Ghost mines

[deadman]

Thought a new topic wouldn't hurt. Ghost mines are large colored fireballs. I'm not very sure on everything about them. As far as I can tell lift powder is at the bottom of a mortar tube and instead of a mortar is a small plastic baggy thin enough to be destroyed with the lift and filled with a flammable liquid. Obviously the two easiest colors will be that yellow/orange that gasoline/petrol gives and green that boric acid dissolved in ethonal, methonal , or denatured alcohol. It wouldn't be much of a thread if I knew it all so here are my questions.

What can I do to make a good sized fireball?
How is the tube setup?
What other solvents make what colors?

How do I resize the image?
Look carefully for the purple fireball.

[Tyneman]

A lot of nice info and pics on Ghostmines was written by Chris Spurrell.
Check out this site for his colorings and techniques:

http://www.skylighter.com/skylighter_info_...icle.asp?Item=8

Was the first site I found containing the text I have here in a .doc

He allso participates in the "Do-it" conventions. One of the best amateur pyro conventions I know of. Check it out.
http://thecalderwoods.org/tom/DoIt05_1.htm

Another nice Ghostmine picture:


Gr33tZ

[deadman]

Great pic I love the blue in that one. Thanks a lot on that website. I believe it gave me everything I need. My first thought was denatured alcohol so I guess that has some contamination that makes the flame a yellowish. Maybe sodium contaminate. Well the gasoline additive for removing water and keeping gas lines from freezing is supposed to be Methonal. Does anyone know the accuracy on this. I won't name the brand to keep kewls away, but if you need the brand name pm me. Or if you know what I'm talking about please reply. Boric acid works great with it, and the skylighter file said boric wouldn't work in ethyl alcohol so maybe I have the right stuff. Wow that blue is awesome.

[Duvel]

Just something to know:

Methylalcohol = Methanol
Very dangerous; +25 grams makes you blind, sometimes even dead.

[bamibal]

look :lol:

[Warcore]

Thats called a fireball, not a ghostmine (i think )

[mr.stijntje]

I think they used benzin instead of methanol there.
Not really a Ghostmine anymore, but very cool indeed!

[vuurfreak007]

How do you make/light ghost mines and fire balls?

Zoek vooraleer zo maar vragen te stellen! Het antwoord dat je zoekt is te vinden in dit topic en op dit forum! Er is een zoekfunctie op het forum zelf en je hebt nog google en wikipedia. Ga niet overal zo maar een vraag stellen en dan wachten om gespoonfeed te worden, dat doen wij niet. (Prophet)

[deadman]

I'm not sure what the red letters are but before answering your question I think I should say a little search can help a lot.

Anyways, fireball effects are usually achieved with a highly flammable materials that will spread well sitting on top of a lift charge in a general mortar tube. In the lift powder are either chunks of charcoal or metal to send fire into the flammable material to ensure ignition once it has been lifted. The secondary fuel (fireball) can be very fine powders (flour, non-dairy creamer) or liquid (hydrocarbon alcohols). If a ghost mine is desired it is best to use methanol (methyl alcohol) and a coloring agent. The easiest and cheapest is adding boric acid for a green ghost mine.

Side note:
boric acid + methanol = methylene borate. It is no longer a fuel with a coloring agent, only a fuel with wavelength in the green region thanks to the boron in it's structure.

[Duvel]

Here you have a schematic Gohst-Mine:



Questions/comments ??

[The Freak]

How about placing the liquid in a plastic bag or something, and atach something which will ignite quite easily to it. Is that a good idea? (sorry for my English, it might be very bad)

[Blaf]

Stay calm, your English is quite OK. As for your proposal, yes you're right. The fuel (flammable liquid) can be placed in sealed plastic bag and seated on top of the lift charge. This way your mortar stays dry and device can be fired by simple fuse or quickmatch. I have never tried to make one myself - not because it's too complicated but for safety reasons only.

Blaf

[deadman]

Stay calm, your English is quite OK. As for your proposal, yes you're right. The fuel (flammable liquid) can be placed in sealed plastic bag and seated on top of the lift charge. This way your mortar stays dry and device can be fired by simple fuse or quickmatch. I have never tried to make one myself - not because it's too complicated but for safety reasons only.

Blaf

Big issue that has not been brought to attention when it comes to ghost mines or fireballs. Liquid fuels are very prone to burning after the effect. This takes much experience to work perfect. I have never had a perfect fireball. There is always fuel burning on the ground around the tube. Even with a perfect ignition there will be flaming liquid in the mortar after the device has been used. SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY!!!

[De Pyromaan]

//Duvel: Might want to make that a sealed electric wire

I was wondering, can't you make a normal shell with a bag/sack of petrol in it, with a little lift/break underneith it.. so your shell that you would fire just like any other shell, would look like the mine in the drawing that Duvel made. Well.. then it's no longer a mine (then it's just an arial shell as I believe you call it in English (ik bedoel gewoon een mortier met shell)), but I don't think anyone has ever tried that?

I think that that would look beautifull. If anyone cares to try.. be my guest :D

[deadman]

//Duvel: Might want to make that a sealed electric wire

I was wondering, can't you make a normal shell with a bag/sack of petrol in it, with a little lift/break underneith it.. so your shell that you would fire just like any other shell, would look like the mine in the drawing that Duvel made. Well.. then it's no longer a mine (then it's just an arial shell as I believe you call it in English (ik bedoel gewoon een mortier met shell)), but I don't think anyone has ever tried that?

I think that that would look beautifull. If anyone cares to try.. be my guest

That would be called a lampara shell (at least in english). You can also have lift underneath a bag of fuel wadded slightly for a ghost mine and/or fireball.