I know this post is a little late but you might be able to use the information for your next build.......

For boost or rocket gliders, weight needs to be kept as low as possible to get great flight times. We also like our models to look good. But, paint adds weght. So, usually people will use a marker to color the balsa. Markers add vertually no weight. The problem is that you can't always get the color you want. For instance, yellow markers don't do well on balsa.

When I built my Semroc Night Hawk , someone suggested using dye, like people use for tie-dying. But, instead of mixing with water, mix it with alcohol. The alcohol evaporates out quicker than water and is less likely to warp the balsa. I'm really happy with the yellow that I got from doing this. It just wouldn't have shown up well with markers. And, you can control the shading of the color by adding more or less dye. Or mix dyes to come up with some other unique colors.

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Don
NAR 53455
"Carpe Diem"

Is this the yellow, black, and white Swift you found (the kit card image at the bottom here: http://www.spacemodeling.org/JimZ/kbg-3.htm YUP! I still havent worked anymore on it. The wife and I had a bad week. Got a call Tuesday morn, my bro had taken a WICKED hit to the head. Rushed to hospital with blood on the brain. Same morn my wife gets a call her good friend passed away that night. So between the hospital visits and such-not a good week. Things are better now. Bro doing OK but still not out of the woods. Anywhoo-Ill get-r-done sometime. Scotty Dog

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Scotty Dog
NAR 90998

I didn't use paint, dye, or marker but instead opted for tissue and dope. This was my first time working with the stuff. It wasn't nearly as difficult to do as I anticipated, but I still need practice and possibly alter my methods slightly to make things come out a little smoother. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the results. I came up with my own color scheme and also used strips of aluminum tape to protect the top of the wing and fuselage from scorching.

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Oh, BTW, the 1/2A6-2 that Semroc recommends was not nearly enough. If I said it reached 50 ft above the pad, that would be generous. Pod ejected a few feet off the ground. A8 was about 150-200 ft, which is a good boost height for gliders IMO. Not sure how much weight was added from the tissue, dope , and paint(pod), but I don't believe it was much. IIRC, Carl had commented that an A8-3 was not a good idea for this model, but I found it to be perfect. A slower burn would be ideal but the quick boost of the A8 didn't appear problematic. The glider flew very well. Needs a tiny bit more trim, but for the most part, it flew pretty well without it.