Located in Ingoldmells on the sunny east coast of Lincolnshire, close to Skegness and a stone’s throw from the beach, Fantasy Island is one of the leading family-friendly attractions.
Coastal locations always test the endurance of any coating system and with the combination of specialist access requirements and inclement weather, the cost-effective approach is to use experienced professionals like Hankinson Whittle.
In November 2011 we were asked to visit Fantasy Island with a budget price for ‘Odyssey’ rollercoaster. Built in 2002 at a cost of £28 million and standing 167 feet high, at the tallest point riders can experience speeds of up to 63mph and a force of 4.8g. At the time a ride of this magnitude and size meant we were only able to give a budget price; given that the structure had not been maintained since erection the structure was looking tired and in need of a freshen up.
Following our initial budget we received further requests to prepare a quotation for the ‘Volcano’ ride in autumn 2012. The client placed an order to repaint the 183-foot ‘Volcano’ vertical ride in February 2013, but the ‘Odyssey’ was considered just too much at that time.
In 2014 the client requested prices for further rides, namely the ‘Mouse’, the ‘Rhombus Rocket’ and ‘Water Splash’ – the orders were received and work was planned for Winter 2014. In 2015, we then received the good news that we had also been awarded the ‘Odyssey’ repainting works.
As the season for the park runs until the schools’ October half term holiday, we arranged for a start in the works yard area well away from the public’s view, stopping for 1 week during the holiday period and then back on site for a total of 20 weeks. The works finished in February 2016.
The steelwork had seen little maintenance since erection. The red track was turning pink, and white support columns were covered in lichen, a fine layer of sea salt and general grime – so, the first task was to ensure that the whole structure was adequately cleaned. With working heights up to 170 feet we chose to use a 5000psi pressure washer combined with cleaner degreasers. This worked well and maintained the pressure that we needed at those heights, and at the same time prepared any areas that were suffering from decay and rusting. All areas showing signs of decay including all bolt heads were spot primed with Tikkurila ST200 two pack aluminium primer in dark grey, with ST300 tinted for the white columns.
The steelwork was then painted in two coats of Temacoat RM40 two pack intermediate coat suitable to the finished colour and one final coat of Temadur 50 two pack polyurethane finish. Finish colours were chosen as RAL 1021 Yellow for the track and RAL 7016 Anthracite Grey for the columns.
The client had no pre-conceived ideas around specification other than ensuring that the ride maintained its appearance for a significant period, so we chose Tikkurila who were able to provide us with a specification that would give up to 12 years life span.
The most difficult part of the project was to provide sufficient and suitable access, as every painter on site had to be in a cherry picker for 95% of the work. At the height of the works there were eight machines on hire from small 16m machines up to a lorry mount that reached 57m. Despite occasions when poor weather stopped the works we lost little time, only suffering towards the end of the contract with the 57m lorry mount where operation above 25-30mph meant it was unsafe to use.
Having initially given our client a completion date 1 week ahead of the opening season weekend, we were able to complete all of the works within 20 weeks – this was 3 weeks ahead of schedule, to the delight of the client.
This family attraction and its theme park rides will look great for many years to come.