1569 replies to this topic

[Chaz]

The cracks appeared after snapping the two halves shut, but these cracks have appeared with the acetone less than a minute after coming into contact with the plastic.

I just let the shell off, and the crack obviously didnt cause any problems - the break was very powerful, so the cellulose thinner certainly did a better job than the superglue I have been using. Unfortunatly all but a few of the stars were blown blind, I guess 5g of whistle mix is far too much for a shell of this size once it's been properly confined.

[Chaz]

Well, being the stubborn person I am, I gave it another shot, with 2g of whistle mix.

It was far better, but ignition was still far below par. Video here:

http://www.infernola...s/Shell7Red.wmv

Not a very good video. I'm going to have to get the shell higher, I'll give benzolift a try. The stars are Lancaster Chlorate Red #1, information is avalable on www.vk2zay.net. It says the stars rarely require priming, especially if cut (these were cut), so I didnt prime them. I glued one red star onto the bottom of the shell, which is obviously what causes the red as the shell rises. It may look like it is strobing, but I think that's just an illusion, the shell is simply spinning eratically and the star is going in and out of view.

So - I've just given them a BP prime with about 5% aluminium added in. They're drying, and hopefully I can give a red shell another shot tomorrow.

Edited by Chaz, 03 September 2005 - 10:48 PM.

[Dj Killerboss]

Nice, but why is there no symetric break??? Did there ignit all stars you give in???
I also make a 2 1/2" Shell at the moment, but i go to use paper hemis.
I will fill it with Al/Ti streamers. Next weekend i will shoot it and than i give a video in.

[al93535]

Here is my 4 inch shell I have been working on. I decided to make it like a real shell. Leader, lift cup, time fuse, all that stuff. It is glitter, with a few red, green, and blue stars, also 3 1 gram reports, with a 1 inch dragon eggs filled shell. It also has a blue rising tail.

http://img.photobuck...3535/4shell.jpg

Should be pretty cool.

[JamesH]

Looks good mate! What burst are you using?

[al93535]

Meal coated puffed rice, with a 1-1/4 gram flash booster loose in the center.

[Dj Killerboss]

Looks nice. I will have a video of your shell
Here is a picture of my shell, but it isn't ready till yet
burst charge is bp with flash powder

[karlfoxman]

Hello again, been testing burst charges. I made a couple of 3 inch shells over the last two days. 1. Glitter palm 2. Pink Ring

The glitter palm blew blind due to a time fuse failure I went out to the firing site and retrieved it today. The ring shell was so good, perfect!!! Used a chinese time fuse for the second shell. Both shells were burst with a 50:50 mix of whistle:bp

Pink ring shell picture

Glitter palm picture

Chemicalwaz: You heard the ring shell from the pub!

Sorry no vids, still dont have a decent camera

Edit: I am getting old i can tell

Edited by karlfoxman, 07 September 2005 - 05:45 PM.

[italteen3]

WOW karl those look very professional!

Cant wait to see vids when you get a camera one day .

Just out of curiosity how do you make up those warning labels? Just print em up and paste them like you do the shell or is it a sticker printed on?

[Phoenix]

I also love the look of your shells - labelling them like that just adds an extra level of quality to the finished device. Not only is it an aesthetic thing, but having a description of the effect on the shell is a good idea, for obvious reasons.

[karlfoxman]

Thanks guys,

Italteen: The labels are pasted on, they give a warning and effect just like a pro shell. They maybe home made but they are STILL very dengerous!!

I will be making more as soon as i get more plastic hemis, sadly run out of them. so looks like i will have to make paper ones.

The burst is really doing its job well, gives a strong but not over strong break.

[curious aardvark]

Any chance of pictures of the shells BEFORE they are glued together (from anyone else other than karlfoxman :-). This in my opinion would be much more interesting as I'm sure not everybody packs their shells the same. A made shell could be any round thing wrapped in brown paper. Let's see the internals :-)

Edited by curious aardvark, 08 September 2005 - 01:07 PM.

[karlfoxman]

I get too into filling them to take pics before/while they are filled. I will try to remember to take a picture because it is good to know whats inside.

[karlfoxman]

Just finished another, well sort of. This shell is the found and re-fused 3inch Glitter Palm shell. I fired it on tuesday and it blew blind, i left it for two days the found it. Now got a fresh 25g lift charge and a new leader, plus a failsafe time use.

PIC1

PIC2

Karl

[karlfoxman]

Made a 4 inch cylindrical shell on monday and fired it lastnight, my old man tried to film it using his modified webcam (modified for astronomy) that gives a really good picture in low light!! Bloody laptop didnt want to let it capture anything so i did'nt get any footage Sorry. But the shell was really good, i stood a good 30-40 meters away so i could see it better. It launched with a good thump and kept rising for what seemed like ages to at least 350 feet. Then it broke with a cloud of my KP pink stars. Yummy even though a bit girly. I took a picture before it was fired. I will make another one and film it.

The spec:

4 inch paper cylindrical shell
3.8 second rammed bp spoolette with blackmatch passfire
bp/whistle 4:1 on grass seeds burst 2:1
30 KP PINK stars
50g home made willowgranulated lift

The picture:

CLICK