1569 replies to this topic

[karlfoxman]

Here are some pictures of how to construct these 3" TAPA shells. Its filled with Buell reds rolled by hand, this is the same as yours Maxman. Here are the pics with brief discription.

Picture 1 - The flash bag, made from gummed tape.
Picture 2 - The shell hemi and assembled flash bag, the flash bag has 4 strands of blackmatch that is nosed this is to stop the flash going into the passfire tube.
Picture 3 - The way I prime these fuses.
Picture 4 - Position of passfire in shell.
Picture 5 - Glued passfire to shell.
Picture 6 - Filled flash bag tied off at one end.
Picture 7 - Shell hemis glued prior to filling, then filled with mixture of stars and burst filler in this case BP on hulls.
Picture 8 - Complete shell minus lift and leader, the top has been glued into place.

The shell does not have the stars filled against the walls, its all dumped into the shell. This will make a dense and bright break of stars. The flash was 5g 70/30, should please most report happy people and get these stars moving. Be aware, this is not the way chinese make the shell. And I believe its only used in Spanish factories, correct me if im wrong Mr H!

Enjoy!

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Edited by karlfoxman, 27 June 2007 - 09:35 PM.

[maxman]

Nice one, do you just load a mix of stars and bp on hulls? scoop them up then seal the top? when we gonna see it fly?

[karlfoxman]

Yeah, thats right. Mix them up or load the seperate and tap the shell to let it settle. You want to get as much in as possible. I will fire them v soon, maybe tomorrow if I can. Be interesting to see the two shells together on video. Will post when I let them fly.

[sasman]

eh

Edited by sasman, 22 July 2007 - 09:38 PM.

[karlfoxman]

Glad it helps! Very nice powder you have there, you can see how much gas is given off when it burns, you can see the huge pressure just blackpowder can make, its just not quite enough for some smaller shells. It is possible to break small shells with just be, but it has to be vast and there has to be enough of it.

Re: Sealing the hemis,

I always use a small brush to brush around the join, if you add small drops in the gap you will find it runs around the join. If you do this a few times it will go completly around the join. Hehe, fingerprints all over a shell!

It can be hard to know how much burst and stars to have inside, basicly you need just too much and so when the halfs are pressed together the bust and stars all lock into place and hold eachother inside against the walls. So long as the stars are unable to make too much you will find its ok.

I push the fuse into the shell as far is it goes with hand pressure, hold the shell and push the fuse agains a solid object into its inside. I tend to add vaseline to lube the hole...ohhh errr! Or you can use arbor press to pree the fuse in, but dont try press yo hard or you will find the fuse get wrinkled up or you crack the plastic holder, I did this once!

As for lift charges, I use 13g for every 100g of shell (homemade lift) Or 10g per 100g shell (commercial lift)

Timing for the shells are 3 seconds, or 30mm of 10mm fuse. It would be 3.8 seconds for a 4 inch.

The solvent is left to dry for at least 3 hours, it seems rock solid after about 30mins but not sure if its dry inside. 3 hours should be plenty enough time.

Looking forward to seeing some shells Rob!!!

[sasman]

eh

Edited by sasman, 22 July 2007 - 09:38 PM.

[maxman]

Too right! I'm sat here with a bottle of beer in hand waiting for my evenings entrtainment to start! Dont get them wet if yu have to swim for it!

[Caramanos2000]

I always have done and do what karl says. Thats how chinese 2" shells are made I think. Anyways found that 3/4" tubes from pyrocreations cut in half make excellent canister shells for 1" HDPE after being spiked. Just fired one with my first Firefly stars and it was amazing. Cant wait for the 4th!

[sasman]

eh

Edited by sasman, 22 July 2007 - 09:39 PM.

[karlfoxman]

Very nice shells, looks like you have not lost your touch too much. Shell 3 was the better as it was not such a massive break, looked good to me. One thing I would change is the firing site, not sure where it is but looks too close to the road.

On the whole nice work, the colours came out and at least your stars hold up to the break. What shell cases were they? I guess they were TAPA ones, if so you proved what I wanted to show. You cant beat a good lifting thump!!

[maxman]

Nice work Sasman! I paniced a bit for you there, I thought that car was coming down the lane! Fantasic breaks! maybe a little too hard as you said but I liked them! Were they Buell reds? were you happy with the colour in real life?
Good camera work too. At least your GF has more faith in you getting shells higher than the top of the mortar these days!

Would you like me to send you a link for some cheap vallium for her though?

Cant wait to see some more! Keep up the good work.

[Pyromaster2003]

Shells look spot on sasman did you put the stars around the wall of the shell case or just mix them with the burst and pour it all in? Are these the 10mm stars you made the other day with the bp/silicon prime - what ever prime you used worked well with the strong break.

[pudi.dk]

Sasman, an intense break!
I'd like to see some streamers stars in that shell

Edited by pudi.dk, 02 July 2007 - 07:24 PM.

[sasman]

eh

Edited by sasman, 22 July 2007 - 09:39 PM.

[marble]

Is it just me but i cant download the video?