RB,

One place the painted in the mold composites have an advantage is that there are no paint lines for numbers and trim. On Martin Hepperle's site (which appears to be down, thanks for letting me know BV), he had a study on the effect of trim lines on an airfoil. He calculated that the trim lines alone could cost 3-5 seconds. It's probably significantly less on the slower 424 planes.

One reason I've been investing heavily in being able to produce my own planes is that I count on it paying off in my not having to spend $400-600 on planes in the future. I spent $325 just on composite materials before the NATS. Unfortunately I didn't get my plane done in time.