Overmold vs Single-mold Part 2: Featherweights (and one heavyweight)
Click here to read the first part of this series.
So my last article got a lot more popularity than I thought it would, but amongst the conversations, someone suggested I do the low-weight plastics, like Blizzard, Starlite, Fission, etc. So I decided why not. What’s another few discs send to their early demise.
I got two Fission Photons, and a Starlite Wraith. I did this so that the plastic was comparable, as MVP does not have a Blizzard Champion equivalent. For the Fissions, I got the latest runs, one low weight 156g, another their new Max Weight Fission. This is a weird combo but after seeing the results you will see why it’s really cool. I also threw in a Neutron Trace to see how the Single-molds from MVP hold up, though I don’t expect anything different from other brand single-molds.
So, like last time I started off by taking measurements of all the discs.
| Disc | Rim Width | Rim Height | Diameter | Inner Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wraith | 21.81mm | 11.03mm | 20.99cm | 16.60cm |
| Trace | 21.01mm | 11.35mm | 21.11cm | 16.88cm |
| Photon (Blue) | 21.25mm | 11.17mm | 21.11cm | 16.75cm |
| Photon (Yellow) | 21.50mm | 11.07mm | 21.11cm | 16.70cm |
Looks like a good set of samples and clustering. All the measurements are nearly the same. I then proceeded to cut and weight them accordingly. When I gathered discs, I tried to make sure all the low weights were equal, but it turns out Innova Factory 2nds are even more inconsistent than their good discs. Turns out the Wraith marked 156g is actually 167g. Not ideal, but since I work on percentages, I can make this work.
| Disc | Rim | Plate | Rim % | Plate % | Plate/Rim % | Volume | Density |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wraith | 125g | 41g | 75.5% | 24.5% | 32.80% | 35.074 | 1.169 |
| Trace | 127g | 48g | 72.6% | 27.4% | 37.70% | 40.522 | 1.185 |
| Photon (Blue) | 121g | 36g | 77.1% | 22.9% | 29.75% | 31.744 | 1.134 |
| Photon (Yellow) | 140g | 36g | 79.7% | 20.3% | 25.70% | 31.554 | 1.141 |
One of the first things I noticed, is the max weight Fission disc has the same weight plate as the 156g one. That’s insane, all the excess weight is pushed into the overmold and rim. This is one stable beast. 80% of the weight of the disc is in the rim. unlike 72.6% in the normal Trace. and 75% in the Starlite Wraith.
Another few measurements I took was the Plate thickness after I cut it out, as depicted in the tables following this. I took that so I can calculate the volume of the plate, (Cylinder Volume = 2pi \times r ^ 2 \times h). Using half of the inner diameter as the radius in the equation. This produced the volumes you see in the list. From there, using the formula for density, ( density = {mass \over volume}). I got the densities of the plastics.
| Disc | Rim Height Full | Plate Thickness | Mid-Rim Height | Triangle Base | Triangle Height |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wraith | 13.00mm | 1.62mm | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Trace | 12.95mm | 1.81mm | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Photon (Blue) | 12.54mm | 1.44mm | 7.3mm | 2.57mm | 3.19mm |
| Photon (Yellow) | 12.87mm | 1.44mm | 7.5mm | 2.72mm | 3.27mm |
I also went back and calculated the density of Proton and Champion plastic from the last experiment for reference.
| Disc | Inner Diameter | Plate Thickness | Volume | Density |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wraith | 16.68cm | 1.65mm | 36.07 | 1.248 |
| Photon | 16.68mm | 1.44mm | 31.48 | 1.239 |
Comparing some of the numbers, the Fission Photons are about 8% less dense than the Proton Photon from the last experiment. They are also 2.4% less dense than the Starlite Wraith. Though, the Starlite Wraith is 6.4% less dense than the Champion plastic. This all helps them get lighter and is primarily due to the air bubbles in the plastic.
So far, we find that the Fission disc has 5% more weight in the rim than a Starlite disc. and a max weight disc has 5% more from a low weight disc. making it 10% more weight in the rim than a Starlite Wraith. Looking back at the last article, it also has 10% more weight in the rim than a normal max weight photon. That’s additive not multiplicative.
Going back to weighting of the rims. I did another cross-section test, and both Fission Photons had 75% of the rim being Fission plastic, and 25% being overmold. The same as the normal neutron. Since Fission is 2.4% less dense, the plastic is is only 72.5% of the rim weight. Meaning 27.5% of the rim weight is in the overmold. Making the overmold 33.275g for the lighter disc, and 38.5 for the heavier disc. Comparing that to the 31.25g for the Starlight wraith. the Fission lightweight disc moves 2.025 grams into the overmold compared to a standard rim, and 2.5% of the weight into the rim. in general. So overall for the lightweight disc, it seems like a negligible amount is moved into the rim unlike a normal max weight.
From here though, I checked the max weight disc, and it had much better results. The max weight fission moves an addition 4grams into the rim compared to a normal max weight disc. From the last article, we got 48.91g for the overmold on a max weight disc, and 32.63g for the similar area on the Wraith. Now we bump the overmold by 4 grams, so 52.91g in the overmold. We can do this since they are the same weight and same percentage in the overmold. That’s 62% MORE weight in the overmold area of the disc than a Champion Wraith.
So for a Max weight fission, it makes it even more stable, and more of the weight is in the rim. At the low weight end, it gets a bit closer. MVP still has an edge, but not as much as before. The overmold still helps with stability over a non-overmold discs, but only marginally. A good wind will still throw it off-course.
Some other observations as I did this:
- Max weight fission is plain beef. I threw an equivalent 175g max weight Fission Photon that I already had, and it hooked hard at the end compared to a normal Photon.
- I have Volts in Fission plastic at 175g, 166g, and 157g. and everything I said held true for those too. 157g had an S-flight, 166g flew more like a normal max weight volt, and 175g was really beefy.
- At the low weights, the differences are harder to come by, mostly due to how much material you have to work with.
- Streamline single-molds are about the same as any other brand in terms of weight distribution. Nothing surprising there.
- There are bubbles in the rims. While known, kinda fun to actually see.
- 4 round plastic objects were sacrificed for these experiments, and a new disc was formed from their parts. I dub it, the Double Overmold.
Disclaimer: If you wish to see the formulas used for some of the calculations, I give most of them in my first post!
