Been thinking about adding about a 7" cap to some of my carbon arrows with paint. I used to dip with Fletch-Lac years ago, but see some guys are using paint now. The Fletch-Lac was easy enough and Fletch-tite or NPV worked well with feathers.

So... what kind of paint is good and what kind of fletching glue will hold to the paint?

I use Krylon

Agian you will get different answers with different experiences. I had no luck dipping carbons. I was told it was the coating on the shafts. I went to Rustolem 2X spray paint for outdoor use. I have had one issue with that, trying to apply a base coat of white then overcoat with red. That went south. Emailed Rustolem help link which said I should have waited a week for white to cure. So no more two coats. One coat of color, crest with Testors waterbased model paints, brush on a coat or two of waterbased MinWax waterbased Polycrillic when crest is dry. I use NPV glue for fletch. Tape also works from what I have been told. I set up my Spinrite cresting jig so it turns the shaft while spraying. I watched his YouTube video on how he does it. Pretty clean and covers better than trying to turn shaft by hand and spray at same time. No runs.

I've done Krylon, and I've dipped, both worked, but my next batch I'm going to the auto shop and get some auto body paint and try that with some clear coat.

Krylon spray and Duco cement.

Bruce, I know a couple guys that swear by auto clear coat. They say it has better flexibility, drys harder and is more water resistant than other finishes…Down side is cost for it, the thinners and additives used to do it right. Let us know how it works for you.

I use solvent based equipment enamel. It's cheap, and comes in John Deere green and Ford Blue, etc.

I am with m60. If I can I like to spray the shafts, crest (testers) then let sit for several days to a week. Finally a coat of water base Minwax poly and let sit again. Then fletch. Do I always do it. No, but I get the best results if I do.

Krylon Fusion and I mask with paper towels down about 6" to catch overspray. I crest with model airplane paint. Seal with Min wax wipe on poly. I use NPV glue.

reddogge,

Curious... why seal with the poly? Will the NPV adhere to the paint?

Apparently NPV is compatible with urethane.

Krylon paint and satin poly and fletching tape.

Krylon paint and satin poly and fletching tape. This happens to be parking lot marking spray paint. It isn't Krylon but some other brand.

Rust-Oleum is my favorite rattle can paint. I spray all my caps then crest with Testors model paint. A top coat of water based Minwax poly and DUCO for fletching. Good combination.

1. Prep of the shaft is important...a good spiral scrubbing with scotchbrite to remove any factory coatings and "Create A Micro Tooth" for the paint to adhere too is a great idea followed with a squeaky clean rub down with isopropyl alcohol.

2. No matter what color I may intend to spray bomb cap on?....I always start out by laying down a basecoat of "White" as it makes all other colors applied POP as opposed to spraying any color on CF black.

Here I did a 3 color fade of cherry red into sun yellow into white...all Krylon and going for a "Flame" look....

Once the colors are on?...I hit them with 3 light coats of Miniwax Polycrylic clear and then used FT Platinum to glue on feathers but the FT formula change burned the paint on latter project/efforts and I went with CX Express Bond Archery Glue but here's how the old FT Platinum worked out...

That was 5 years ago and I still have some of those Fire Arrows laying around but some got destroyed! LOL!

I also had good luck with Rustoleum White Appliance Enamel on these Beman MFX Classics...

I wash the carbons with dawn dishwater detergent then dry and wipe with alcohol . Paint stays on fine.

24hr dry time but they came out nice...

monkeyball now owns about 16 of these arrows...

all I got.

Good point on the white base coat. I do the same and let it dry as per directions before spraying the color on. I normally do a couple of light coats and let dry between coats.

Thanks, Bill. That's the stuff I remembered you doing. I'm going to give this a whirl.

I'm hoping my NPV will adhere.

I still don't get the finish spray of POLY. What's the pupose/benefits?

Nice caps there mistah jinx.

Jim,

The poly is to protect the crests. If you don't clear over them they will often smear from passing the riser.

I have used anything from hardware spray enamels to Krylon to Testers spray on CX carbons. Now I have heard the latest CX carbons have a different release agent on them and it MUST be cleaned with acetone. One of the big arrow shops couldn't even get wrap to stick until they did this. From what I was told no other solvent cut it.

NPV is all I use now.

What Dan says about clear coat. I brush it on with a foam brush. I fell for the bottle of “cresting protector from Bohning. For what that bottle cost you can buy a quart and throw half of it away and still come out ahead. I also crest wraps when I use them. I do the clear Polycrillic over them as well.

Rustoleum works great for crown dip and cresting. Thin with paint thinner before using. Also try "One Shot", an enamel available at auto paint shops. Richard

"reddogge,

Curious... why seal with the poly? Will the NPV adhere to the paint?

Apparently NPV is compatible with urethane."

Yes Jim, as others have said it protects the cap and crest. I've had 3-D arrows over 5 years old and they are still looking good. NPV will adhere great to Wipe On Poly. I do several coats with a cloth. Steel wool lightly with 0000 between coats (not the whole carbon arrow, just the cap and crest.)

I have also had good results with Rustoleum spray can paints and did also find out that a base coat of White was necessary to make the final colors stand out, especially flourescants. Thanks M60GUNNER for the info on advice from Rustoleum about letting the White base coat ' cure ' before applying the color coats. I use blue painters tape and newspaper to mask the remainder of the shafts and rotate several times while spraying. Sometimes I try to do the ' fade ' thing, but it takes a lot of patience and skill to get that right.

I'm going to try sharpie markers next. No paint at all!

I use one shot sign painters enamel for my arrows, then wipe on or spray poly. Fletching glue is hot and has made cresting paint bleed on some, poly solved the problem and the feathers stick well to it.

Well…. after getting all the great feedback in this thread, I made my first foray into the paint.

1) Sanded the shaft lightly, and then cleaned with acetone.

2) Light over spray with white Rust-Oleum gloss protective enamel and let dry.

3) Painted with the same.

4) Sprayed a bit of orange Rust-Oleum gloss and let dry.

5) Added one band of gold cresting with the Sharpie paint and let dry.

6) Coated with Minwax Polycrylic, let dry and then gave another coat.

7) Fletched with goose and turkey feathers with Saunders NPV. It appears it held very well.

Not great, but I’m good with the first shot at it. Looking forward to trying a few more.

Thanks for all the help/input.

Very nice and good advice. Made me want to order arrows.

This may be addictive. :^)

A little better the second go around, I think.

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