I managed to half cover mine with what was left of my VW black can so will probably get them coated now anyway. Hopefully be able to get a cheap deal as I'm not that fussed on the colour as long as it's dark so they can go in with whatever else the shop is coating at the time!
Anyway, I want to see pics of the V2. Have you gone with simply bending the top bar to make them out of 3 pieces?
I've not used mine much yet, I can go from a L sit round into a hand stand but not straighten my arms out yet. Need a lot more practice at that and been building my confidence up at kicking up into a handstand against a wall, that seriously freaks me out at the moment especially as I usually have to do it without any assistance. Another basic according to my book to work on is planches and frog stands to work on wrist flexion and strength which is hard going but I'll get there!