User Name
Semi-Pro
Hi everyone,
The beginning:
About a month ago i got a prince o3 white that had two areas on it that had scrapes that went all the way through the graphite. I started by repairing those two spots with 3,500 psi epoxy sealer. This is almost identical to the weight and texture of the graphite. The areas that had the holes didn't effect the grommets, so I highly doubt that this repair will effect the racquet's play at all. The repair came out very even and smooth, virtually undetectable after the paint job.
Removing Paint:
I stripped off all of the paint, which was very difficult, due to all of the nooks and crannies including the o3 ports. I was able to get it all off though. Then, i used an auto car bondo primer to prime and fill any nicks. Then, after a light sanding, I began the design painting.
Detail Coats:
I painted it with a sapphire metal blue (babolat racing stripes) and german silver (for the o3 logos). Then masked them off with painters tape. The babolat racing stripes were quite difficult to mask off for. First, I had to match up the number of crosses that would fit in them. Then, i had to measure and make parallel lines on a curved racquet. In addition to this, i had to mask off the insides of the o3 grommets. When this tedious process was complete, i put together the logos. For the o3 logo, I printed it onto a "hello my name is..." name tag sticker. Then, very carefully, i cut out two of them out for both sides of the racquet.
Lacquer Coats:
Once the masking was on the racquet, i painted the entire racquet with high gloss white lacquer. I had very difficult time choosing between using epoxy paint and using lacquers. I opted for lacquers because i wanted to coat both the white paint and the other colors with a final clear hard lacquer coat. If i do another paintjob, i think i will opt to go with a solid epoxy coat. The lacquer came out very nice, but is quite difficult to deal with, due to it drying so quickly. It is very easy to loose its gloss, by spraying over it again seconds later because it dries so quickly. After a few coats of the white lacquer, I took of my maskings and did a quick light sand, then went on with the clear high gloss lacquer. This was where i had to do multiple coats, to get rid of all imperfections. Finally, after about a week of painting and drying, i was satisfied with my final coat. The racquet looks great and I am very pleased with it.
Finishing:
I finished up with putting on a bosworth leather grip and a head extremesoft overgrip. My new grommets are on the way and I will be stringing it up with Topspin cyberflash (silver) mains and Gosen proform tuff 16 (royal blue) crosses. I will add more pictures when i get it strung up. I am going to give it a full week to harden, so that when I string it, all the paint is fully set up.
So, give me some feedback of what you think. Also, if you potentially want your racquet done, contact me and see what i can do. Tedwilliams94sox@yahoo.com.
The beginning:
About a month ago i got a prince o3 white that had two areas on it that had scrapes that went all the way through the graphite. I started by repairing those two spots with 3,500 psi epoxy sealer. This is almost identical to the weight and texture of the graphite. The areas that had the holes didn't effect the grommets, so I highly doubt that this repair will effect the racquet's play at all. The repair came out very even and smooth, virtually undetectable after the paint job.
Removing Paint:
I stripped off all of the paint, which was very difficult, due to all of the nooks and crannies including the o3 ports. I was able to get it all off though. Then, i used an auto car bondo primer to prime and fill any nicks. Then, after a light sanding, I began the design painting.
Detail Coats:
I painted it with a sapphire metal blue (babolat racing stripes) and german silver (for the o3 logos). Then masked them off with painters tape. The babolat racing stripes were quite difficult to mask off for. First, I had to match up the number of crosses that would fit in them. Then, i had to measure and make parallel lines on a curved racquet. In addition to this, i had to mask off the insides of the o3 grommets. When this tedious process was complete, i put together the logos. For the o3 logo, I printed it onto a "hello my name is..." name tag sticker. Then, very carefully, i cut out two of them out for both sides of the racquet.
Lacquer Coats:
Once the masking was on the racquet, i painted the entire racquet with high gloss white lacquer. I had very difficult time choosing between using epoxy paint and using lacquers. I opted for lacquers because i wanted to coat both the white paint and the other colors with a final clear hard lacquer coat. If i do another paintjob, i think i will opt to go with a solid epoxy coat. The lacquer came out very nice, but is quite difficult to deal with, due to it drying so quickly. It is very easy to loose its gloss, by spraying over it again seconds later because it dries so quickly. After a few coats of the white lacquer, I took of my maskings and did a quick light sand, then went on with the clear high gloss lacquer. This was where i had to do multiple coats, to get rid of all imperfections. Finally, after about a week of painting and drying, i was satisfied with my final coat. The racquet looks great and I am very pleased with it.
Finishing:
I finished up with putting on a bosworth leather grip and a head extremesoft overgrip. My new grommets are on the way and I will be stringing it up with Topspin cyberflash (silver) mains and Gosen proform tuff 16 (royal blue) crosses. I will add more pictures when i get it strung up. I am going to give it a full week to harden, so that when I string it, all the paint is fully set up.
So, give me some feedback of what you think. Also, if you potentially want your racquet done, contact me and see what i can do. Tedwilliams94sox@yahoo.com.
Last edited:
