News Archive

FBS Census V6

A specially formulated finish from Indestructible Paint has now been approved and adopted for the fascia moulding of the exciting new FBS Census V6 sports car.

Specifying a high quality 'soft feel' for the coating, the car's manufacturers, FBS Engineering Ltd., of Brackley, Northamptonshire, also required high wear resistance and low reflectivity.

Velsuede on FBS facia

Indestructible's VelSuede Anthracite, a very dark grey suede effect finish, was formulated to match the FBS requirements exactly.

VelSuede, an air drying, or low temperature cure, material is based on a textured 2-component coating system with very high wear and adhesion properties.

It is always nice to know that in times when relations with some Middle East countries may be a little strained, others are still prepared to buy British products. An introduction from the Chief Chemist of a major UK company, a relative of the proprietor of a company in Iran, lead to Indestructible Paint winning business in that country.

The Behrizan Company, of Isfahan, in Iran have now approved a slow extraction dip lacquer from Indestructible. The product, ref., 31012, is being used to enhance and protect Behrizan's high quality brass and gold plated door furniture which is currently being sold in many countries including the UK.

Cured at 150º C, the coating is a standard Indestructible product designed for this type of application. Based on a modified epoxy resin, the Indestructible lacquer is also used in a number of other applications in the UK. In this case it replaces an Italian material that suffered from poor performance. The first small production trial batch of 1,000 litres, was delivered to Behrizan in October last year.

The Behrizan specification called for a pass at 96 hours in the ASTM B117 salt spray and two weeks exposure to BS 3900 humidity on both brass and gold plate. Tests proved that ref., 31012 easily achieves this level of performance.

An evaluation of Indestructible's Rylard anti-fouling paint, was carried out on both hulls of the Heavenly Twins catamaran, Catmando, over a period of more than 12 months.

The tests, conducted by Mr Anthony Salisbury, an experienced yachtsman and instructor at the Royal Yachting Association, gave extremely satisfactory results. In fact, they were 'the best so far,' according to Mr Salisbury, who has had the catamaran moored at Dell Quay, Chichester for over five years.

The following is a transcript of Mr Salisbury's evaluation.

• The antifouling was applied to the epoxy resin finished fibre-glass surface of the twin hulls of the catamaran
• Application was made between tides and the vessel re-floated approximately two hours after work was complete
• The surface was cleaned off by scraping to remove a large amount of weed and barnacles, then rubbed down with coarse sandpaper
• Two coats of Indestructible's antifouling were applied, the first by brush the second by roller. After ensuring that it was mixed thoroughly the paint flowed easily over the surface of the hull
• The vessel remained on the half tide mooring or sailed the waters of the South coast during the summer of 2000
• No fouling was apparent and no scrubbing was necessary in November 2000 when the boat was laid up in a mud berth, floating only on spring tide.
• Prior to its return to the half tide mooring in April 2001, a small amount of weed was present on the lower part of the keels. No barnacles were attached to the surface of the hulls

Summary:The boat was moored at Dell Quay for the five years prior to this test suffering heavy fouling with both weed and barnacles. However, Indestructible's anti-fouling paint has produced the best results so far.

Tyseley Railway Museum in Birmingham specialises in restoring old Great Western Railway steam locomotives. When re-building these ancient engines, accurate identification of the original colours is one of the many problems encountered.

The process requires considerable research and not a little guesswork. Examples of the old colours no longer exist except, occasionally, under several layers of the subsequent coats of paint. When examples are uncovered, matching them can still be a problem as the original pigments are no longer available, often for health & safety reasons. Current work involves the old GWR green, for the major part of the engines and tenders, and Chinese red for the buffer beams.

Working closely with the museum, Indestructible are providing samples for evaluation, using modern pigments and resins from its Rylard coach paint range to best replicate the colours. These are being assessed by the museum, and adjusted as required, by Indestructible.

Paint for the engines will be donated by Indestructible as soon as the final shades are established.

Uses for Indestructible's LFCs (low friction coatings) become more diverse by the day. The original Indestructible dry film lubricants have been widely used on aircraft for many years. Industrial versions of these, known as the Ipslip range, are now being adopted and evaluated for a variety of purposes where permanent lubrication or high surface slip is required. Examples include their use on the large pins used on earth moving equipment, springs, high torque bolts and many automotive applications.

In the last issue of Rockhard we mentioned the use of Ipslip on MG car brake fittings. Following a five year trial, another version has now been adopted on Rolls-Royce and Bentley brake parts. The Rolls-Royce/Bentley application provides an excellent example of Ipslip's multi-role capability. In this case Ipslip provides a cosmetic function and corrosion protection as well as lubrication.

Made of cast iron, the Rolls-Royce and Bentley parts required a special version of Ipslip, based on an epoxy phenolic resin system, to provide the required corrosion resistance. Ipslip is used in black or bright red on all Rolls-Royce and Bentley models. The red version, only available initially on a limited edition of the Bentley Le Mans painted in British racing green, is now an option on all Bentley models.

In total contrast to the above, Ipslip, has also recently been approved by a manufacturer of edge cutting tools. Supplied in black, for the blade of the tool, and silver for the anvil, the product contains a special blend of dry lubricants to balance the required wear resistance against the right degree of surface slip for cutting wet or dry branches. The coating is also tested to withstand 5,000 cuts, using six mm dowel as the test medium.

Golf balls for use on golf ranges have a much harder life than their conventional counterparts. Any lacquer used as coating obviously has to pass some very demanding tests.

The 'cannon' test involves firing the balls repeatedly, at about 90 mph, at a wall. Other tests simulate the constant mechanical retrieving, sorting and washing operations that occur many times a day on a golf range.

Needless to say the coatings for these golf balls have to be very flexible, hard, smooth (for minimum air resistance), scratch resistant and resistant to the washing process. In this case the manufacturer also needed a low VOC coating that cured rapidly. Traditional coatings have a high VOC and take an unacceptable 16 hours to cure.

Indestructible provided a Birmingham Manufacturer of these products with a specially modified version of its 51000 series. A UV cured polyurethane lacquer with a VOC content of 30%, this material has a curing time of only 4-5 seconds.

Indestructible's Rylard Marine coatings have been
used in a number of Mediterranean countries for many years including Greece, the Greek islands and Italy. The company's largest outlet in this region, however, is in Malta.

A small island of only 320 sq. kilometres and a population of just over 1/3 of a million, Malta lists manufacturing, especially electronics, and tourism as its main industries. Its main languages are Maltese and English. Around 900,000 tourists visit Malta each year.

Being a small island, the sea and boats obviously play a predominant part in its holiday and recreational facilities. In Malta Rylard products are handled by one of the island's major chandlers, Gauci-Borda, who import marine coatings from Indestructible in 100 litre and 200 litre drums. By re-packing the paints in smaller containers for its customers, the company pays less import tax, the operation counting as a manufacturing process for this purpose.

The most striking characteristic of the small boats seen bobbing in all the major tourist harbours is the variety of bright colours displayed. The wide colour choice offered in the Rylard range is obviously one of its attractive features. No doubt Rylard's high resistance to UV, providing excellent light fastness, is also a important benefit.

In addition to their marine applications Rylard finishes are also used on the island's buses. Another of Malta's famous tourist attractions, many of these buses are major re-builds of vehicles imported from the UK, some dating as far back as the 1940's and 50's. Until1997 all these were painted green and grey. However, a decision was taken to re-paint them yellow and white with red relief.

In Greece and the Greek islands Rylard coatings are distributed by Byron Anagnostopoulos of Amphithea, Athens.

A major supplier to local boat manufacturers and fitters re-brands and sells Rylard yacht & boat varnishes and polyurethane coatings throughout Italy, re-packing from 200 litre drums into various pack sizes from 750 ml upwards.

However, Indestructible's markets in the Mediterranean region are not solely for marine products. A Turkish distributor is currently being established to supply decorative coatings for plastic, including thermochromic coatings and high gloss clear UV cured lacquers for televisions. Once known for producing mainly small, 'low tech' and portable TVs, Turkish companies have now modernised and produce the latest digital technology in this market.

It is interesting to note that it is now cheaper to make televisions in Turkey than the Far East. The country is also better situated for supplying the Western European sector.