Painting Logos At Thorpe Park Splash Ride
November 2019

We were recently contacted to specify the paint for logos at Thorpe Park theme park in Surrey.
Painting Logos

One of the best places to advertise your company is right at your feet. Logos can be painted in high-traffic areas, so people can see them, especially guests.

Painting logos is an art form in itself. Promain can provide suitable paints for artists to hand-paint logos and other decals on company floors and walls in a variety of colours. With a wide range of options, we have an array of quality paints for both industrial flooring and commercial spaces internally and externally.

Keep in mind, however, that hand-painting is fundamentally different than simply applying a vinyl graphic logo. Painting a logo down onto a floor with a high quality paint will last, no matter the footfall. This is of course if you follow the correct preparation.

Our “create your own logo” paint system below is ideal if you are:

Painting company logos
Paint business logos
Painting company logo designs
Looking to paint logos and names
Painting company logos free hand
Intending to paint brush and roller logo
painting company name on floor
painting company logo on floor

Read below to see how Promain specified paint products to Thorpe Park in Surrey.
Introducing The Project

Owned and operated by Merlin Entertainment, Thorpe Park is one of the UK’s most loved theme parks. Since it’s opening in 1979, Thorpe Park regularly has over 1.8 million visitors per annum.

Due to the frequency of the site being photographed by the public, Thorpe Park loan out the floor and roof area around the Tidal Wave ride. This helps companies get frequent exposure online via social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook.
The Contractors

Richard Hollyer from Hollyer Projects won the project. Richard has worked for various high end entertainment companies including Tussauds Group (former owners of Thorpe Park). Hollyer Projects has a wide range of international experience that they have built up over the last 20 years.

For more info see their website here –
http://www.hollyerprojects.com

Hollyer Projects employed the services of scenic artist Sarah Baker to carry out the logo painting. Sarah had previously worked with colleagues to carry out the scenic painting at Thorpe Park’s Saw Ride a few years ago.

This new project consists of painting words of the Oasis logo on the floor along with their slogan.
Painting Logos: Promain’s Floor Paint Specification

Tony on Promain’s technical team proposed various options for the project. Initially, Promain suggested ProtectaKote UVR as an option. However, it is only available in a set range of standard colours. Therefore, a second option was suggested – Teamac Chlorvar followed by a clear topcoat where anti slip clear polymer beads could be back rolled in. Chlorvar is available in a most RAL and BS shades but not Pantone colours. This option would be ideal as the painting could be carried out in the companies corporate colours.

One issue we had about using Teamac Chlorvar Chlorinated Rubber is that this a relatively thin film build. Henceforth, it would not hold the anti slip aggregate. With this in mind our technical department had to think out of the box. They looked at solutions used on Highways applications. These products are subject to much higher levels of wear and tear. This is why chlorinated rubber line marking paint is used on major roads throughout the UK. They are subject to not only water but de-icing salts. These de-icing salts will attack most paint coatings in a relatively short space of time.

The solution was to use an anti slip MMA (methyl methacrylate). The product that was proposed was used in high wear areas on tarmac roads. This made it suitable for application to the tarmac areas adjoining the entrance to the Tidal Wave Ride.
About MMA

MMA is a widely used paint formulation used for line marking in commercial situations mainly externally as it has high VOC’s. It is a reliable, durable, fast return to service paint coating.

MMA’s use peroxide as an activator and the amount of activator can be varied dependant on ambient temperature. This is to increase or decrease the speed of curing. MMA’s are often applied using a drawbox (see image).

MMA benefits from an extremely fast return to service. However, it also has great durability making it a great choice for this project.
Application of The Paint Logo Design

MMA was identified for painting the company logo. The MMA contained an anti slip aggregate which was chosen as the location is in the splash area of the ride. This means that the ground will be almost constantly wet during the parks opening hours. Thorpe Park in Chertsey, UK was visited by 1.8 million people to it’s 490 acre site in 2017. Henceforth, the logo design needed to withstand the high level of footfall.

Thorpe Park Logo Painting

To get the best finish, the previous logo would have had to be scarified to remove it. This however would have left scaring on the black top which is unsightly and far from ideal. To get around this, it is best to replace the whole section of tarmac with new.

New tarmac however needs to oxide before the application of paint. This oxidisation process will take a minimum of 8 weeks of weathering and UV degradation. As the Park closes for annual maintenance over the winter this extended time frame was not an issue. This also meant we had to find a solution that would be able to cure at lower temperatures.

Below is a great picture of the finished logo design:

Thorpe Park Logo Painting
Painting Logos: Conclusion

The site opened to the public at the end of March 2019. Promain look forward to a continued future relationship with Richard and Sarah.

Are you looking to draw your own logo, paint logo designs with industrial paint? Or are you looking for theme park paint? Contact our technical team today for an in depth specification for your requirements.

We can also discuss logo painting systems for:

paint logo on concrete
paint logo on glass
how to paint logo on brick wall
paint logo on metal
how to paint a logo on wood