My 5" nine timed spider shell

[flying fish]

 

I'm shocked at how weak the bottom shot was given that there were 10 grams of flash in it. Nonetheless I like the way it turned out. I did end up shooting the shell from a long steel gun. As an experiment, I threw some blue stars (Hardt #6) in thinking they were dim enough not to detract from the main effect. I'm trying to decide whether I like it or not. I'll probably leave them out next time.

 

Thanks Mumbles for all the pointers on building these shells. There was another guy at the shoot... some mysterious new guy named Aaron, that had two (6" I believe) nine timed spiders shells as well as some sun and planet shells that put mine to shame. I meant to find the guy and ask him about his shells but by the time I talked to Aaron Enzer and realized that I had the wrong Aaron, it was too late.

[LTUPyro]

Very nice! What size inserts?

[flying fish]

Somewhere around 1-3/4", or a little smaller. Two rings of 4. I actually made them too small. I was kind of in a hurry to complete the shell so instead of the more accepted methods for tightening rings of inserts I just wrapped them in masking tape (that's after inserting two turns of chipboard liner above the bottom shot). Kind of cheesy but it worked.

[fredhappy]

#flying fish: Nice shell, it looked very cool. Is it my observation, or did it went a bit high?

 

I read you put 10 grams of flash in the bottomshot, but it was a 5"shell, do I understand this correctly?

 

Don't get me wrong, I liked the shell a lot, the inserts seemed to have fairly symetrical breaks.

 

thanks for sharing.

Edited May 19, 2013 by fredhappy

[flying fish]

Thanks. Yes, it did go a little too high (perhaps a lot too high)! I had the option to shoot out of a standard length gun or a multi and with a mental coin flip I decided to use the multi (thinking that it would be safer in case the timing was off for some reason).

 

What I'm referring to as the bottom shot was the second break to the shell. Rings of 1" comets stacked 2 layers high, broken with 2FA with 10 grams of 70/30 bright flake flash mixed in. The shell was also spiked with more passes than what I typically use. These things considered I thought I'd get more of a pop out of it...but then again I'm not complaining!

Edited May 20, 2013 by flying fish

[pyrokid]

That bottom shot had a very pleasing symmetry to it! I think the blue stars provided a good contrast to the charcoal firedust.

[psyco_1322]

Very nice shell, timing was great, and the breaks were great. I think it would have been a bit lower if you used the standard gun.

 

Where the inserts timed with time fuse?

 

I have used 30g flash bags to break 4" spider shells, I would think you could easily double the amount you used. It still looked good as is though.

 

Any chance of video from those other shells at the shoot?

[flying fish]

Thanks for the tips! I could have done a little more digging into the amount and type of flash to use. I thought Mumbles said he used 12 grams for a similar shell (if I recall correctly) but I'm also guessing that was with dark aluminum.

 

Yep - The inserts were time fuse and the main breaks were spolettes.

 

I do not have a video of the other guy's shells, but I know there were a number of people filming and I suspect videos of them will soon surface. I'm also curious to see my shell from a further perspective to see the vertical separation between breaks.

[Mumbles]

All in all it looked pretty good. The inserts looked great actually. Whatever you did with the burst, keep doing it. I like a little more timing between the inserts, but to each their own. It does give a nice overlapping effect, which is where the spider web name actually comes from.

 

Yes, my 12g of flash is with dark flake aluminum. I might have accidentally left off one key piece of info. It's a 12g flash bag, not mixed in with the other burst. The area between the comets and the flash bag is filled with polverone. I also tend to use 4 layers of 1" comets.

[flying fish]

Thanks!

 

For the inserts I used 4 layers of 1/2" pumped stars (6 to a ring). Broken with FFA and 2 grams of bright flake 70/30. I probably will add more timing next time I make one of these.

 

For the bottom shot I was planning to use 3 rings but came up short on comets. I also planned to stagger them more, but the height wasn't consistant so they sat much nicer almost fully overlapped. Luckily one of the rings seemed to be thrown out further than the other so they weren't overlapping in the final effect.

 

Is the choice to use a flash bag based more on performance or safety? I recall in Fulcanelli they suggest that a flash bag is safer because it should survive a flower pot and explode in the sky. In this shell I just mixed it in with the burst. When I mentioned that the second break was flash broken the club prez was more interested in making sure the shell wasn't squishy than inquiring about my construction methods.

 

Oh, here's a better angle, video taken by a friend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJXCnJrRwX8&list=UUww32JcO9xpgjs3lJ7yw1xg&index=1

 

Another Edit: I think I finally figured out who made the fancy cylinder shells that I mentioned were much more impressive than mine. He goes by Powder Monkey on PF. Definetely not a new guy, I just hadn't met him before.

Edited May 21, 2013 by flying fish

[Mumbles]

I'm glad he posted those shells on passfire. I knew the Aaron you were talking about, but couldn't come up with a last name or a passfire handle.

 

The flash bag is for performance, but as you said it's supposed to add to safety. In my experience, when the flash is isolated to one area you get more bang for your buck. I feel like it ramps up the pressure more quickly. If it was more spread out, the effect is diluted. If you make another one, it might be interesting to see what kind of effect just confining to a flash bag might have. Thinking about things, slow flash actually seems to work better spread out, where as "hot" flash seems to work better in a flash bag.

[psyco_1322]

The 4" spider I made was the one illustrated in one of the AFN's. It called for a paper tube used to package coins. I didn't have one so I rolled up some craft in the appropriate size. They just said to fill it and tie off the top, by the time it was full it had a good 30g in it. I thought for sure it was either going to shatter the stars or blow them blind. Neither happened, I just got a kinda oblong break, which might have been caused by the cotton string I used to spike with. That shell was made with jumble filled 3/4" spider stars.

[NightHawkInLight]

That last break was just perfect. One of the best I've seen actually. I missed the shell when I was there in person, must have been messing with getting my camera to shoot straight.

[flying fish]

Thanks! It was lit after the last 12" ball while we were in a mad rush to shoot everything before the close of the permit. Terrible idea on my part, but lessons learned I guess.

 

I think I will try the flash bag for the next iteration...perhaps more out of curiosity than anything else.

[Hoppy]

It looked great in person...the blue stars added a nice touch and the last break was the best. Nice symmetry - now one month until the next shoot and the 6" multi's go up!

 

Can't wait to try the CuBenz blue I'll make soon

[flying fish]

I'm more excited for that shoot than I am for the 4th of July! Unfortunately it seems like I am so busy that I won't be able to build anything fancy for it. Or maybe I can just learn to manage my time better...

[Mumbles]

Sleep is for losers when there is pyro to be built. I'm sure they wont mind you smelling like sulfur when you show up to work after an entire night of building.

[flying fish]

We're pretty casual here and I could get away with smelling like sulfur.

 

But unfortunately I don't live at my build site, so I'm only able to make progress on weekends. Also, sometimes I get coerced into "having a social life" on weekends.