COATINGS & PIGMENT KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge centre
Technical articles, buying guides and material research written for people who specify and buy coatings professionally. Each article exists to answer a specific question properly — not to reach a word count.
Articles
MARKET & SOURCING
How automotive paint wholesale purchasing works in Europe
Packaging tiers, how minimum order quantities are actually set, which documents a commercial buyer needs, and why transport classification changes the landed cost.
READ THE GUIDE-
PIGMENT SCIENCE
What is YInMn Blue? Properties, uses and pigment science
Coordination chemistry, NIR reflectance, and where the material genuinely earns its cost.
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COATINGS TECHNOLOGY
Vantablack: what it is, whether you can buy it, and the alternatives
What is branded, what is buyable, and how to write a reflectance specification.
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AUTOMOTIVE FINISHES
Pearlescent vs metallic vs candy paint
Three mechanisms, three different sets of application constraints.
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IN PREPARATION — NOT YET PUBLISHED
COMPLIANCE & SAFETY
SDS vs TDS: which document answers which question
What each document is for, who issues it, and what it does not tell you.
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IN PREPARATION — NOT YET PUBLISHED
APPLICATION & TECHNICAL
Waterborne vs solvent-borne automotive basecoat
Practical differences in application, drying and shop requirements.
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IN PREPARATION — NOT YET PUBLISHED
APPLICATION & TECHNICAL
How professional colour matching actually works
Codes, spectrophotometry, variant decks and spray-out panels.
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PIGMENT SCIENCE
Rare blue pigments: from lapis lazuli to YInMn Blue
Six blues compared on origin, chemistry, durability and what is obtainable today.
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IN PREPARATION — NOT YET PUBLISHED
MARKET & SOURCING
How to source specialty pigments in Europe
Who actually holds specialty pigments, and what a formulator should ask for.
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RARE COLOURS
Rare automotive paint colours: the materials behind exotic finishes
Six technologies, why each is difficult to apply and repair, and what drives the cost.
NO ARTICLES IN THIS CATEGORY YET.