MeowMix Posted May 31, 2016 Posted May 31, 2016 I was looking at consumer effects, and I saw this: What is the rain effect called, and is there any way I could achieve it? If so, what would the comp be for those types of stars? Sorry for being noob
braddsn Posted May 31, 2016 Posted May 31, 2016 (edited) The "rain" effect you are referring to is "glitter". Here is a shell I recently made with this effect, in this case "N-1 glitter" https://youtu.be/PXlQeuLfLaw?t=12sGlitter is by far one of the most popular and widely used effects in fireworks. D-1 and N-1 glitters are possibly the most popular formulas, due to their simplicity and lack of Antimony Trisulfide. Antimony Trisulfide tends to be one of the more expensive chemicals, it is used in a LOT of glitter formulas, and some folks don't feel comfortable working with it due to it's toxicity. FWIW, you will see/hear the term "Brocade" used a lot in fireworking. Like this particular cake in the video you linked, it is called "Brocade". My understanding is that this 'style' of shell, is called a brocade. A brocade shell contains stars that have long tails/trails behind them. A lot of the time, and in this case, the stars are made of some glitter composition. Edited May 31, 2016 by braddsn 1
stix Posted May 31, 2016 Posted May 31, 2016 I haven't got a lot of experience myself Meow. I've only made a few glitter comps tested in a star mine but yes, that is indeed a glitter. Have to say braddsn, that shell was simply beautiful. The combination of blue and gold is my fave in pyro. Good quality video and audio as well. I've watched it a few times, just got to connect up my sub-woofer .
PIL Posted May 31, 2016 Posted May 31, 2016 The "rain" effect you are referring to is "glitter". Here is a shell I recently made with this effect, in this case "N-1 glitter" https://youtu.be/PXlQeuLfLaw?t=12sGlitter is by far one of the most popular and widely used effects in fireworks. D-1 and N-1 glitters are possibly the most popular formulas, due to their simplicity and lack of Antimony Trisulfide. Antimony Trisulfide tends to be one of the more expensive chemicals, it is used in a LOT of glitter formulas, and some folks don't feel comfortable working with it due to it's toxicity. FWIW, you will see/hear the term "Brocade" used a lot in fireworking. Like this particular cake in the video you linked, it is called "Brocade". My understanding is that this 'style' of shell, is called a brocade. A brocade shell contains stars that have long tails/trails behind them. A lot of the time, and in this case, the stars are made of some glitter composition. In my opinion,Brocade refers to an effect of a long golden tail with delayed flashes of sparks.To achieve this. typical effect, coarse Ti,FeTi or sometimes firefly aluminum is added to a tigertail-like charcoal streamer .Glitter flashes are brighter and larger than the elegant Ti sparks.Furthermore, Glitters don't have charcoal tails because the charcoal sparks are trapped in the dross So the composition you want may be close to Slow Gold, with a little more Ti for denser white sparks. Milling (WITHOUT metal) is recommended to reduce fallout.
lloyd Posted May 31, 2016 Posted May 31, 2016 PIL,I agree with your definition of "Brocade", but if you'd actually viewed that video, you'd have seen that the effect is clearly a glitter. And although I think all glitters are nice, that wasn't even a terribly good one! I have a favorite (mine, of course!<G>), but there are LOTS of good gold glitters in the literature and formulae databases. Lloyd
pyrokid Posted May 31, 2016 Posted May 31, 2016 I have to agree with PIL. I believe that the effect of that cake is some type of charcoal + metal formulation. The camera distorts the effect to make it appear as a glitter, by not picking up the fainter charcoal and metal firedust. I believe that slow burning willow type stars have a greater tendency to droop toward the ground than glitter stars. Honestly, I think both types of star can give a similar effect. willow type star with 3 different grades of FeTi: glitter stars: Depending on the formula, the willow type star can exhibit glitter-like flashes.
Mumbles Posted May 31, 2016 Posted May 31, 2016 It's hard to tell for certain, at least without examining some stars from that cake. I could see it being either a true glitter, or a brocade. To me, assuming all the components are finely ground, glitters tend to be more uniform than in the above video. My first shot would be something like a fast burning brocade. C6 or 8 with some 80 mesh charcoal and 5-10% 60 mesh titanium or ferro titanium. It may even use coarse aluminum. The Chinese seem to be doing some things that I'm not as familiar with lately, so that's just intuition and where I'd personally start. For what it's worth PIL, there are plenty of glitters that have a charcoal tail. It is sometimes hard to notice, though it stands out better with comets. Some of the most popular ones like D1, N1, Win 20, etc have little to no tail. There are others, like Lancaster Yellow that have a pretty nice tail in addition to the glitter flashes. One of my favorite effects is a charcoal tail with silver flashing. I'm still trying to dial that in just right though.
braddsn Posted June 2, 2016 Posted June 2, 2016 Yeah Mumbles, there is a formula that I like to use, it's simply TT + 5% Ti, (NOT FeTi), and there are white/silver flashes in the tail. It can resemble a glitter at first glance, it's one of my favorite effects. Easy, effective, and cheap! Some of my biggest shells this 4th will be using that comp!
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