South Metropolitan TAFE Carlisle Campus has combined with PPG and its WA distributors, to put on a memorable event at the annual WA Colour Matching Competition.
As well as giving apprentice spray painters a chance to win some very cool prizes, while honing their skills in a competitive setting, the latest running of the WA Colour Matching Competition also highlighted a commitment to developing the tradespeople of the future, according to Ray Bondarenko, PPG Commercial Transportation and Refinish Training Manager. “PPG and the lecturers at South Metropolitan TAFE Carlisle Campus have run the WA Colour Matching Competition for many years and we were determined to put on another great event. Our two Perth based PPG distributors, Platinum Auto Paints and Shacks Motor Group, provided close support and we had Eddie Fitzgerald as guest judge. I believe Eddie has put 75 apprentices through his business, Stokes and Renk Panel & Paint, up until his retirement – how good is that?”
On the day before the event, Ray and Troy Crouch (Automotive Refinish Lecturer) set up workspaces, tools, PPE, etc. for each contestant, as well as all the tinters required to match the two competition colours – a solid orange and a metallic in a purple shade – in PPG’s ENVIROBASE High Performance waterborne basecoat system.
“The day ran beautifully. We had a good turnout with eight third year apprentices taking the opportunity to test their skills against each other and the clock. It started with a one hour time limit to match the solid colour. After a break and judging, they had an hour to tackle the metallic colour. During the competition, it was great to see some shop owners drop in to support their apprentices.”
“WA has some really talented apprentices coming through the TAFE and it showed when we plugged the scores into the spreadsheet. It was a close win to Lewis Mason (West Perth Panel and Paint) who walked away with a SATAjet X 5500 Future limited edition spray gun. Second placed, Reagen Bidefeld (Under XS Panel & Paint) received a SATAjet 100 BF spray gun and third place went to Dee Htoo (Gemini Balcatta) who took home a SATA Gun Cleaning Kit. To ensure no one left empty handed, there were also PPG showbags, as well as PPG hoodies and polo shirts. The atmosphere throughout the event was so positive and joyful, it was just a really nice day to be part of. We are already looking forward to next year’s competition and supporting the industry’s up and coming talent.”