Story ID: 374 Scheme Designers.doc
Scheme Designers Offers Custom Paint Job
By: James Wynbrandt
Caption: Paint scheme specialist has a new masking process for intricate designs.
Word Count: 354

Scheme Designers, pioneer of the custom aircraft paint scheme, is making its MEBA debut here at the 2014 show and introducing a comprehensive design offering created especially for the Middle East market.

“We’ve worked with a lot of customers from this region, but we’ve never addressed the market directly,” said Craig Barnett, the U.S. company’s founder and president. “It’s an ideal market for us because it’s focused on business jets, and we’ve designed the schemes for a lot of large cabin aircraft and executive airliners.”

In addition to designing the livery for OEMs including Daher-Socata, Piper, Mahindra Aerospace, Viking, and Mooney, the company’s artists have created unique custom paint schemes for some 11,000 aircraft. For its “show special” here at MEBA, Barnett, the company’s chief artist, will personally design the paint scheme in close collaboration with the aircraft owner or representative, provide engineering drawings along with a complete three-dimensional design package, and supervise the design layout at the selected paint shop. The offering is priced at $5,000.

“Aircraft owners spend millions of dollars on interior design, but the exterior design is just ignored, or done as something thrown in in a casual way,” Barnett said. “We bring a level of expertise unrivaled in that niche.” Scheme Designers is also showcasing here a new masking process that can create highly complex fades. “It allows far more intricate design work,” Barnett said. The company also helps customers choose the best paint shop for their project, and specifies all instructions for application, whether masking, airbrush or a combination of techniques.

At Scheme Designers’ display (Stand 642B) the company is featuring a multimedia presentation showcasing several hundred business jets and helicopters painted in the company’s striking designs. Reflecting on the regional tastes he’s observed among Middle East customers since starting his company in 1997, Barnett noted “a desire for elegance in design over complexity.” The company occasionally designs paint schemes for yachts, as well, and Barnett said he’s already completed one such project that included a matching helicopter.