Painting up a scratched-up fiberglass bow???

Question

I have a fiberglass bow and arrow set which fell out of a moving vehicle. The bow itself isn't too badly damaged... but it's got a few scrapes and scratches on it. How would I go about repainting them? The fiberglass bow is red in color, but a small bit of the white part is evident in many of the scrapes. I have no skills when it comes to this. Would I have to use primer? What type of primer would I have to use? And what kind of paint would I use? A flat outdoor paint maybe?

Additionally, one of the plastic tips on the limbs came off, and I need to glue it back on. Which glue or epoxy would be best to recombine a piece of plastic and fiberglass together? Would I have to sand it down before painting or priming?

Please answer every single one of my questions. An "I don't know" to any one of them is fine.

Answer 1

Those fibre-glass bows are usually made in a mold, without trimming the back, belly or sides of the bow, so sanding isn't the best thing to do unless you also plan on giving the bow a few coats of resin. The white part of the bow is likely the fibre-glass and resin, not necessarily "just another color" under the red paint**; check VERY carefully for any cuts/scrapes which go deep enough to break fibres. Shallow cuts/scrapes (approx 1/16" deep, max) should be ok; anything deeper could be a problem.

The tip (actually, the nock)...can be re-glued in place, but make sure you clean off all of the old glue/epoxy from both the bow and the nock, and string the bow while the nock is still "movable", or you could end up with a completely un-usable bow (the tension on the string will help to keep the nock in the correct place/orientation while the glue/epoxy dries/cures).

These things are not just "slapped together" at the factory, regardless of how inexpensive they may be, so you need to be very careful in any repairs.

**I have a black fibre-glass bow, and the fibre-glass resin itself is black in color.

Answer 2

you can probably paint the fiberglass with an artist acrylic paint directly. It will look ok but not be as robust. if you are in the USA it is not called acrylic but i am not sure what you do call it.

an epoxy (two part) would be a good choice and def DO NOT sand down. Get a clean working surface. Practice holding wedging or balancing the limb so that the tip will sit on by gravity and then apply a very small amount. For example if you can wedge it into a plasic pot with sand that would work.

if you are quick fingered you may be able to apply the epoxy as a finish to the acrylic in paint - you will need to use a decent paint brush and it will be a write off. Do it as soon as you have mixed the epoxy as it will be at its runniest.

good luck