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I have seen paint balls loaded with Fuller's Earth used to create bullet hits in cancrete and rocks and loaded with something else that creates sparks when they hit to simulate riquoctes (However you spell it). Where can you find paint ball halfs that you can load and does anyone remember what substace is used to make the sparks? B)

Edited by James Steven Beverly
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Sounds like a pyrotechnic device, which potentially comes with a whole mess of baggage and red tape if you're doing everything by the book.

 

Sparks are easy to do in post. Little clouds of dust are more difficult, but possible. Either way, it's all much easier than doing it for real on set. Plus, you have total control over the effect in the computer and can take as much time as you want getting it perfect.

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The paintballs for sparks are filled with Zirconium and bird seed. The gun they use is similar to a paintball gun, called a "Sweeney gun".

 

To my knowledge, you can't buy paintball halves, it is not how they are made. I don't even know where to get the paintballs for FX use, you have to hire an FX guy, which is the smart thing to do anyways.

 

Kevin Zanit

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I have seen paint balls loaded with Fuller's Earth used to create bullet hits in cancrete and rocks and loaded with something else that creates sparks when they hit to simulate riquoctes (However you spell it). Where can you find paint ball halfs that you can load and does anyone remember what substace is used to make the sparks? B)

 

 

rent the dvd who's the man with samual jackson, in the making of the movie the pyro tech shows the paintball gun and explains more about it, he said it was a modified paint ball gun

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I know the painball shells are made out of gelatin (yup, JELL-O, without the flavoring...or the everclear) with crayon wax and some kind of a thickening agent, my guess is a little flour. (all this thanks to 'how its made', who repeatedly ignore my request to show how 35mm cameras are made.) I think you can start experimenting with various formulas if you have time and get one made. You just need a form to make the shell halfs and fill them (a machinist can make that for you easily, or you can make a plaster mold of a paintball for a less durable mold). You also may be able to seperate paintballs, clean and refill them, though I have never tried.

 

No pyro liscense is needed as far as I know, since they are definatley non-lethal and have no agents listed as pyro agents(thus needing a liscense to obtain) Theoretically you should be able to fire them out of a normal painball gun with the velocity tuned properly, though I am not sure on the specific differences between an off the shelf gun and one that has been modified (other than velocity setting)

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Hi,

 

I've been working with some sfx guys who used these. They actually got paintball halves and filled them up with something. The gun was modified to shoot a lot faster than usual paintball guns. I'm pretty sure the stuff was just something like flour, you know, something that looks like dirt.

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Hi,

 

I've been working with some sfx guys who used these. They actually got paintball halves and filled them up with something. The gun was modified to shoot a lot faster than usual paintball guns. I'm pretty sure the stuff was just something like flour, you know, something that looks like dirt.

 

Riku, any way to find out where this guy gets the paintball halves? Can you get ahold of him or email him and try to find out? I've done some searchng and couldn't come up with anything. Zirconium is eazy to find, I just need to find someplace that will sell me less than 600 pounds(which seems to be the only quantity I can get at the moment) but paintball halves are a bit more of a pain in the a** to find so any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks-The Captain B) PS it's not flour although flour would probably work to in some cases, it's fuller's earth for the dust hits and as Kevin said it's Zirconium and birdseed for the sparkes, in case you were wondering.

Edited by James Steven Beverly
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A website called Skylighter.com may sell Zirconium in smaller amounts.

 

The thing is, it?s not a very stable, it is set off by impact and moister can affect it as well. I would not recommend messing with it, as it burns hotter than a road flare.

 

The Sweeny gun uses only air pressure to move the balls, whereas a paintball gun tends to whack the paintball. This is because the impact of a conventional paintball gun is enough to set off the zirc in the chamber.

 

Zirconium is also the black stuff on the end of a road flare, just be careful if you scrape it off (i.e. use a pencil eraser or something similar, or better yet, just don't do it).

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I FOUND IT!!! www.torpac.com/special_effects.htm These guys sell the capsules for the sweeney guns that Kevin mentioned. Kevin, thanks for all the info, I could have never found this stuff without your help. They have blood capsules, Fuller's Earth capsules, pretty much anything you could need.

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