Here is a simple way to do a camo paint job. Yes. I painted an osage selfbow. So sue me
Super Simple Camo Keep it Simple Camo Job
10/2007
About 3 years ago, I got tired of making pretty bows. Don't get me wrong, I still like them, and I still make them, but most of the time for my personal bows, I just like camo. Here is a really simple way to get a nice looking and effective camo job on your bow.
I am starting with the osage selfbow I made for the Bowyer's Journal Ambush Bow Contest. I initially painted it flat black but that was too simple. I had to complicate it just a bit. Don't get carreid away trying to make this too hard. It just plain isn't.
Here it is, sanded and ready to go.
I am using some flat black spray paint from Krylon for the first layer. You can go about doing a camo job in a couple different ways, light first, then overlay some dark or dark first and then masking off the areas you want to stay that color. I chose the latter because it's easier to mask off the smaller areas I want to stay dark. You use a touch more paint doing it this way but it's a small amount anyway. And paint is pretty cheap. Most of what we see in the woods is light with dark streaks.
Here it is painted black.
Then some masking tape and a sharp blade to cut the strips. Again, keep this simple and remember you want more light than dark. Mask off small strips. Use random sizes and shapes. I think it looks best to taper the strips but it really doesn't matter that much. And, this is not the 90's, less is definitely more. Try to move from the handle to the tip so later when you pull the tape, you can move from the tip to the handle and make your life easier.