6 replies to this topic

[koobee]

I have been experimenting with small 2" shells as heading for 4oz rockets for a while now. Due to the lack of reading material focused around small shells I have done much of this experimentation on my own. Forgive me if this topic has been posted before. My struggle is simply getting a good full burst pattern. Almost all my stars blow blind. I use a mixture of bp rice hulls and a modified David Bleser flash burst. I am just looking for some pointers in the general consruction of these small (plastic) shells. I guess that's about it. If you guys have any good burst mixes that have served you well or any sugestions please let me know.

[adamw]

It's all about the prime. The Chinese break almost all of their bombettes, small (<= 2") shells and rockets with flash. Try putting some (2%) sawdust in the prime mix, as this will 'rough up' the finish, giving it more surface area and making it more liable to take fire, even from a violent flash break.

[koobee]

Yeah, thats kinda what I have been leaning towards. I prime my stars with bp for lack of dichromate or silicon... or chlorates whatsoever . Would you advise against bp as a prime? The sawdust sounds like a good idea as well. Thanks.

[adamw]

Advise against BP for a prime.. in general? No, as a base comp it makes a good prime (most importantly easy to ignite), but bear in mind with almost all metal fueled stars, you will need a percentage of the metal star mix in steps (ie Star --> Star comp + some BP --> BP + some star comp --> BP) to make a transition of activation energies.

Obviously, try not to use BP (with sulphur) when using chlorate based stars.

[koobee]

Yeah. I don't use chlorate comps at all. I try using stars like charcoal streamers and ammonium perch stars because they light easy, but the shell never breaks hard enough or "big" enough. Most of the stars blow out blind. Could this be due to the shell breaking open too soon, or before the burst can fully ignite the stars? I am thinking of coating the shells with three to four layers of paper strips following the steps David Blesser noted in his book and then coating a final layer over that. could this possibly aid me in my quest?

[shadowpyro]

i heard that generally plastic shells are rather inferior to paper (pasted) shells, though if you have any strapping tape use a few layers of that around the outside of the plastic shell. <--- no drying time, easy and cheap!

[dr thrust]

do you think a lampare"rocket" heading would work, just for something different or would it be a poor show?