If in doubt, read the instructions on the can...
They're not just "whistling Dixie" by saying "paint between 50 and 90 degrees F" or whatever...
If you want to experiment outside those temp ranges, well, I'd suggest doing it as a paint test-- not trying to actually paint the rocket.
You can "get around" some of the low-temp problems by warming the can in hot tap water for about 15-20 minutes before painting (thins the paint viscosity and increases the latent heat of evaporation which keeps the propellant pressure up in the can as the paint is sprayed on (which causes the propellant to boil off, "refrigerating" the can as a side effect-- the higher the spray pressure, the finer the droplet size will be, and lower viscosity has a similar effect, and flows out better on the surface).
You can take your warm rocket (from inside the house) and warmed paint out into a cold garage, spray it, and bring it back inside once the paint is applied. If that will upset the better half due to the fumes of drying paint, you can probably let it "flash off" (tack up essentially) so long as the garage isn't TOO cold, and then bring it inside... once it really gets cold, it will sit there a LONG time without really drying due to the lack of heat to evaporate the solvents and drive them out of the paint. "Flashing off" the paint by allowing it to "tack up" will allow a lot of the solvents to evaporate outside, then bringing it inside will allow the warmth of the house to evaporate the rest over time, hopefully at a slow enough rate not to stink the place up (depending on how tight your house is, how big, how much airflow, how big the rocket, etc.)
Also, for cold conditions, lacquers work better than enamels... their hotter solvents are "slower" in cold weather than they would be in hot weather, but still "faster" than the "soft" solvents used in enamels.
If it's below zero or your garage is around freezing or something, I'd DEFINITELY wait until you have better conditions... or you can "make your own" by making a "painting booth" from plastic drop cloths or a big "refrigerator size" cardboard box or something like that which you can heat up somehow (hair dryer, one of those hot oil electric radiators, etc.) and keep warm (SAFELY-- ie don't burn your house down or leave space heaters unattended or something like that-- remove the heat source before starting to paint so that flammable propellant/paint gases don't ignite accidentally!) after the painting is done. Folks have done this sort of thing before in order to "stretch" their painting season sufficiently... It doesn't have to be "hot" or even "warm" inside-- just 'warm enough' to do the painting (above the minimum temps listed on the can).
Just remember-- SAFETY FIRST!
Later and good luck! OL JR
Don't want the think what my lungs looked like... Last part, I opened garage door to let out the solvents for a minute to let the solvents diffuse then buttoned it back up and reheated the area for a while. Not sure its really the right thing to do without forced ventilation but...
