hard vs soft breaks

[jakespeed]

what are the benefits/consequences/trade-offs of the two

 

[Merlin]

Best answered by someone with experience. My guess is that if a break is too hard some or all of the stars will be blown blind. If it is too soft the symmetry or pattern you want will not happen. Generally, want to go for 1/2 way between too hard and too soft. However, you might want a soft break depending on the type of stars or effect you want or hard if you have stars than withstand a hard break to achieve the effect you want.

[Mumbles]

They both have their uses and advantages.

 

Soft Pros: Can make nice horsetail breaks or splashes of color. Stars light easily.

Soft Cons: Can ruin symmetry and patterns. Not as impressive generally.

 

Hard Pros: Better symmetry, and larger breaks tend to more desirable.

Hard ???: Can hide flaws in workmanship or methods.

Hard Cons: More difficult to get starts to light and stay lit. It can be over done and over-broken and sparse.

[braddsn]

Jake, I agree with Mumbles. And I will add a couple things. Aerial shells are an art, and variation is important. I break some of my shells extremely hard, and I break some extremely soft, and most of them somewhere in between. I am always watching Japanese and Chinese fireworks displays on youtube and taking notes. For example: A 3 inch color shell, like red for example.. is a shell that I will break very hard. Small simple color shells I feel should be quick, bright, loud, and "in your face" if you will. All of my 3 and 4" color shells are broken hard, and sufficient prime is added to the star to accomplish this. By contrast, a 6 inch willow shell I will break softer. I want it to break huge, but I want the stars to travel slower, and have a more graceful look and feel. I think a shell should be broken depending on the look/feel you want from it.

 

As you advance in building aerial shells, there is another factor to consider. When a star travels outward from a shell break, it will burn for a determined amount of time before it burns out. So lets say I have 2 aerial shells, each with the same exact green stars inside. In the first shell, I use only MCRH for the break. In the second shell, I use MCRH + 5g of 70/30 booster. Both shells break, and the stars in each shell burn for the same amount of time. However, the stars in the first shell are traveling slow, whereas the stars in the second shell are traveling about 5 times faster. The results: The first shell will break smaller, and the break will be more dense and will seem a little brighter. In the second shell, the break will be 3 times bigger than the first, and a LOT louder. BOTH shells will be beautiful if you have 100% star ignition, but they will be very different shells. Sometimes in my displays, I will build 2 shells the same, and boost 1 of them, and fire them out of the same mortar (peanut shell). It looks cool when they break.. one breaks small and the other HUGE. When you start fine tuning shells by means of boosting, you will also have to refine your priming techniques. I prime a star based on the composition, and how I will be boosting the shell (if at all). Hope this helps with your question.

[Arthur]

The break is part of your design! It's your choice.

Otherwise exactly as Mumbles says above.