Colored vs painting fiberglass

[Garrace]

Has anyone done any drag comparison between painted fiberglass and the Madcow colored kits? I have a adventurer 3 kit and wondered if the added weight of paint would be offset with possible skin drag reduction.

 

[DavidMcCann]

Just wax it. Though, the weight of paint is mostly not a factor.

 

[Steve Shannon]

I've not tested any of the madcow kits this way, but I lost part of a different company's G10 or G12 rocket for a couple of years. The chute, nosecone, and payload bay came down carrying my Walston and were easily found. The aft end wasn't carrying a tracker.
When I found it the fins were fine but the body tube had lost a significant amount of the epoxy, leaving raw glass fibers exposed. Obviously some G10/G12 has epoxy that is better suited to sunshine. I plan to paint all my rockets because of that.

 

[soopirV]

I've not tested any of the madcow kits this way, but I lost part of a different company's G10 or G12 rocket for a couple of years. The chute, nosecone, and payload bay came down carrying my Walston and were easily found. The aft end wasn't carrying a tracker.
When I found it the fins were fine but the body tube had lost a significant amount of the epoxy, leaving raw glass fibers exposed. Obviously some G10/G12 has epoxy that is better suited to sunshine. I plan to paint all my rockets because of that.

that's kind of amazing, that you eventually found it! What was the interval?
I don't have any hard proof of this, but epoxies do degrade in UV light (why epoxy floor coverings yellow over time) it's an organic molecule, after all.

 

[Steve Shannon]

that's kind of amazing, that you eventually found it! What was the interval?
I don't have any hard proof of this, but epoxies do degrade in UV light (why epoxy floor coverings yellow over time) it's an organic molecule, after all.

It was at least two years, maybe three. Funny thing is that I went out looking for one I saw descending and found two additional ones that same trek, so I came back with three and a huge grin.

 

[Buckeye]

Has anyone done any drag comparison between painted fiberglass and the Madcow colored kits? I have a adventurer 3 kit and wondered if the added weight of paint would be offset with possible skin drag reduction.

You can adjust finishes and weights in Rocksim or OpenRocket. Drag is very sensitive to the finish settings in the simulation software. In real life, I am not so sure...