(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamocomplete2.jpg)
I wanted to camo dip this, but it was just not within my budget.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamocomplete1.jpg)
I have exactly $21.39 in materials in this camo job including tax, and a total of less than 3 actual man hours in it. 4 different colors of satin paint, a roll of 1" painters tape, a razor knife, and some imagination.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamocomplete5.jpg)
I originally wanted a lighter patterned camo so it would blend nicely against a broken skyline.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamocomplete6.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamocomplete7.jpg)
Is a camo dipped bow nicer?....you bet!!!
But this was cheap, quick, easy, and effective. It won't win any beauty pageants by a long shot, but my guess is, it'll kill some game.
Trust me, I would much rather have had one of the fine sponsors here dip this bow for me, and in the future I most likely will. I just wanted to see what I could do on my budget.
Great job and you did it yourself,that in its self means a lot,congrats. :clapper:
I think yours is 100 times better than a camo dip job. Anyone can send a bow in with some cash and get it done. You can say "I did that!!!"
I really like it! Good job!! :thumbsup:
Rusty
Sometimes yea gota do what yea gota do..nice job :thumbsup:
Great job!
Thanks for sharing.
God bless,Mudd
Great job. Being on Social Security and only working part time, it sure gives me some ideas. Thanks. :bigsmyl:
r u kidding me that is awesome!!! anytime you can create a work of art yes art! that my friend is a one of a kind no one else on the planet has that bow! dont you dare dip it.
That looks sweet. Great job.
That is absolutely beautiful!!!!! I just love camo bows, especially Bear TDs! Now you don't have to worry about scratching her up. That is a very nice camo job and should blend in with just about any surrounding!
Great job! I like it. As a matter of fact, I am in the same boat and recently got the paint to do a camo job on one of my bows. Hope to get to the painting soon. Thanks for the inspiration.
I like your imagination,well done!!
Best that money can buy...looks great...well done...
Very cool.
I'm looking to do something similar with my daughters bow.
Can you share any preparation for paint tips?
Did you lightly sand the bow first, undercoat etc?
Also how does this standard paint stand upto the working action of the limbs?
Cheers,
Andy
Nice Job! If you do another one, a picture laden how to series of photos to show the process would be very welcome by many!
Nice job and you did it yourself. That adds to the satisfaction of traditional archery. Blends well and definitely cost effective!
looks sure good to me! If you can do it youreself and save some $, i vote for it!
QuoteOriginally posted by bowslinger:
a picture laden how to series of photos to show the process would be very welcome by many!
I actually have it....just did not post it all because it is a lot and I didn't want to bore anyone.
I can easily post it if you guys want me to.
Love it and yes sir, post away on the how to. I'm considering doing one and would love to see your steps.
That looks great !!! Reminds me of "the good ole days" when as soon as you got another bow you got that flat bowflage or camoflage paint an went to it,but they never looked that nice or I may have never changed... GOOD JOB...
Very nice job.
Lookin' good!
great job !
Very nice job indeed!
Thanks for sharing...
><>
Glenn
Awesome Job!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
yours turned out better than mine:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v336/bgeckle/Bow%20Making/100_2196.jpg)
I used some sticks/twigs and laid them on the bow and painted over them---but it works......yours just looks more professional
!! :)
Jim,
Great job my friend :thumbsup:
Very cool! Good job Jim!
would love to see the process of that that is awesome! looks great!
Heck of a job Jim,,took me a minute in the first pic to realize what bow that was,,very nice work.
I will post the step-by-step process up this evening. I had done it as a "how -to" on another site, so I just need to transfer it over here.
Thanks for all the compliments folks.
Very Cool! I have done something similar in the past. Here's a quickie webpage I did about it.
Super Simple Camo Job (http://sticknstring.webs.com/simplebowcamo.htm)
John...I have to thank you....because that is EXACTLY where I got the idea from.
Looks better than the dip jobs I have seen
Nice job Jim,looks really good.
i should have you do my bow i dont think im that talented
Very good home made camo job. Looks better than factory IMHO!
Okay Gang, some of you wanted the step by step, so I will post it up here. I did this project as a step-by-step on another local site here and I am basically going to copy and paste the "how to" details from there. It was a work in progress when I did the thread, so it may read a bit funny since you have already seen the finished project. I will say that the John Scifre thread and some pics of others' bows here on TG were the "inspiration" to do this.
Anyway....here goes...
I got all the pieces for this bow last year. It is a Bear latched "B" riser with #1 limbs that make it a 60" bow and 50#'s and it was a perfect candidate for a camo dipping job.
I contacted a few camo dippin' guys and things being what they are, I decided that I just could not afford it at the time. So I got this crazy idea to see if I could camo it up on the cheap. Here goes.
I wanted to make it a camo job on the lighter side of things since I really believe that when a deer looks up he sees broken up sky instead of big dark blob. The Krylon selection in my area pretty much sucks, so I decided to go with Rustoleum "Painters Touch" because it had some nice colors to choose from.
Today, I roughed up the bow with some coarse sandpaper. The old finish on the limbs almost fell off to bare glass, but some of it was a bit stubborn. It really only took me about 10 or 15 minutes to sand, wipe down with a tack cloth, and then wipe down with acetone to prepare for my base coat. Attention to detail does not matter to me at this point. I will be using this bow to hunt and I'm not out to win any shows with it.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/CheapCamo.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/CheapCamo1.jpg)
I have light, medium, and dark colors to use. I decided to use the medium tone as my base color. This 2 coats of Satin Nutmeg.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/CheapCamo2.jpg)
I am going to let it dry for 24 hours and then begin cutting out my patterns on painters tape to apply for the second color application. Stay tuned, see you in a day or two.
Okay...now that the base coat is on, its time to start "makin' camo".
I am starting with a roll of 1" 3M painters tape, a selection of sharp instruments, a cutting board that Lisa has no clue I am using, some rubber gloves, and absolutely no idea what I am going to do.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep2.jpg)
Basically, I just rip off a length of tape, lay it down on the cutting board and start slicing away with my razor knife.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep21.jpg)
Put what you end up with on the bow however it "feels good" and put the scraps aside. You can take the scraps and either add to or re-slice them and add to get what you are after.
Here is what I ended up with tonight. Its ready to get the second color applied when it ain't rainin' outside.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep22.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep25.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep23.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep24.jpg)
Okay...next step...after first round of tape....
2 coats of Satin Hunt Club Green
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep3.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep31.jpg)
And another 24 hours of drying.
After the second stage of paint, it is time to put the second stage of tape on. (Remember...the first round of tape is still on there)
I had no idea what I wanted to try so my first attempt at a black oak leaf looked like this (pieced together from scraps):
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep4.jpg)
Well....that took up too much room and looked kind of crappy, so I tried to use the rest of the scraps and some oddly sliced strips to make up the rest of the pattern. Trying to stay off the first round of tape except to cross it every now and then.
This is what I ended up with:
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep43.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep41.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep42.jpg)
Next is the final color coat. 2 coats of Satin Fossil, and another 24 hours of drying time.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep44.jpg)
I have absolutely NO idea what this will end up looking like.
Oh yeah....just to add...all the painting was done outside and then I hung the bow in the small bathroom downstairs with the fan on 'til the fumes went away.
Okay...so last night...I could not wait. I peeled off the tape a piece at a time. To be honest, I was kind of disappointed. It was a lot lighter than I thought it would be.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep52.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep53.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep51.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep5.jpg)
Looks Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I stared at it last night for hours. I figured if I could add a little touch of a darker color to fill in, I might have something.
So...today after work, I went and picked up the can of Satin Espresso and a can of matte clear.
I took a 3M pad and went over the entire bow to try and knock some of the edges off of where the tape edges were. Maybe I should have tried to wet sand it for a smoother result, but as I said, I'm not concerned about winning any shows with it. After the 3M pad, I hit it with a tack cloth.
I decided to take half of an old file folder and cut out a few stencil shapes.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep6.jpg)
I took the bow outside and had Tristan (my boy) hold it and proceeded to take the various stencils and spot spray the bow with the brown. It made a big difference in toning it down.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep61.jpg)
When I peeled the tape off last night, some of it came off to bare metal. You can see the spot by the grip that looks like a big brown blob, that was just covering it up. You can see I was not too concerned with the grip area, because it will be covered with either a 2R or a Sims Tentacle Wrap.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamostep62.jpg)
I took the bow apart after a while and took each piece outside for a coat of the Matte Clear.
I really should have known better. I have had the worst luck with clears in the past and I have no idea why I should have expected a different result, but I went ahead and did it anyway.
I sprayed the clear, and immediately after I finished the last limb, the stinkin' base layer started bubbling up. I was FURIOUS! It is the same product. I will never use clear spray again to cover other colors.
Anyway, I went with it and decided to just run my fingers over the bubbles and it did not peel. Now parts of it have a crinkled look to it...oh well. No matter how much I was beginning to get used to the looks of the thing, this pretty much ruined it for me. I wanted to throw the whole dang thing in the trash.
Anyway...I added the parts to the riser and here she is.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamocomplete1.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamocomplete.jpg)
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamocomplete2.jpg)
Here are a few pictures out back to try and give the camo effect some perspective.
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/Raineman71/cheapcamocomplete3.jpg)
(the others I took out because you all saw them on the first page)
You can kind of get an idea what it will look like up in a tree against a skyline, which was my original intention.
With 4 different colors, a roll of painters tape, and a worthless can of clear, I have $21.39 in this in materials and that includes tax. I could probably do at least another 3 bows with the remaining materials.
I tried to keep an accurate "man hour" log, but kind of lost track a little bit between doing other things, taking pictures, and posting the results. I would be very confident in saying I truly have less than 3 total hours in the actual complete camo process, and it may even be closer to 2 hours. Thinking about and cutting the tape was the most time consuming.
Is it crude?
Yep.
Is it functional?
Absolutely!
Is it cheap?
Yep.
Was it fun?
You betcha!
(until I used that stinkin' clear!)
That turned out great, nice work! It's always fun to figure things out yourself.
Well done, very cool pattern.
Wow, Nice Job Jim....
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
probably should have waited on the clear for a week or two maybe a lite sanding and a couple more coates i really like the finish bravo!
that is so awesome you have given me some inspiration im heading to the hardware tomorrow to get some epoxy for my limb sliver and im going to re do the rattle can job on my 64 kodiak
Thanks again for the inspiration. I have a Astro II with the metal riser, now to dress her up.
Thank you for the "how to" post! Your efforts will serve as inspiration for others to find a better or worse way. It all leads to a collective pool of knowledge from which we all can draw. I think it turned out great and will be very effective from a tree stand or open country out west. Thanks!!
My Nomad may end up like this...
Sweet job I like that ASAT style look. Great camo
looks good to me....great job.... :clapper:
Cool...be great out of a tree stand, blend right in!
Absolutely nothing wrong with that camo job. It for sure isn't crude. You should be proud of a job well done.
Looks great!
Bisch
Good job!