Paints and coatings are used on so many items, from cars and airplanes to homes and so much more. Every once in a while, a unique application comes up that reminds one of how many applications there are for paints. Like, for example, a dinosaur sculpture.

Now, dinosaurs wouldn’t come to mind for coating. However, Falcon Cranes, a British engineering firm, recently was presented with a huge, fabricated dinosaur skeleton. The skeleton needed restoration, including surface treatment and painting.

Stephen Dyson, marketing manager for HMG Paints, noted that the fifth-generation family-owned company, the UK’s largest independent paint manufacturer, has partnered directly with Falcon Cranes since 2018. It was a natural fit.

“Falcon Cranes is looked after by Roger Blinco, our South East sales manager, and we have a close working relationship,” Dyson said. “Many of the Falcon team have attended training and development days at HMG.”

However, a dinosaur sculpture is a little out of the ordinary as far as projects go.

“Primarily we work on their core product range of tower cranes, fuel tanks, containers, trucks and pumps,” said Dyson. “Their tower cranes are used in major building projects including in Central London, Norwich Castle and the ports in Glasgow.

“The dinosaur project was completely out of the blue and a unique opportunity, but shows how the partnership we have allowed them to use a myriad of HMG products on such a unique application,” Dyson added.

The project was complex, and required three HMG Paints products. Dyson said that Falcon Cranes used Monothane, a 2K polyurethane finish designed for use on ferrous substrates without the need for a primer, followed by Acrythane SC601, which offers outstanding properties, including rapid drying, high gloss, and simplicity of use. Acrythane 4G, one of HMG’s market leading commercial vehicle products, finished the project in a finish normally reserved for high-end and luxury commercial vehicles. Dyson added that Falcon Cranes typically utilizes Acrythane 4G for doing vehicle refurbishments.

The state of the dinosaur sculpture was the biggest concern the team faced.

“The major challenge was the state of the sculpture when the Falcon team first viewed it, needing lots of restoration work,” Dyson said. “The initial plan was to do a simple shot blast and single color respray. However, the skills and the experience of the Falcon team convinced the owner to go for a more detailed finish.

“The Falcon team are brilliant to work with and like extended members of the HMG Paints team,” Dyson added. “Roger Blinco from HMG and Terry Mulligan, the Falcon Paint shop supervisor, have a very close relationship and work together closely on projects and new product developments.”

“We’ve worked with HMG for a number of years and knew that their versatile product portfolio would be ideal for this project," Mulligan said in the announcement of the project. "The skill and technique that went into this project, is applied to all aspects of our spray booth, whether it be commercial vehicles and tower cranes or in this case, a dinosaur."

Dyson noted that HMG Paints takes pride in all of its projects, whether they are home, industrial, automotive or, well, dinosaur bones.

“With our pride comes responsibility and a genuine care,” Dyson concluded. “Customers of HMG can expect that we will be satisfied with nothing less than excellence and we will work with our customers to achieve this. We are proud of the fact that our products are designed to evolve along with the businesses with whom we work.”