15 replies to this topic

[The Swedish Scientist]

A couple of months ago, I saw a fireworks display on TV at which they used red and blue Weeping Willow Shells!

I got very curious, and am now desperately searching for compositions to achieve this. Just imagine how impressive a barrage of blue Willows would be in the winter moonlight!

Do YOU know any recipes for making a colourful Weeping Willow, in any colour other than the standard charcoal?

Edit: Just to clarify; there was NO charcoal tracer.

Edited by Eld i berget!, 21 November 2006 - 12:43 PM.

[karlfoxman]

So do you mean it had a colour star and a charcoal tail?

[The Swedish Scientist]

So do you mean it had a colour star and a charcoal tail?

NO!

It had a blue tail, NOT a CHARCOAL tail!

In other words, BLUE star, BLUE TAIL!!!

[Mortartube]

I guess that these may have been standard colour and willow stars with lots of coloured microstars embedded in them or lots of very small falling leaves. If it's the former, the iris on the camera may have closed down becausae of the brightness of the main star and made the charcoal tail invisible. Just a thought.

[Frozentech]

A couple of months ago, I saw a fireworks display on TV at which they used red and blue Weeping Willow Shells!

I got very curious, and am now desperately searching for compositions to achieve this. Just imagine how impressive a barrage of blue Willows would be in the winter moonlight!

Do YOU know any recipes for making a colourful Weeping Willow, in any colour other than the standard charcoal?

Most likely, the colors were edited for broadcast.

[The Swedish Scientist]

Most likely, the colors were edited for broadcast.

No, the colours were not edited for broadast. I mailed another pyrotechnitian who told me he had seen such willows with his own two eyes.

Perhaps a coloured metal tracer. Any ideas or comps?

Btw thank you Shrubsole!

Edited by Eld i berget!, 21 November 2006 - 12:41 PM.

[Creepin_pyro]

Tracers do not leave a tail (or at least I've never seen one which did)

As far as I'm aware, the only way to achieve the effect you described would be to use microstars embedded in a matrix. Possibly in a married comet configuration with both a microstar matrix and colour star.

I've never seen such an effect - do you have any footage/photos or further information about where you saw the effect? Perhaps also where your pyrotechnician friend had seen them?

[BrightStar]

I remember a Skylighter newsletter on 'Colored Fireplace Stuff' from 2001, suggesting pre-soaking camp fire logs and pine cones in copper chloride for coloured flame effects.

It seems possible that similarly treated charcoal couldwork in a tiger tail / chrys 6 type star comp and give interesting colours in the tail. Has anyone tried this?

[sizzle]

Well, they do exist. I have a shell catalogue in front of me with "Red Willow", "Purple Willow" and "Blue Willow" in it...

[Mortartube]

These might help. Posted here with other formulae.

http://www.pyrocreat...om/effect_stars

And the formulae.

Matrix comet composition #1
Source: PML 8 oct 96, post by Myke Stanbridge <mykestan@cleo.murdoch.edu.au
Comments: A matrix comet consists of a matrix composition in which colored microstars are embedded. It produces a colored tail when fired. The microstars must be slow-burning while the matrix must be very fast burning. The matrix must either emit as little light as possible or a lot of light in a color that is compatible with the color of the microstars. The following green matrix composition from c1995 is a good starting point for further experimentation.
Preparation: Exfoliated mica is also called Vermiculite. It is usually obtained from 'mineral products' suppliers in graded sizes from around 5 to 10 millimetres. It requires comminution in a coffee mill, followed by screening. The guar binder, although very effective in low amounts, has a very slow drying profile and a tendency to produce a 'skin' that prevents 'radiant heat source' drying. To dry the comets uniformly requires a fan circulated 'dry air' drier. Large 3" comets might take two months to dry properly depending on the circumstances.

Potasium chlorate, passing 200 mesh...............50
Barium benzoate, passing 100 mesh.................23
Barium carbonate, passing 200 mesh................10
Exfoliated mica, pass 80 mesh, hold 120 mesh......10
Bentonite clay - wyoming, passing 200 mesh........6
Guar gum fine WW250F, passing 200 mesh............1

Matrix comet composition #2
Source: PML 8 oct 96, post by Myke Stanbridge <mykestan@cleo.murdoch.edu.au
Comments: A matrix comet consists of a matrix composition in which colored microstars are embedded. It produces a colored tail when fired. The microstars must be slow-burning while the matrix must be very fast burning. The matrix must either emit as little light as possible or a lot of light in a color that is compatible with the color of the microstars. The following green matrix composition from c1995 is a good starting point for further experimentation.
Preparation: Exfoliated mica is also called Vermiculite. It is usually obtained from 'mineral products' suppliers in graded sizes from around 5 to 10 millimetres. It requires comminution in a coffee mill, followed by screening. The guar binder, although very effective in low amounts, has a very slow drying profile and a tendency to produce a 'skin' that prevents 'radiant heat source' drying. To dry the comets uniformly requires a fan circulated 'dry air' drier. Large 3" comets might take two months to dry properly depending on the circumstances.

Potasium perchlorate, passing 100 mesh............50
Zirconium silicate, passing 325 mesh..............30
Polykarbenite-3 - Armex, passing 200 mesh.........10
Barium carbonate, passing 200 mesh................9
Guar gum fine WW250F, passing 200 mesh............1

[Creepin_pyro]

Well, they do exist. I have a shell catalogue in front of me with "Red Willow", "Purple Willow" and "Blue Willow" in it...

That doesn't necessarily mean that they're actually real coloured willows. Fireworks (especially Chinese) are notorious for having names which bear no resemblance to the actual effect (like ones which claim to be coloured glitter). What's the catalogue?

Edited by Creepin_pyro, 07 December 2006 - 01:33 PM.

[sizzle]

It's a Panda Cat 4 Catalogue, e-mail Panda if you want confirmation of these effects.

[pyrotrev]

I've never seen a true coloured tail of any length in real life, though with very bright stars the smoke trail can look somewhat like one, particularly with diadem style (relatively small number of long burning stars - nice). I have however seen some matrix comets with lots of little green twinkles in them which were errm, fairly greenish at a distance and also what appears to be coloured trails on videos but were actually artefacts of (oldish?) cameras, presumably caused by a "persistence" phenomenon in the sensor in the camera. All the shells I've fired that have been called "green willow" or "purple willow" were actually colour changing i.e. charcoal willow > green.

Edited by pyrotrev, 23 November 2006 - 12:03 AM.

[The Swedish Scientist]

Well, what I meant with a tracer was actually a tail... just a traslation screw up.

Do you know any white willows? Preferably with a titanium tail.

My idea is esentially to colour a white willow tail using a neutral metal compound. By a neutral metal compound I mean something which is neither an oxygen donor, nor a fuel, in other words a metal which has allready burnt. By making sure that the metal has the highest, what do you call it? The value that desides werther the atom will donate or recieve oxygen from another when heated. Anyway doing that you can make sure that the colouring agent (oxidised metal) will not speed up the oxidation, nor slow it down.

Btw, this was my idea, so don't go taing credit for it, my name is Andreé (I've been ripped off before, nothing personal!)

Have a nice day!

[EnigmaticBiker]

My idea is esentially to colour a white willow tail using a neutral metal compound. By a neutral metal compound I mean something which is neither an oxygen donor, nor a fuel, in other words a metal which has allready burnt. By making sure that the metal has the highest, what do you call it? The value that desides werther the atom will donate or recieve oxygen from another when heated. Anyway doing that you can make sure that the colouring agent (oxidised metal) will not speed up the oxidation, nor slow it down.

I'm not sure how that would work; for instance, colours produced by a cloud of metal ions will require heat to actually produce the light. This heat will have to come from somewhere.
If the metal (a metal chloride?) doesn't provide its' own heat, it will need heat from the reaction around it, slowing it down.

Even an relatively inert metal oxide will cool the reaction to accept enough heat to glow brightly.