10 replies to this topic

[raiderzone]

Hi All,

I came across some videos of some of the best looking rockets I have ever seen. The rockets in the videos were made by well known rocket builder, Tom Rebenklau, and shot for the Ocean State Fireworks Festival. Enough yapping from me! Please watch the videos and let me know what you think!

http://www.osff.net/rockets1.mpg
http://www.osff.net/rockets2.mpg
http://www.osff.net/rockets3.mpg

[alany]

Those headers are just amazing. Do you know what size rockets they were?

[raiderzone]

Those headers are just amazing.  Do you know what size rockets they were?

According to the guy that posted the links, they are l# rockets. Hard to believe they can get all those effects within the limitations of a 1# rocket. Heres a quote and pic:

"In response to the question regarding the reports....yes those are in the same header. In most cases they are rolled shots. He has some that have timed reports that will actually pop clockwise with very good symetry.
As far as the delay goes, yeah they drop a bit but these are 1# BP motors lofting those headers. Case is .75" ID x 8" and these will typically lift 4-6 oz. Not sure exactly how high they go but it's considerable. The salutes are also suprisingly small for what they do."

Note the crafstmanship of the rockets and the nice spiking on the canisters.

[sasman]

The one with Bright red ring of stars and centeral silver glittering stars is superb!! i will definatley recreate that effect once i start making some pyro hopefully later this year..
Those video clips inspire me!!!! It gives you the confidence that if an amatuer pyro can create that then... so can i...

I bought Tom Rebenklau's rocket video last year from AFN..pretty intresting... i think it must have been filmed when he was giving a seminar at PGI meeting...I would have liked more video clips of his finshed rockets...

Thats also the only thing wrong with passfire.com .. i would like to see Video clips of the finshed products... I would gladly pay for a dvd or cd of Video clips of PGI meetings.. so i can see how good those PGI members are..

Edited by sasman, 17 June 2005 - 03:03 PM.

[alany]

There's before pictures available too?

The reports don't suprise me too much, it's amazing how far you can scatter coarse Ti with a bit of flash. However those tourbillion and whistle inserts would take up some room! The timing on that ring of reports is pretty impressive, especially if it was implemented with visco rather than jap timefuse!

Edit:

Sasman: http://www.secac.com/

If you like watching fireworks those DVDs are great. Check out the wheel competition demo video. On in particular is just amazing, FeTi going everywhere with coloured saxons, it is hypnotising.

I agree, it would be sweet if Kyle had videos as well as stills of his work. Might push up his bandwidth costs a bit though, I am sure Passfire doesn't turn much of a profit, but I'd gladly pay a bit more to have that kind of material up there.

Edited by alany, 01 May 2005 - 04:16 PM.

[Phoenix]

I've only watched the first clip so far, and, unsurprisingly, I'm very impressed by how good the payloads are for rockets of that size.

Incidentally, I've just got back in from firing a 25 x 250mm rocket (3lb, if anyone actually likes using that system). I made the tooling a while back, but I just got round to using it today. Unfortunately, I can't say that the rocket worked as well as anything on the video - it went out rather than up! I'd been half expecting that, so it was just weighted with sand and a small break charge to disperse it. I think some cooler propellant is in order

[alany]

How does he make those crossette headings?

Is it a shot-hole thing, like a conventional crossette, or a shell with four comets in it? I noticed that some of those rockets have a suspiciously "square" looking payload. Also, I remember an picture in the Degn book about using specially shaped stars in crossette break shells.

[raiderzone]

I dug this up from the rec.pyrotechnics news archive. It is a post from Tom Dimmock:

As I'm sure I'm not alone in my ignorance, what, pray tell good sir,
>is a 'Rebenklau style crossette rocket' ?

They are a rocket style perfected by Tom Rebenklau. The heading consists of
four crossette comets, which are burst by a small flash cracker. The effect
is a double crossette - the rocket goes up, the heading breaks perfectly
symmetrically into four streaming tails, each of which then breaks again.
Very pretty, but very demanding of extreme consistancy to get the best effect.
AFN sells a tape of Tom's seminar on how to build them at the Weedsport
fireworks festival two years ago.

Sasman, since you saw the video perhaps you can verify?

[sasman]

Yes the square shape header comes 4 cylinderical crossette comets.. Tom pumped the crossetes like normal.. then used a small piece of thermalite fuse to passfire to a small flash charge inside the crossette.

He primed them at one end.. he pasted the comet with several wraps of kraft..then using 4 of the comets he wrapped them with masking tape..then added a carboard end disk to cover all 4 comets at the unprimed end..

In the centre of the 4 comets he placed a small hand rolled tube made of kraft about 5 /16 th diameter and glues one end using a cardboard end disk and super glue..he then fills it with flash..then adds another small piece of thermalite for the fuse.. i cant remember how he secured the fuse in the tube i think it was either elmers white glue or super glue?.. he then finshed of the header with gummed kraft paper..

He showed a few of his canister type shell which he spiked .. these were 2 1/2 inch in diameter to 3 inch... he made all his own paper cans..

The rocket motor was standard 1 lb tube but the length was 8" instead of normal 7" 1/2..

Nothing special ..what i remember was that watching him do his stuff ..and the comments he made .. were very similiar to my atitude to making pyro..

[alany]

Thanks for that sasman!

I'll definately be giving that a go.

[karlfoxman]

wow they are amazing, how does he get such a nice ring shaped braak? must be some seriously good spiking on his shells. its given me ideas. also nice to see suprise titanium salutes.

k