Special purpose coatings industrial coatings that are applied in the field rather than in a factory. A wide variety of markets are furnished which are maintenance paints, marine coatings, automobile refinish paints, and aircraft coatings. Maintenance paints are those applied to factories, tanks, bridges and so forth. In many cases, the substrate is steel and an important function of the coating is to control corrosion.

Marine coatings include those for pleasure craft and commercial vessels. The largest part of the below the waterline coatings are antifouling paints. Automotive refinish coatings are mainly used to repair damaged vehicles. Aircraft are coated mainly with epoxy/amine primers followed by urethane top coats.