it is also not just sitting in an oven, you have air flow over it, I have seen ablated fins and NC, it looked like a saw blade. the air flow is very concentrated and will have the most effect on the leading edge and tip. the temp will be the highest at the smallest points, no mass disperse the heat. Also need to think about high velocity air, compressed air can cut different materials depending on its velocity, flesh starts to get damage at just a 100-150 psi. Also that edge is most likely epoxy and paint. I think the thing to do is put ceramic fins and ballistic tips for NC's. Just don't drop your rocket:)

the photo shows what damage happens to a rocket when a motor lights and there is a blast defector, more then likely the side with most of the blackening is were the launch lugs or rail buttons are. Something directed the flame back up on the rocket as the motor was lighting and coming up to pressure. Nice picture!

I was under the impression the heat damage in the fin area was coming from the motors. Thus the idea to do a wrap or sleeve on this portion with the ceramic materials. Insulation....

I had not thought of the blast deflector causing the burns/soot.

Would a bead of the ceramic filler/glue material on the leading edge of the fin be enough to hold off the heat damage? Kind of like Adrian doing the cf triangle pieces on his bird?

from what I understand epoxy will get soft as the temp gets higher and then once it cools off it is fine but if it gets soft and you have the air flow the epoxy is more susceptible to the damage. the cloth in the epoxy just holds things together so the Kevlar will help resist the ablating but if the epoxy sees temps high enough to soften it you may still see similar problems. From what I have heard the epoxies that require a post cure(baking after epoxy drys) tend to have a higher temp before it softens. The higher the post cure the higher the temp will need to be before it effects the epoxy. The West Systems epoxy does not need a post cure but starts to soften a little over 200. the Pro line of West Systems "Pro-Set" is a very good epoxy that requires a post cure. the post cure how ever is under 200. I do not know anything about the Aeropoxy but 500 is better the 2 times the temp of most. I do not know if a post cure is requires or if it is recommended. Additives to the epoxy me help but the epoxy is the main thing ant it is effected by temp. There is a lot of talk of different things on the composites forum but I do not fallow it.