International Paint Colour Codes April 21, 2010
Posted by admin in : Colour Chart, Marine Paints , add a comment
International Paint Colour Codes
Some readers (and applicators) are confused with International Paint’s colour coding system. I hope this post can clear the air a wee bit.
International Marine and Protective Coatings use a standard system to denote colour. All the standard colours are represented by a alphabet followed by 3 numbers. For example :
- Signal Green is L549
- Yellow is B134
- Storm Gray is K724
This nomenclature works across product types. Polyurethanes, epoxies and alkyds all use the same system to denote colour. To differentiate the product category, the colour code is preceded by 2 alphabets. Polyurethanes use PH while epoxies use EC. Single pack topcoats use CL. Some examples are :
- ECB134 is epoxy yellow (Intergard)
- PHL549 is PU Signal Green (Interthane)
A good portion of International products follow this coding system.
Nippon Paint Colour Catalogue 2009 August 2, 2009
Posted by admin in : Colour Chart , 9comments
Nippon Paint Colour My World 2009
Colour Catalogue
Thanks for all the requests to post Nippon’s Colour Catalogue online. It has taken quite a while to get it done. The usual disclaimer applies whenever we display colours online (see disclaimer). In short, colours you see on your monitor will look different when viewed on a different monitor. This is due to the difference in settings on different display units. It would not be advisable therefore to choose colours for your bedroom walls from an online chart, unless you don’t mind surprises.
The colour catalogue is 11 MB in size. I strongly advise that the file be saved to the hard disk before opening. Just right-click on the link below and choose ‘Save Link As..’. Save the file somewhere easy to locate eg. onto the Desktop. You need to have Adobe Reader installed to view the file. To download Adobe Reader, go here.
Remember - Save to hard disk first !
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Nippon Paint Colour My World 2009 (11 MB)
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Next - ICI Dulux Colour Inspirations Colour Catalogue
Product Review : Nippon Water-Based Enamel (Aqua Bodelac) May 1, 2009
Posted by admin in : Painting Tips, Recommendations , 2commentsNippon Aqua Bodelac
(Water-Based Enamel Paint)
Nippon Paint seems to be blazing the trail, as far as the local decorative paint market is concerned. They introduced anti-bacterial with their Medifresh, low odour with their 3-in-1 Odour-less and teflon in their EasyWash, all in recent years. Now, they’ve done it again with Aqua Bodelac, a water-based enamel paint for wood and metal.
Water-based enamel paint is not new technology. In fact, it has been around
for many years. Most major brands of decorative household paint overseas have this in their range of products. Different story here in Singapore. We are like a third world country when it comes to the types of paint available here. And it’s not confined to paints. I’ve mentioned in earlier posts that the range of DIY tools here is also very limited.
Personally, I’m a skeptic when it comes to water-based enamels. Maybe its got to do with less than desirable projects in the past with water-based varnish and water-based polyurethanes. Water-based anti-foulings too fall short of expectation. So it was with some relish when given a can of Aqua Bodelac to try, harboring sub-conscious desire to "prove it doesn’t work".
The trial was done on several pieces of unpainted metal plates. I wanted to find out how the Aqua Bodelac compares with the solvent-based version of Bodelac specifically on the following factors, which are important to most painters :
- Drying time
- Smell
- Flow
- Opacity
- Gloss level
- Price
The test panels are below:
- The Aqua Bodelac was touch-dry within 20 minutes while the solvent-based Bodelac was still tacky after 2 hours.
- Aqua Bodelac was almost odourless while the solvent-based version has its usual strong thinner smell.
- Aqua Bodelac was very viscous and not easy to brush on. Thinning was necessary. The flow for the solvent-based enamel was good without thinning.
- The opacity for the water-based was much better. This is important to many. High opacity reduces the number of coats required to cover dirt or to overcoat dark-coloured substrate. The higher opacity is quite obvious from the pictures above. The black marker lines were deliberately drawn to differentiate their ‘covering’ ability. Both panels were painted with just 1 coat. The marker lines can be seen through the one painted with the solvent-based Bodelac (right).
- The glossy for Aqua was good but distinctly inferior to the solvent-based version.
- The current retail price for Aqua Bodelac is $18.40 while the solvent-based version is $14.50 - a $4.00 different.
Conclusion
Durability is one factor not tested here. Other than that, the water-based
version seems to measure up in factors important to us. The fact that it is much easier to cleanup is also a "super plus" point to consider. This is also a right direction to go as we convert more to ‘greener’ products. The surprisingly higher opacity and the fast drying time is enough to convince many to switch, despite the higher price.
Nippon Aqua Bodelac Product Datasheet
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Nippon Aqua Bodelac MSDS
Below are the Product Brochures :
How to avoid brush marks when painting? January 27, 2009
Posted by admin in : Painting Tips , 1 comment so farHow to avoid brush marks when painting?
Some paint-works look great from afar - fresh paint, strong colours, sharp edges - but as you approach nearer, imperfections in the form of brush
marks become obvious. It is a very common problem, and much more obvious on glossy surfaces than on satin or matt ones. This is because brush marks form undulating profiles that reflect light unevenly. If the paint used is glossy, the unevenness is exaggerated.
In an earlier post, I gave some ideas how brush marks can be prevented (see post - Method of Painting - By Brush). Basically, we need to watch 3 aspects of our painting - the brush, the paint and technique.
The Brush
A bad brush in the hands of a professional and with the best paint will give mediocre result at best. It is always good to pay 
more for the brush. Not only does it give you a quality finish, it also saves you time and a lot of frustration. Aside from the problem of brush marks, a low quality brush tend to open up at its sides, making painting of clean edges an impossibility. Then there’s the problem of bristles dropping and sticking onto the painting surface.
To avoid brush marks, always choose bristle that are relatively soft. The length of the bristle should preferably be at least 2 inches or longer. Short bristles tend to be harder at the ends and can cause brush marks easily.
The Paint
Choose paints that have a certain amount of "body". In technical terms, we refer to this as volume solids. All else being equal, paint with higher volume solids tends to self-levels better, resulting in less brush marks. Another point to note about the paint is its ability to flow easily. If the "flow" is poor, brush strokes will not be smooth, again resulting in brush marks. This problem can usually be solved by thinning with the recommended thinner. Lastly, find out about the drying time of the paint. Extremely fast drying paint (dries in minutes) does not give us time to smooth out any brush marks. Many nitrocellulose-based paints fall into this category and are poor candidates for brushing on. The alternative is to spray on such paints.
Technique
Load the brush with enough paint. As mentioned in the earlier post, dip only 1/3 the length of the brush (see picture on the left) into the paint and lightly touch the inner side of the paint can to drain off some excess (but not too much). Apply and distribute the paint with horizontal strokes before smoothing it out with light long strokes, lifting off lightly at the end of the stroke.
If all else fails, use a roller !
How To Calculate Amount of Paint Required ? November 1, 2008
Posted by admin in : Painting Tips , 5comments
If your project is small enough, like painting a grille, or touching-up a couple of nail holes, you never have to worry how much paint you would need to buy. Just purchase the smallest pack and you’ll still have some leftovers. When the projects get bigger, you would need to come up with a good estimate. Otherwise, you may end up with way too much, which can be quite costly, or too little, which can be equally costly especially if you have half a dozen workers having an unscheduled "tea-break" while you "top-up".
To calculate the amount of paint required for a particular project, you would need to known basically 2 pieces of information :
- the area to be painted and
- the coverage of the paint
How to calculate the area to be painted?
a) Walls - Multiply the length and height of the wall to get the area.
b) Room - Add up the areas of all the walls of the room
c) Doors - Multiply the breath and height of the door and double it (for painting on both sides)
d) Cylindrical Pipes - Measure the diameter and the length of the pipe and use the following formula:
Diameter x Length x 3.14
How do I obtain the coverage of the paint?
The coverage of the paint can be found on the product datasheet (also called technical datasheet or product specification). The way it is presented varies with company. Below is an example of Nippon emulsion paint:
The above shows that the theoretical coverage of this paint is 13 sq m / litre at 30 micron DFT (dry film thickness). In other words, one litre of paint can cover 13 square metres if painted at a dry film thickness of 30 microns.
Putting It All Together
Dividing the area to be painted by the coverage, we will arrive at an amount of paint required in litres. For example, if the area of a room is 48 sq metres and the coverage is 13 sq metres per litre, then the amount of paint needed is 48/13 or 3.7 litres. Add 20% loss factor and you’ll arrive at 4.44 litres. Remember that this is for one coat. Double it if you need to paint 2 coats.
Some Tips and Shortcuts
1) In our local context, a HDB room usually requires one can of 5-litre emulsion paint. Living rooms of 4-rooms and above usually need 2 cans.
2) If you do not have access to datasheets, use 8-10 sq m per litre for emulsion paint and 12 - 14 sq m per litre for oil-based paint. This does not work for industrial paints which can vary quite a lot.
3) Rockstone surfaces would require more paint and may need up to 50% more for rougher grains.
4) If the area to be painted is in square feet, multiply it by 0.093 to arrive at the equivalent in square metres.
Hope this post helps you in calculating the amount of paint needed to get that paint job done. However, amount calculated can still vary depending on painting technique, equipment used and surface profile.
