diff --git a/extras/src/main/java/edu/umd/cs/piccolox/nodes/P3DRect.java b/extras/src/main/java/edu/umd/cs/piccolox/nodes/P3DRect.java
index e60ba9e..b43ad75 100644
--- a/extras/src/main/java/edu/umd/cs/piccolox/nodes/P3DRect.java
+++ b/extras/src/main/java/edu/umd/cs/piccolox/nodes/P3DRect.java
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@
     private Color topLeftInnerColor;
     private Color bottomRightInnerColor;
     private Color bottomRightOuterColor;
-    private final GeneralPath path;
-    private final transient Stroke stroke;
+    private transient GeneralPath path = null;
+    private transient Stroke stroke = null;
     private boolean raised;
 
     /**
@@ -64,8 +64,6 @@
      */
     public P3DRect() {
         raised = true;
-        stroke = new BasicStroke(0);
-        path = new GeneralPath();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -118,6 +116,14 @@
      * @param paintContext context in which the paiting should occur
      */
     protected void paint(final PPaintContext paintContext) {
+        // lazy init:
+        if (stroke == null) {
+            stroke = new BasicStroke(0);
+        }
+        if (path == null) {
+            path = new GeneralPath();
+        }
+
         final Graphics2D g2 = paintContext.getGraphics();
 
         final double x = getX();
@@ -208,6 +214,8 @@
     }
 
     /**
+     * TODO can we remove this?
+     * 
      * @deprecated since it has been moved to P3DRectExample.
      * 
      * @param args Command line arguments
diff --git a/extras/src/test/java/edu/umd/cs/piccolox/nodes/P3DRectTest.java b/extras/src/test/java/edu/umd/cs/piccolox/nodes/P3DRectTest.java
index d448d5e..344e54a 100644
--- a/extras/src/test/java/edu/umd/cs/piccolox/nodes/P3DRectTest.java
+++ b/extras/src/test/java/edu/umd/cs/piccolox/nodes/P3DRectTest.java
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@
     public void testClone() {
         P3DRect rect = new P3DRect(10, 10, 10, 10);
         rect.setPaint(Color.BLUE);
-        // FIXME breaks on jdk < 1.6 as GeneralPath field isn't transient nor serializable
         P3DRect cloned = (P3DRect) rect.clone();
         assertNotNull(cloned);
         assertEquals(Color.BLUE, cloned.getPaint());