First 4" N1 Glitter Shell

[jrin0630]

I shot this 4" N1 shell for the 4th. Overall I was pleased with how it performed. The only thing I questioned was how it broke. The break appears to be a little lopsided. I wondered why the break was not more symmetrical? Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Attached is the video. (Please ignore the background "noise" and the caption. My daughter actually assembled the shell and she couldn't wait to show her friends.LOL).

 

Here are the shell details:

 

Type: 4" round shell

Composition: 1/2" N1 Glitter stars

Burst: Commercial BP (Goex 4FG on rice hulls) + 1g whistle mix. .5g mixed equally in each hemi)

Pasting: 6 turns- 3 strip method (12 layers). Alternating poles on each layer. 30lb gummed Kraft paper.

Time Fuse: 2 3/4" Visco wrapped in 5 layers of masking tape leaving roughly 1/8" exposed within the center of the shell.

[Mumbles]

Looked pretty good actually. From the video, I'm not sure I would say lopsided. It sort of looks like it's breaking on it's way down. You'd probably have a better idea of that is true or not though. You tend to get that sort of burst pattern when that happens. I'd suggest shortening the delay a bit. Others might suggest using extra booster. I think your shells burst just fine as is, but a harder break can help to disguise some things like not breaking at the apex. An extra layer of pasting could also accomplish a similar thing.

[jrin0630]

Thanks for the feedback. It did actually appear to break on the way down. I'll shorten the delay and see how that

goes.

[braddsn]

Great job man! I build ball shells only, and I second what Mumbles said. Your break was shaped as such because the shell was on its way down. I counted about 5 seconds between lift and break. 5 seconds is better suited for a 6 inch shell. I did the same exact thing building my first shells. Shorten your delay to about 3.5 seconds and you will be on the money. Looks like you had great ignition and stars looked evenly sized, so get your timing right and it will be perfect! Oh and for what it's worth, sometimes I will purposely leave booster out of a shell, or make it break early on it's way up, or late on its way down, just for some variety. It's all about personal preference.. I like to mix it up from time to time.