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Two 6" Ball Shells

qwezxc12

By qwezxc12
in Aerial Shell Competition

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qwezxc12 Newbie

qwezxc12

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Here are two 6in Spherical shells from last weeks shoot.

 

Shell 1: 6in Blesser's blond Streamer with my own fast yellow star pistil.

Weight was 1107g. Lift was 93g. Inner burst was 4:1:1 KP/Poplar BP/rice crispies, no booster, outer burst was 4:1 BP rice crispies. Rising effect was 1-1/2" MgAl/Al flitter comet. The comet didn't burn out completely before the break and you can see the pinkish fragments shooting off to the upper left. On the other hand, I think the pistil burnt too quickly. You can also see the gap in the streamer stars as the shell breaks - not enough stars along the seam, I guess.

Assembly pic:

http://www.apcforum.net/files/6inBlondStreamerAssembly.jpg

Framegrab from the video:

http://www.apcforum.net/files/6inSphericalBlondStreamer.jpg

 

Shell 2: 6in D1 Glitter shell.

Weight was 1037g. Lift was 87g. Burst was 4:1 BP rice crispies. Rising effect was 1-1/2" Al flitter comet.

Assembly pic:

http://www.apcforum.net/files/6inD1GlitterAssembly.jpg

Framegrab from video:

http://www.apcforum.net/files/6inSphericalD1Glitter.jpg

 

Pre-fire pic (they're the two leftmost 6in shells with the cored comets attached):

http://www.apcforum.net/files/BoxOfShells.jpg

 

Videos:

 

Blond Streamer

 

D1 Glitter

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Rooster Newbie

Rooster

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The D1 shell is great. The blond streamer looks like the two halves are not bonded tight enough together, or a few stars too little around the seam, as you say. What are you reinforcing with? Nice vids man, love to see some larger shells...
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jacob Newbie

jacob

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Rooster hi, i have'nt seen any posts from you in a while, good to know your still around. anyways, that D1 was AWSOME!!!, it looked like in big stadiums when thousands of people all take pics all together with all the little flashes. man that was so cool. B)
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asilentbob Newbie

asilentbob

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Very nice!
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viziers Newbie

viziers

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Very nice shells you got there i only hope my D1, OR, Red & Blue and my TT look half that good i can't wait to fire them off on the 4th :D along with 20 4" various shells and some 3" shells should be good.
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qwezxc12 Newbie

qwezxc12

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First off, thanks everyone for the comments. This was the second batch of 6in shells I ever made, and although I still need a lot of work to dial in double petal breaks (obviously), I'm happier with these than the first three I shot.

 

The D1 shell is great. The blond streamer looks like the two halves are not bonded tight enough together, or a few stars too little around the seam, as you say. What are you reinforcing with? Nice vids man, love to see some larger shells...

 

The two shells were assembled identically: Xylene along the seam, then set in my 6-ton press, under firm pressure to ensure the hemi's bond well. The shell cured overnight, then I apply fiberglass tape. Basically three wraps in nine places: six equidistant offset rings around the poles, one around the equator, and two more at 45 deg...it covers the shell pretty well. I'm not sure how much better I can get these, without either pasting in a traditional fashion (paper or gummed tape) or by resorting to a booster in the break. I use Copper Oxichloride catalyzed whistle in my 3" & 4" and that seems to work well.

 

I think the gap is definitely from a lack of stars along the seam. I recall only making 500g or 600g of streamer composition, and I used them all. The D1 was made in a 1kg batch, so I had plenty. I don't remember which shell required more tapping to close - maybe the inner hemi's in the streamer shell made it seems full, but the outer layer was a little loose.

 

Larger shells?...LOL. I'm still trying to scale up my methods to feed 6in shells. :D

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gods knight Newbie

gods knight

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very good shells :) , do you mind showing the formula 4 the d 1 glitter?
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nath0r Newbie

nath0r

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Very, very nice shells there. I'm hoping to create a few D1 glitter shells myself for my November 5th show, just hope they look as good as yours did. Keep up the good work!
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Pretty green flame Newbie

Pretty green flame

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Well you kinda answered your own question there. More pasting will certanly lead to higher pressures within the shell thus throwing the stars further.

 

Also, there is a thread devoted to aerial shells so future question should go there as the competition thread ain't exactly the best place to ask about shell construction.

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al93535 Newbie

al93535

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As gods knight has requested, I would also like to know your formula for the D1 glitter. I know there is a thread on it and the composition is listed all ov er the net, however, slight differences in aluminum powders and sizes thereof and or preparation makes a difference. For instance, if distilled or tap water was used, if a certian amount was weighed out ect ect...

 

So if you can provide details on your D1 glitter, I would much appreciate it. Formula, preparation anything you can remember...

 

Thanks....

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qwezxc12 Newbie

qwezxc12

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So if you can provide details on your D1 glitter, I would much appreciate it. Formula, preparation anything you can remember...

 

Al,

 

Tall order...given my recollection. :P

 

Firstly, I use what should be the the "correct" formula using 53% KNO3, not 58%. The rest is plain old Acid-free Sulfur, SL/FF/Service-Chem AF charcoal, Arm & Hammer Baking Soda and home-made Dextrin. I've varied the Al in different batches - more on that below.

 

I pump stars and comets using ~6% tap water, not distilled and no Boric Acid. I've never rolled or cut D1. I tried D1 comets bound with resorcinol - no go. They slagged into glowing lumps with little or no tail.

 

In the D1 Glitter thread, I made a post with reference to the video here compared to another taken during a summer BBQ shoot the year before last. I thought most of the difference in the glitter effect was due to the Al mesh size (20-30um vs. 5um) and perhaps the fineness of the KNO3.

 

*I think* that this video is a 6in shell made with a mix of 1/2" stars made with both types of Al (by mix, I mean some stars where the D1 was made with 5um Al and some made with 25-30um Al, not stars made with a mix of both Al types in the composition...hope that's clear): 6in mixed D1 shell. You can see the stars that hang and flash longer.

 

...However, (and this is the part that may trip me up) at one point, I made some D1 with the crappy Al from Plans & Kits Unlimited that all the kewls on eBay were bitching about because it wouldn't make good flash. I think the super long hang time D1 in the shell in this thread and the mixed 6in shell in the above link may have been made with that oxidized Al and that is contributing to it's long flashy delays. I have several lbs of that Al left, and I planned on making more stars to compare, but you know how that goes...

 

The 1in D1 comets used in this recent video used Champion GG grade KNO3 right out of the bag and Alcoa 1620 Aluminum (25-30um Atomized) from Hawk Mtn: 4in C6-D1 Can. You can see comets have a nice delay glitter in the flashes, but they don't compare to the video above.

 

Hope that helps...as always, YMMV.

Edited by qwezxc12
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