Extraordinarily painted aircrafts have become very popular in the last couple of years and, in comparison to the common mostly white machines, are real eye catchers. There are two new aircraft to admire in the sky: Globally operating paint manufacturer Mankiewicz, Belgian flag carrier Brussels Airlines, global paint services provider Eirtech Aviation and airbrush artist André Eisele realized a joint project that resulted in two exceptional painted aircrafts that thematize the Belgian culture. Implementation of the exceptional design was made possible by the ALEXIT® BaseCoat/ClearCoat system of Mankiewicz with a record of painting many stunning aircraft motifs.
The first aircraft’s theme was featuring René Magritte, the world-famous Belgian surrealist painter and the second aircraft displayed the Red Devils, Belgium's national football team. Both aircraft depict motifs that reflect aspects of Belgian culture. Brussels Airlines is continuing its tradition of painting its aircraft in special color schemes. „Since the huge success of our first collaboration with Mankiewicz on Rackham, our Tintin-inspired aircraft in 2015, which became one of the most photographed planes of all time, we were sure that we wanted to continue this collaboration also for our upcoming demanding projects“, says Nathalie Erdmanis, Vice President Marketing of Brussels Airlines. "Trident, the Red Devils aircraft, as well as the René Magritte aircraft contain highly complex details and brilliant colors with fadings, which come with high requirements to the painting system. Again, the results are amazing."
Both complex designs were created by paint only. In particular this was possible due to the outstanding hiding power, remarkably rapid drying times and fade-out properties of the Mankiewicz BaseCoat/ClearCoat system. In this way even the finest structures and details could be achieved without resorting to decals: Even the facial textures of Magritte and the tiny twigs of a bird’s nest were made possible. “Using the Mankiewicz paint and colors, I could complete this exceptional design, using the finest airbrush techniques without restrictions. With the Mankiewicz paint system, I can achieve any desired design effect in record time. These coatings are simply in a class of their own”, enthused André Eisele.
The unique properties of the paint system also permit the use of the so called Wild Spraying technique: Instead of the most frequent color, the lowest is applied first. It is traditional to spray the most used color first (mostly white), followed step by step to the most frequently used color. In between these colors negative masking is required and thus lots of time, man power and masking material. The hiding power of the BaseCoat allows to turn around the painting process which results in massive time and material savings. Wild Spraying also allows for spraying two colors at the same time given that they are not too close to each other in order to avoid overspray.
Mankiewicz not only provided the coating system, but was also involved in development of the design from the outset. “We are very pleased that we realized this outstanding project with our good partners Brussels Airlines and Eirtech Aviation”, remarked Andreas Ossenkopf of Mankiewicz. “The amazing results speak for themselves.“
About Mankiewicz
Mankiewicz is a globally operating paint manufacturer, founded 1895 in Hamburg. Nowadays, the Mankiewicz group supplies high-quality coating systems for industrial series production to various sectors, including demanding markets such as Machinery, Automotive, Aviation, Railway, Utility Vehicles, Medical Engineering, Yacht and Wind Power Industry. The in-house development department permits creation of all paint systems in all color shades, gloss grades and textures, tailor-made for each customer. More than 1.200 employees worldwide are involved in the realization of "Coating Concepts of the Future" to ensure long-term preservation of utility and capital goods. Our products fulfill the wish for highest quality and continuous proximity to the market and its requirements.
The high quality of the products and processes is guaranteed by a quality management system, which was established many years ago. Mankiewicz is certified according to ISO 9001, ISO/TS 16949, EN9100, ISO 14001 and has been successfully audited according to VDA 6.3. Get additional information here: www.mankiewicz.com
