Thanks everyone.
Mox, the recurves where steamed in, and I had to tweak them later with dry heat. The sinew did induce a small amount of reflex, most of which is gone. You can still see a tiny bit on the outer half of the limbs.
adb, it's actually painted with acrylic. Burnt Umber (a dark brown) was the color name, and red paint for the sinew wraps.