ST1DinOH Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 getting a bunch of novelties called buzz balls (or something like that) which are the same outter dia as a AAA battery and about 1/2 as tall/long. they are side fused, and when you light them they take off into the sky, similar to the "scrambeling comets" effect. the idea here is to cut the fuses short on a bunch of them, prime them with a good colored comp, then stuff a 3 inch shell with them. the effect i'm hoping to get is once the shell breaks, the inserts are scattered in a star like pattern with the prime producing a color...just like a star...but then just as the stars/prime fades they will fly off in all directions. just wondering what you guys would use in this situation to prime the fuses of the inserts and if you would do anything in particular to increase the odds of passfire. i'm hoping this works out well for me, my first shells look great, still waiting for a chance to fire them so i can post pics and a vid.
Gottagotomoz Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 Sounds somewhat similar to something I saw on pyroguide not too long ago. I think it was called "Ghetto Getters" IIRC. It sounds like a cool effect, so it may be worth a shot. Edit: Didn't see we were talking about COLORED primes here. My mistake. Original post edited. Oh and heres the link, if you're curious. http://www.pyroguide.com/index.php?title=Ghetto-Getters Edit2: Seems I'm a bit lost. Are you talking about priming the actual device in a color comp, or just the fuse?
qwezxc12 Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 Going out on a limb here, but ... 1) I don't think you'll find a good (read bright & saturated) color comp that will double as a prime for the fuses unless you start experimenting with Chlorate compositions. Most color Perchlorate formulas need prime themselves to light reliably.2) Even if you solve problem #1, I don't know how you'd be able to glop enough color prime on a fuse to make the insert visibly tail like a star before igniting. I would hazard to guess you might have better luck either hot-gluing a primed color star to the inserts timed to burn out before the insert lights or by pulling out the insert fuses alltogether and replacing them with BP primed colored crackle or flying fish fuse.Good luck and let us know how you make out.
ST1DinOH Posted January 31, 2008 Author Posted January 31, 2008 Sounds somewhat similar to something I saw on pyroguide not too long ago. I think it was called "Ghetto Getters" IIRC. It sounds like a cool effect, so it may be worth a shot. Edit: Didn't see we were talking about COLORED primes here. My mistake. Original post edited. Oh and heres the link, if you're curious. http://www.pyroguide.com/index.php?title=Ghetto-Getters Edit2: Seems I'm a bit lost. Are you talking about priming the actual device in a color comp, or just the fuse? well a little of both...i figure i wouldn't have a ton of time here to keep them safe. right now i'm playing with 3's so after the break, with a delay (whiel the colored comp/prime burns) and calculating in the duration of the inserts i'm already pushing the limits of saftey as is... so i'd probably have to cut the fuse short, almost flush, then put a nice glob over the fuse and kinda wrap it around the insert so it stays attached. anything more than that and these inserts are hitting the ground, then flying everywhere. can't have that. so glob about the size of a marble, then kinda smashed into the side of the insert to cover the fuse nub should give me what i'm after and keep it safe. Going out on a limb here, but ... 1) I don't think you'll find a good (read bright & saturated) color comp that will double as a prime for the fuses unless you start experimenting with Chlorate compositions. Most color Perchlorate formulas need prime themselves to light reliably. well the way i figured it, if regular star comps work after a burst, and they continue to burn from the outside in, then i should be able to pick a good comp that i can smash into the side of the insert (covering the fuse) and it'd be like a star that passes fire to a fuse... couldn't that work? sounds like it would, i mean the stars catch the pass fire from the burst, the star burns inward, then passes fire to the shortened insert fuse? i figure i'm gonna have to prime the insert fuses anyway right? so why not make it interesting? 2) Even if you solve problem #1, I don't know how you'd be able to glop enough color prime on a fuse to make the insert visibly tail like a star before igniting. make the glop the size of a star I would hazard to guess you might have better luck either hot-gluing a primed color star to the inserts timed to burn out before the insert lights or by pulling out the insert fuses alltogether and replacing them with BP primed colored crackle or flying fish fuse.Good luck and let us know how you make out. now THAT is an awsome idea. i bet that would work quite well and i could just cut all the fuses to the same length... man i love pyro forums that will probably be perfect. but if it's not bright enough i may try smashing wet stars into the fuse nubs might just try both methods and shoot them side by side. thanks again guys.
ST1DinOH Posted February 5, 2008 Author Posted February 5, 2008 here's what i came up with last night just to try out the idea... 1/2 meal 1/2 4F and a little water to make a slurry prime...then i coated the shortened fuses with a small glob. i did about 60 of them to play with why so many? 3 reasons... 1. i'm going to try mass launching a bunch with sticky match2. i have a whole case of these things3. i made way to much prime and didn't want to waste it. lol i'll let everyone know how well they work...should be building a shell this weekend. please excuse the quality i took these with a camera phone http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/879/closeupbuzzzipsxw8.jpghttp://img503.imageshack.us/img503/688/allthebuzzzipskb1.jpg
InRainbows Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 You should try timing them as a rising affect, like, on a canister shell time them to go off one by one as it goes up. As you can see by referencing my work of art, you would light them like a rising comet, and chain fuse them to go off one at a time. http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s320/wa...hiltheShell.jpg
k1ley4evr Posted February 15, 2008 Posted February 15, 2008 i wonder if you could add like a colored smoke mixture to those buzzballs. Wonder how that would look during the day
ST1DinOH Posted February 15, 2008 Author Posted February 15, 2008 You should try timing them as a rising affect, like, on a canister shell time them to go off one by one as it goes up. As you can see by referencing my work of art, you would light them like a rising comet, and chain fuse them to go off one at a time. http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s320/wa...hiltheShell.jpg well that looks cool, nice drawing too. but i have no idea how to make a canister shell yet, i still haven't been able to see a 3 inch ball of mine go off, but i was told it was nice (long story). any advice on how to do that with a round shell? i don't think it could work TBH, the lift would pass fire to the primed fuses on the buzzballs and they'd be flying around shortly after the lift. i'm thinking about a second at the most. that would be even more dangerous than what i'm trying to do. also there's the whole problem of attaching them to the shell... i can't very well glue them to the shell, and there's no fuse to attach to a chain because i've snipped it down to almost nothing. if there's a way to get this to work safely on a round shell it'd be sweet i wonder if you could add like a colored smoke mixture to those buzzballs. Wonder how that would look during the day dude...thats a cool idea you should call brad at lemas and pass it along, you might get the first case for free they would definatley leave cool patterns/trails in the air, these things tend to fly in all sorts of directions. sometime this weekend i'm at least trying out the row of primed buzzballs on some sticky match. i think i put 11 or 12 of them in a row and i'll just slide a piece of visco in the end and light it up. video should be cool, i'm hoping to accomplish a uniformity in the "lift" on all of them. if this test works then i know my shell will do what i want it to do.
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