fredhappy Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 (edited) I've build these shells to test them. I intent to shoot one 1*8" with 14x2.5"hardt brocade inserts, en 2x6"peanut with a total of 40x2"inserts as a grande finale at a private party. All this stuff was build in 48 hours, started assembling on wednesday, shot on friday.....I have been mighty busy those 2 days, working 15 hours non stop, and drying the pasting layers with a small fanheater. Everything worked ok, the timing of the mothershell could have been a bit lower to my taste. Also, the most efficient insert size for 6"is 2", I tried cramming in 4x2.5"in one 6", but could only get 3 in, despite my terrible cursing. I tried cramming in 7x3"kamuro in 1x8", but only 6 would fit. I used the remaining 1x3"kamuro and 1x2.5"turquoise as rising effects attached with hemp rope to the 8"er. http://www.youtube.c...h?v=TuHSeqYhahI 1x8"with 14x2.5"hardt brocade and 2"buell red comet with 15% coarse sponge Ti http://www.youtube.c...h?v=ynFHAu_HZWU 1x8"s.o.s with 6x3"kamuro and 1x3"+1x2.5"turquoise rising effect, also 2"buell red comet (PLEASE TURN DOWN VOLUME, FOOTAGE WAS TAKEN WITH MOBILE PHONE, LOTS OF WIND NOISE) http://www.youtube.c...eature=youtu.be 1X6"s.o.s peanut, with 5x2" red no 1 , and 5x2"fucsia no 1, second shell 2x2.5"red no 1,+ 1x2.5"turquoise, handful of strobe stars was added to the break. All stars were made with the Spanish PDF file, I love those colours. The willow was very beautifull, I only pre milled the ingredients, and screened the whole mix. Let me known what you folks think about my stuff, I appreciate comments. best fred Edited June 20, 2012 by fredhappy
vh718 Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 everything looked great. i have some fucsia stars drying right now
BJV Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 I've build these shells to test them. I intent to shoot one 1*8" with 14x2.5"hardt brocade inserts, en 2x6"peanut with a total of 40x2"inserts as a grande finale at a private party. All this stuff was build in 48 hours, started assembling on wednesday, shot on friday.....I have been mighty busy those 2 days, working 15 hours non stop, and drying the pasting layers with a small fanheater. Everything worked ok, the timing of the mothershell could have been a bit lower to my taste. Also, the most efficient insert size for 6"is 2", I tried cramming in 4x2.5"in one 6", but could only get 3 in, despite my terrible cursing. I tried cramming in 7x3"kamuro in 1x8", but only 6 would fit. I used the remaining 1x3"kamuro and 1x2.5"turquoise as rising effects attached with hemp rope to the 8"er. http://www.youtube.c...h?v=TuHSeqYhahI 1x8"with 14x2.5"hardt brocade and 2"buell red comet with 15% coarse sponge Ti http://www.youtube.c...h?v=ynFHAu_HZWU 1x8"s.o.s with 6x3"kamuro and 1x3"+1x2.5"turquoise rising effect, also 2"buell red comet (PLEASE TURN DOWN VOLUME, FOOTAGE WAS TAKEN WITH MOBILE PHONE, LOTS OF WIND NOISE) http://www.youtube.c...eature=youtu.be 1X6"s.o.s peanut, with 5x2" red no 1 , and 5x2"fucsia no 1, second shell 2x2.5"red no 1,+ 1x2.5"turquoise, handful of strobe stars was added to the break. All stars were made with the Spanish PDF file, I love those colours. The willow was very beautifull, I only pre milled the ingredients, and screened the whole mix. Let me known what you folks think about my stuff, I appreciate comments. best fredVery nice Fred, I sure like the 8" shell of shells.Great work, keep it up.BJV
fredhappy Posted June 20, 2012 Author Posted June 20, 2012 thx guys vh718 : fucsia no 1 is very nice, but no 2 is even better. Downside is that is has strontium nitrate which always gives me some issues. I have seen one of these fucsia no 2 stars burn, and they were mighty pretty. With your skills to make high quality 2.5 and 3"shells you'd be able to pull of great 8"shell of shells... An 8"shell will hold 14x2.5"and gives a truly massive flowergarden . Would be interesting seeing what that would look like with those high quality lil' shells of yours.... I have to say that the 2.5 "inserts in this 8"er were a bit of a rush job for me,I feel they could have been rounder and better pasted.
marks265 Posted June 22, 2012 Posted June 22, 2012 They were great stuff Fred. I am a bit of a timing freak and I would have liked to have seen better timing in the inserts. It is easily foregone when in a bit of a hurry but it does make a difference to me. Nice rising tails too. Fucsia #1 looks best to my liking, as usual viewing in person is always much better. I would watch 'em again. Mark
vh718 Posted June 22, 2012 Posted June 22, 2012 thx guys vh718 : fucsia no 1 is very nice, but no 2 is even better. Downside is that is has strontium nitrate which always gives me some issues. I have seen one of these fucsia no 2 stars burn, and they were mighty pretty. With your skills to make high quality 2.5 and 3"shells you'd be able to pull of great 8"shell of shells... An 8"shell will hold 14x2.5"and gives a truly massive flowergarden . Would be interesting seeing what that would look like with those high quality lil' shells of yours.... I have to say that the 2.5 "inserts in this 8"er were a bit of a rush job for me,I feel they could have been rounder and better pasted. thanks for the kind words fred. when i first saw your shells, i said man i want to make perfect shells like him. im making some 4s for the 4th, hopefully they look somewhat like your amazing shells. i have all your vids on my computer and just stare at the perfect symmetry and color changes.
fredhappy Posted June 22, 2012 Author Posted June 22, 2012 (edited) Vh718 : It is really nice to hear you got something out of my humble attempts to make nice shells, I truly appreciate you mentioning it. I always read your posts and watch your clips, and I think you get excellent quality results for such small calibers. When you start building larger shells your skills will make it much easier for you to get that high quality look you too are also after. Since larger calibers have much more space inside , I expect you will yield great results. I like 2.5"shells, but mostly as inserts for larger calibers. Unfortunately you have to build scores of these small shells when making large s.o.s, so quantity tends to prevail over quality. I've read you break with whistle and alternate poles during pasting, this seems to yield excellent results . I used to break with KP, but now I've switched to MCRH and a booster again , and I need to dial in the right amounts and pasting all over again, hence the somewhat messy look of the 2.5"inserts in the large 8"er. Marks265: Thanks for your input, I agree with your observation that the timing of the inserts need improvement . Shell of shells timings are twofold, first the mother shell timing then the insert timing. I timed this 8"on 2 seconds for the mother shell ( 22 mm timefuse), and timed the inserts from 18 mm to 50 mm with 2 mm steps in between. I do like the inserts to go off in about 3 seconds to give a sort of buildup of effects, but am struggling to get this right. Tomorrow I will shoot a small show (weather forbids) which I have been working on for the past 4 months. As a finale I intend to shoot 2x6"peanut and the same 8" sos with the 14x2.5"hardt brocade inserts. The 6"ers will have 10x2", instead of the 2.5" inserts, which are too large for 6" .The timings on the 8"are the same as previous, I just wanted to test out this large shell before shooting it in front of an audience. For future projects I'd like to experiment more with a "studata"type of timing, meaning 1 second for the mother shell, and all the inserts timed at 1.5 seconds..that should be mighty spectacular I think... Marks, What would be timings of your liking for sos? Both mother shell and inserts? Inserts all at once? I'd be interested in your opinion. Edited June 22, 2012 by fredhappy
marks265 Posted June 22, 2012 Posted June 22, 2012 Fred, For the shell itself it depends on your lift. I always like to put them up towards apogee especially if you have inserts. You want a harder break to spread the inserts before they light. The two best ways to time inserts are: 1) All at once2) One timing for each effect if more than one effect exists. 3) a third possibility (especially for cylinder shells) is to have a cadence for each break. Such as a snail shell or a rondell (to name a couple) where the breaks are successive and circular. They don't all go at once but there is a pattern to the breaks, is the point. Lets say you have a color break of pink that burns 3 seconds (inserts are now traveling). About the time they burn out ,the first timing of inserts should go. If you have another effect they should go on another timing. This way you focus your eyes and adjust to one color or effect and then be surprised by the next timing (as an unknowing spectator). A standard or customary way is to have one effect and to have them break all at the same time. Basically, if it looks random it is random. My original point was to not have a random timing effect because it does not show any finesse. Lastly you should try to get them to break symmetrically which is more pleasing than one break over here and a couple over there. Here is my you tube from a Yep my 2 cents Mark
fredhappy Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) marks265: I like the idea of the effects going off at the same time. I made a total of 54 inserts for tonight's shoot. They are timed with 2 mm spacings. I agree they look at bit random, the crossmatch I use is the culprit in this one. I use the traditional and labour intensive method of slitting the timefuse, inserting 2 strands of blackmatch and tying the slit with a not. This takes 4 hours for 54 inserts. This method guarantees 100% ignition, I've never had a dud with crossmatching, but timings do suffer since they are at 2 mm intervals. I will alter my way of timing with these shell of shells, and experiment with all-at-once per effect, I like that idea. effects are: 10x2"fucsia no 110x2"red no 110x2"kamuro10x2"strobe 14x2.5"hardt brocade These are put in 2x6"peanut and 1x8"sos. I shoot these as a finale. I am very curious how this will turn out. Thanks for your input, it's much appreciated. fred Edited June 23, 2012 by fredhappy
marks265 Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 Everyone who is smart enough to cross match has a certain technic. Some people are lazy and don't do it at all, which is a very bad plan. I cut my time fuse to length of timing plus a 1/2". Then I measure 1/4" in from one end and mark it with a pen. Then I measure the amount of timing desired and make another pen mark which should leave a 1/4" of time fuse past the second mark. Then at each pen mark I push an awl through the fuse while placed over a block of wood to make a hole through the fuse for a cross match. I usually have to go in from both sides to make the hole even and large enough for the match. Then I insert a long piece of match such as the 3 stranded fast fuse that can be bought which is wrapped in a gampi or tissue type of paper. I like this method because it is an accurate way of measuring and does not disturb the powder core too aggressively. The powder core also remains in the fuse instead of cutting it away at the very end, which is a meaningless 3rd point to take fire. It also seems a little safer to me in regard to accidentally cutting myself with a razor blade. I think it is a faster method but only as a side benefit and not the reason for the method. If done quickly and smartly the hole will close back in on itself somewhat to grab the match. Otherwise I pinch the very end of the fuse slightly. You don't want to overly enlarge the hole for the match. I have had good success with this method so I thought I would mention it. Good luck with your trials! Mark
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