accidents
Clothing Paint analysis for hit and run incidents
Paint Footprint Analysis
Paint Fingerprint Analysis
Vandalism Paint Analysis
Forensic Resin Analysis

For more information on clothing analysis please see also see Trace Analysis.

Do you require further information on Forensic Paint Analysis?

If you require further information on our forensic paint analysis please contact one of our paint expert witnesses through our case manager on 02920 647 043 or email us through the enquiry form below.