PEELABLE TEMPORARY COATING SAVES TIME, CUTS COSTS AND REDUCES ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Changing paint schemes on military vehicles for rapid reaction deployment is quicker and more cost efficient using Intergard® 10220, a peelable coating system developed by AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings.

Up until now, changing camouflage for different environments involved the application and subsequent removal of coatings using solvent based chemicals, a messy and time-consuming process which also required the safe disposal of the solvent residues afterwards, itself a costly business. The stripping of the ‘old style’ temporary camouflage often meant that specialist equipment is also needed and precautions taken to stop the residues getting into the water table.

The new peelable Intergard® coating has many advantages. Applied by conventional sprays, brush or roller, it is robust in operation but can be peeled off when necessary to suit the needs of different terrains, or in order to decontaminate the surface of the vehicle.

The paint can also be modelled to change the IR (infra red) signature, thus helping to camouflage equipment in different spectra relevant to the environment to which it is being dispatched. Non-slip variants are also available and further developments are planned with the MoD (Ministry of Defence)

“Intergard® 10220 is quicker, and safer to use, “ explained Rob Walker, AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings’ Business Development Manager for Defence Coatings. “One of the main benefits is that current systems used for temporary coatings require the paint to be washed off with an alkali stripper which converts the coating back to wet paint. Disposing of this residue is very expensive. But this coating can be safely bagged and disposed of once it has been quickly peeled off.”