tarting up some of those Goldtip (not so)Traditional carbons

[muntries]

Hi guys, been thinking of getting into wooden arrows and making up a set of nicely painted and fletched arrows for the up coming Ballarat shoot in October, only problem is that I'm still hitting the odd inanimate object that isn't the target (trees and the odd rock) so it could be expensive for me. Therefore I thought that maybe I could do the same to a set of goldtip traditionals. Has anyone had much experience in painting part of the shafts of those goldtip "traditional" arrows? I'm gonna give it a go but if anyone has suggestions on a paint that can be used?

Tah

Simon

[matt61]

Muntries
I shoot Goldtip trads and put wraps on them,try those guys who do the stickers for car back windows
sometimes they have offcuts and then you can cut your own...cheaper .I will be going to Ballarat
Trad shoot might see you there.
Matt

[Nephew]

Sorry to intrude here, Muntries, but this relates. I've often wondered, is Contact ok for wraps, or is it too thick and heavy? I know(or at least, have read of) some folk just put small corks into the end of carbon shafts and dip or spray them, so it seems ok, Muntries.

[Mick Smith]

I've tarted up lots of Goldtip Traditional carbons over the years. I don't like wraps at all.

I started of by lightly sanding off the Goldtip logo. I then masked off the crown area and then sprayed it with a pure white primer paint. I then crested it in the normal manner before finishing off the shafts with two coats of sprayed on clear satin poly.

The total weight of the paint, etc, wouldn't have even come close to the weight of a wrap, plus it looked 10 times better IMO, especially after I fletched them with spliced feathers.

They handled the wear very well indeed too.

Mick

[piggy]

Mate I crest all my Gt with paint and have no problems.

[hue]

Morton

contact won't work, for some reason, does not stick nearly as well as the sticky back you can buy from signwriters or commercially avaliable wraps for arrows. if you want custom made wraps, let me know and i can put you in touch with a genius who is very reasonably priced considering what he can do for you

Hue

[Nephew]

Good onya Hue, that solves that. You'll hear from me soon, Bud.

[muntries]

Thanks guys, I've got myself some paint, not sure if it will stick but if not then they'll look pretty for the first few hours of shooting at least. Should I paint first and then fletch or fletch and then paint around it? I'll be painting by hand on a battered old arrow to see how it goes if not then I'll give sprays a go. I've been recommended to use the metal tins of model paint, which is cheap as chips for my first effort. I'm gonna paint past the goldtip logo because it just looks poxy.

Mick, Will a light sand not affect the carbon underneath the fake wood coating? I thought of doing this just to key it in a bit but was a bit worried that I could stuff up the carbon.

Simon

[muntries]

Hue, will give the paint a go and if thats a total failure then I might consider the wraps.

Moreton, thanks its reassuring to know others have had success doing it. I wanted to get woods but I had some advice here and there that ended up putting me off a little bit, well at least until I stop killing those damn trees that keep getting in the way of my arrows!!

[piggy]

Mate this is how I do mine, I tape the shaft with electrical tap where I want the crest to finish then lightly paint the crest with a spray can ( without nock in) when I say light I mean I can still see the shaft easily through the paint, I have found if I apply too much at first it does not take in some spots.
I wait until the next day and give a light rub with steel wood and spray again.
wait another day and repeat until I have the crest how I want it.
I then wait another day and add my bands to the crest in a cresting jig.
when finished I give them a light spray with clear then wait a few days before cresting never had a fletch come off yet.

[alaninoz]

Simon:

When Mick said light I think he meant LIGHT - just enough to give the paint something to grip. Just enough to take the shine off. In a previous life when I was shooting a compound I used wet and dry paper (around 800 grit maybe) to scuff the area where I was going to put the vanes on.

When removing the dust from the area you've sanded, use water, metho or isopropanol. Don't use acetone or MEK as they're likely to weaken the matrix that holds the carbon fibres together.

[muntries]

Thanks Alan, I was planning to use acetone until you posted this!! Water will do just fine for me.

[alaninoz]

Simon:

You might do better with metho as that will help to remove any other contaminents that might inhibit the bond between the paint or wrap and the shaft.

[Mick Smith]

Yep, I use very fine wet and dry to sand off the logo and to prepare the area to be painted. I usually use 1000 grit wet and dry. You can sand off the logo completely quite quickly and easily without having any noticable effect on the fake woodgrain finish.

I use a white primer in a spray can, because primer is designed to stick to surfaces. I have old Gold Tips that have been shot many times and the crown dips look like the day I made them.

I always protect the white crown dip and crest with two coats of satin clear polyurathane which I only spray in the painted crown area of the shaft. I use Loctite superglue to attach my fletches and they don't come off. The fletches are glued on after the shafts have been finished.

Of course, I take the nocks off when doing the painting, etc, and then put them back on when the shaft is finished.

The whole process is quick and easy, much easier and quicker than making up wooden arrows. You've got to love cresting carbon shafts, as they're dead straight and there's no wobbling at all in the cresting jig.

Mick