Users > Sedelyan > Pyrotechnics Notes

The following is information on Pyrotechnics that I've gathered from various star lab firings and pyro displays, simply arranged without any sense of order.

Star Composition

Binders

Binders are as follows:

• Cactus Sap - provides 'pulsing' stars, similar to Squat Canary and Flying Frog.
• Beeswax - provides 'line' stars, similar to Thin Red Line and whatnot.
• Tar - provides 'sparkler' stars which also require some aluminium powder to work.
• Clay - provides 'popper' stars, which don't appear until they're finished.

The amount of binder determines how large the 'head' of the star is. A star with more binder than sulfur will have a large head and a slim tail.

Metal Salts

Metal salts, and the colours they provide (arranged by 'general colour', then by rarity of metal) are as follows...

Colour	Salt 1	Salt 2	Salt 3	Salt 4
Green	Tin	Zinc	Lead	Antimony
Red*	Copper	Iron	Magnesium
Blue	Silver	Tungsten	Lithium
Purple/Pink**	Platinum	Gold	Strontium
Aqua	Titanium
Yellow	Aluminium

 * Certain red stars may appear to be orange with larger/smaller amounts of salts.
 ** Strontium is definitively purple; Gold is definitively pink.  Platinum is kind of in-between.
 * At high salt costs, a Tungsten star may appear a dazzling aquamarine.

The more metal salts you have in a star, the 'stronger' the colour will appear. More defined colours cost more, but look better sometimes.

Charcoal and Sulfur

Charcoal determines the LENGTH of the tail. In general, 25 charcoal will have a very short or almost indistinguishable tail; 50 charcoal will have a moderate length, and 75 charcoal will have a very long tail.

Sulfur determines the WIDTH of the tail. The more sulfur you have in a star, the wider the tail will be; this is the major difference between a 'dart' and a 'thick line', for the sake of doing interesting stars.

Aluminium Powder

Aluminium Powder is only used for poppers and sparklers. The amount of aluminum powder in the tail of a sparkler is *exactly* the amount of CC required. In poppers, more aluminium powder means a larger pop.

So, what's this good for?

If you don't know what a star LOOKS like, you can nonetheless get an idea of how it'll be before making it. For example, a star requiring 50 aluminium salts, 20 charcoal, 10 beeswax, and 10 sulfur will appear to be a short, yellow 'dart', potentially thicker than some others, and moderately 'deep' yellow.

Stars Available

Sorted by Name

Name	Salt 1	Salt 2	Binder	Sulfur	Charcoal	Alu. Powder	Colour	Location
Beetle Banner	75 Gold	17 Zinc	7 Sap	5 Sulfur	21 CC (Short)	--	Pink/Green	U. Egypt
Bird of Love	40 Tin	--	5 Sap	6 Sulfur	46 CC (Medium)	--	Green	F. Paradise
Blue Comet	19 Tungsten	--	18 Beeswax	17 Sulfur	14 CC (Very Short)	--	Blue	Karnak
Blue Nova	27 Tungsten	--	18 Clay	9 Sulfur	5 CC (Popper)	20 Powder	Blue	Karnak
Blue Sparkly	20 Silver	--	18 Tar	19 Sulfur	16 CC (Very Short)	16 Powder	Blue	DoS
Bolt of Ra	33 Silver	--	20 Beeswax	18 Sulfur	74 CC (Long)	--	Blue	Kush
Eccentric Flare	194 Copper	20 Zinc	16 Beeswax	17 Sulfur	26 CC (Short)	--	Red/Yellow	Karnak
Electric Canary	197 Tin	--	15 Sap	5 Sulfur	17 CC (Very Short)	--	Green	Khartoum
False Yellow!	30 Copper	29 Tin	18 Tar	14 Sulfur	27 CC (Short)	27 Powder	Green/Red	U. Egypt
Firey Splendor	88 Copper	--	18 Beeswax	7 Sulfur	130 CC (Very Long)	--	Red	Kush
Flaming Red Comet Tail	81 Copper	--	11 Beeswax	22 Sulfur	118 CC (Very Long)	--	Red	7 Lakes
Gold Dust	59 Aluminium	--	15 Tar	17 Sulfur	17 CC (Very Short)	17 Powder	Yellow	Kush
Golden Tail	20 Tin	--	5 Beeswax	22 Sulfur	37 CC (Medium)	--	Green	Tanis
Green Dart	17 Zinc	--	14 Sap	1 Sulfur	37 CC (Medium)	--	Green	Kush
Ka-Pow Comet	13 Silver	--	7 Sap	4 Sulfur	75 CC (Long)	--	Blue	L. Egypt
Pink Panther	54 Gold	--	18 Sap	2 Sulfur	55 CC (Medium-Long)	--	Pink	Karnak
Powdered Lime	10 Tin	--	20 Tar	11 Sulfur	44 CC (Medium)	44 Powder	Green	Sinai
Purple Streams	37 Lithium	11 Copper	11 Sap	3 Sulfur	28 CC (Short)	--	Blue/Red	Khartoum
Razzel Dazzel	11 Tin	7 Strontium	13 Sap	6 Sulfur	21 CC (Short)	--	Purple/Green	Kush
Red Rum	88 Iron	--	9 Beeswax	21 Sulfur	21 CC (Short)	--	Red	U. Egypt
Royal Star	12 Gold	--	18 Beeswax	11 Sulfur	53 CC (Medium-Long)	--	Pink	L. Egypt
Scarlet Streak	201 Platinum	14 Magnesium	13 Beeswax	5 Sulfur	32 CC (Medium)	--	Purple/Red	Kush
Scorpion's Fury	56 Magnesium	--	7 Beeswax	3 Sulfur	42 CC (Medium)	--	Red	U. Egypt
Sour Appletini	36 Titanium	--	12 Tar	22 Sulfur	31 CC (Medium)	31 Powder	Aqua	Sinai
Sparkling Rose	62 Platinum	--	16 Tar	15 Sulfur	14 CC (Very Short)	14 Powder	Purple	7 Lakes
Sparkling Sunoui	171 Magnesium	6 Zinc	9 Tar	20 Sulfur	12 CC (Very Short)	12 Powder	Red/Green	U. Egypt
Starry Night	12 Copper	--	9 Tar	17 Sulfur	70 CC (Long)	70 Powder	Red	Kush
Yellow Dart	21 Iron	--	9 Sap	2 Sulfur	12 CC (Very Short)	--	Red	Khartoum
Zpop	18 Titanium	10 Platinum	11 Clay	21 Sulfur	5 CC (Popper)	44 Powder	Green/Purple	L. Egypt
Flying Frog	14 Zinc	--	18 Sap	5 Sulfur	10 CC (Very Short)	--	Green	Common
Squat Canary	14 Aluminium	--	5 Sap	3 Sulfur	15 CC (Very Short)	--	Yellow	Common

• Binder quantities, from 1 to 20, determine how wide the 'head' of the star is.
• Sulfur quantities, from 1 to 25, determine how wide the tail will be.
• Charcoal quantities, from 1 to 150, determine how long the tail is. 10-20 is 'very short', 21-30 is 'short', 31-50 is 'medium', 51-60 is 'medium-long', 61-80 is 'long', and 80+ is 'very long'. Anything above 100 CC is _extremely_ long, and worth mention.
• The amount of aluminium powder required for a popper seems to be (Sulfur*2)+2. The amount required for a sparkler is, of course, the same as charcoal.
• Of the dual-colour stars available, the most interesting ones seem to be those with red and green - they are yellow in-between.

Other Charts

Ordered by Salt Type

Name	Salt 1	Salt 2	Binder	Sulfur	Charcoal	Alu. Powder	Colour	Location
Squat Canary	14 Aluminium	--	5 Sap	3 Sulfur	15 CC (Very Short)	--	Yellow	Common
Gold Dust	59 Aluminium	--	15 Tar	17 Sulfur	17 CC (Very Short)	17 Powder	Yellow	Kush
Starry Night	12 Copper	--	9 Tar	17 Sulfur	70 CC (Long)	70 Powder	Red	Kush
False Yellow!	30 Copper	29 Tin	18 Tar	14 Sulfur	27 CC (Short)	27 Powder	Green/Red	U. Egypt
Flaming Red Comet Tail	81 Copper	--	11 Beeswax	22 Sulfur	118 CC (Very Long)	--	Red	7 Lakes
Firey Splendor	88 Copper	--	18 Beeswax	7 Sulfur	130 CC (Very Long)	--	Red	Kush
Eccentric Flare	194 Copper	20 Zinc	16 Beeswax	17 Sulfur	26 CC (Short)	--	Red/Yellow	Karnak
Royal Star	12 Gold	--	18 Beeswax	11 Sulfur	53 CC (Medium-Long)	--	Pink	L. Egypt
Pink Panther	54 Gold	--	18 Sap	2 Sulfur	55 CC (Medium-Long)	--	Pink	Karnak
Beetle Banner	75 Gold	17 Zinc	7 Sap	5 Sulfur	21 CC (Short)	--	Pink/Green	U. Egypt
Yellow Dart	21 Iron	--	9 Sap	2 Sulfur	12 CC (Very Short)	--	Red	Khartoum
Red Rum	88 Iron	--	9 Beeswax	21 Sulfur	21 CC (Short)	--	Red	U. Egypt
Purple Streams	37 Lithium	11 Copper	11 Sap	3 Sulfur	28 CC (Short)	--	Blue/Red	Khartoum
Scorpion's Fury	56 Magnesium	--	7 Beeswax	3 Sulfur	42 CC (Medium)	--	Red	U. Egypt
Sparkling Sunoui	171 Magnesium	6 Zinc	9 Tar	20 Sulfur	12 CC (Very Short)	12 Powder	Red/Green	U. Egypt
Sparkling Rose	62 Platinum	--	16 Tar	15 Sulfur	14 CC (Very Short)	14 Powder	Purple	7 Lakes
Scarlet Streak	201 Platinum	14 Magnesium	13 Beeswax	5 Sulfur	32 CC (Medium)	--	Purple/Red	Kush
Ka-Pow Comet	13 Silver	--	7 Sap	4 Sulfur	75 CC (Long)	--	Blue	L. Egypt
Blue Sparkly	20 Silver	--	18 Tar	19 Sulfur	16 CC (Very Short)	16 Powder	Blue	DoS
Bolt of Ra	33 Silver	--	20 Beeswax	18 Sulfur	74 CC (Long)	--	Blue	Kush
Powdered Lime	10 Tin	--	20 Tar	11 Sulfur	44 CC (Medium)	44 Powder	Green	Sinai
Razzel Dazzel	11 Tin	7 Strontium	13 Sap	6 Sulfur	21 CC (Short)	--	Purple/Green	Kush
Golden Tail	20 Tin	--	5 Beeswax	22 Sulfur	37 CC (Medium)	--	Green	Tanis
Bird of Love	40 Tin	--	5 Sap	6 Sulfur	46 CC (Medium)	--	Green	F. Paradise
Electric Canary	197 Tin	--	15 Sap	5 Sulfur	17 CC (Very Short)	--	Green	Khartoum
Zpop	18 Titanium	10 Platinum	11 Clay	21 Sulfur	5 CC (Popper)	44 Powder	Green/Purple	L. Egypt
Sour Appletini	36 Titanium	--	12 Tar	22 Sulfur	31 CC (Medium)	31 Powder	Aqua	Sinai
Blue Comet	19 Tungsten	--	18 Beeswax	17 Sulfur	14 CC (Very Short)	--	Blue	Karnak
Blue Nova	27 Tungsten	--	18 Clay	9 Sulfur	5 CC (Popper)	20 Powder	Blue	Karnak
Flying Frog	14 Zinc	--	18 Sap	5 Sulfur	10 CC (Very Short)	--	Green	Common
Green Dart	17 Zinc	--	14 Sap	1 Sulfur	37 CC (Medium)	--	Green	Kush