Aircraft coatings provider Sherwin-Williams Aerospace is debuting in Orlando a coating system for exteriors and interiors along with new tools to help customers select the perfect hues for their aircraft.
“We’re all about color at NBAA this year,” said Julie Voison, global marketing manager, aerospace coatings, noting the full spectrum of the company’s products is on display.
The debuting basecoat-clearcoat polyurethane paint system, Skyscapes, features specially formulated resins that offer richer color and higher gloss retention and is available for both exterior and interior application. Skyscapes features a number of new shades including Sky Delight, Amethyst Smoke, Rumba Red, and Gray Shadows. All the Skyscape basecoat colors can also be mixed with a newly expanded selection of metallic and other effects: Midnight Silk, Electric Indigo, Casino Gold, and Alabaster White Pearl among them.
NBAA presents the best opportunity to see the coatings as they would appear on an aircraft without going to an airport. “When it comes to colors, it’s a pretty exact science, so we don’t have them online,” said Voison.
The new color selector books Sherwin-Williams is displaying (Booth 4863) can help customers compare all their options, with the added benefit of having color experts on hand to assist. In addition to Voison, Chip Mullins, global sales manager, and Richard Giles, global technical services manager are here.
The exterior color selector book has 333 different colors, while shades in the interior book have almost tripled, to more than 100. The latter includes samples of textured coatings, like Jet Suede, created to take the place of leather sidewalls in the cabin. Fan decks (so called because the samples can be “fanned out”) with larger, 7-inch x 2-inch samples of the colors and effects are also on display.
Each topcoat color in the exterior system is available as a single stage, or monocoat, system or as a basecoat-clearcoat system. In the latter, the basecoat contains all the pigments and/or effects, and the clearcoat acts as a protective sealant for added durability and longevity, the topcoat chosen based on curing properties and other factors.
Sherwin-Williams is also showcasing its popular legacy coating products and has “added about 25 percent new colors,” even as their usage evolves. Acry Glo, with its eye-catching metallic system, has been primarily used for striping on small aircraft, but recently “we had a lot more requests from customers wanting a metallic look, either overall or on the belly or crown,” Voison said. “So we took [Acry Glo] back to drawing board.” The result is Acry Glo’s Large Area Metallic HLG Series that allows application over large areas.
Looking ahead, Sherwin-Williams plans to introduce Jet Pen next year in Q4, a repair and touch-up tool for small paint scratches. “It’s basically a 10-cc pen with hardener in a capsule inside,” Voison explained. “You crack open the pen, bend and shake it to activate the ingredients, then you can do a touch up on the plane.”
Jet Pen obviates the need for masking and spray guns for simple touch-ups. The most popular colors will be available first and the selection is expected to expand.
