The Official Armortek Forum - World leader in one sixth scale metal kits

I have posted some more pics on the gallery (page 9) from recent video work of the KT firing a massive propellant charge , the pics are not in sequence the long flame and smoke shot is the first then the smoke cloud it will all become clear when the video is posted cheers Phil for Magpies Pyro.

Hi Phil

Great pictures, will the whole video be in B/W?
I'm personally a great fan of the late Derek Meddings. His spectacular effects for Gerry Anderson are legendary and mostly achieved with hi speed filming slowed to standard speed to great effect.
Have been playing about with my KT trying to see what effects can be achieved with simple stuff. Mainly to add to video I have planned next year. I'll be keeping it simple using a couple of cheap SD hand helds for easy editing.
Of course you'd have to be a complete loon to attemp any effect with the general public about. Even the precussion can be deadly let alone projectiles or shrapnel discharged.
But I did want to see if it was possible to film the 88 firing something, so in the safety of the garden and a suitable target (a tree) fired a small rocket from an adapted breach. There's not too much smoke and the tail flame can be seen leaving the barrel, there's no bang but that can be dubbed in later.
Look forward to seeing the completed Vid

Hi john, looks good, we tend to use a rocket guided by a very thin wire normaly NATO trip wire to keep the thing on track to the target.It keeps it safe to, as unguided rockets seem to have a mind of their own!
So you would need a shot of the projectile leaving the barrel , then cut to another shot of the tethered rocket (on a wire) on it's way to to the target, then cut to a charge on the vehicle/target as it impacts and then add the edited sounds to suit. I will be out of a job at this rate.
The biggest rocket that I have used for this type of effect was a maritime line throwing rocket which after just 20mtrs took the side of a small tree out to a depth of 100mm, after which you aquire a great respect for such things cheers Phil

I don't think you would ever be out of a job unless you cross the wrong wire.
Thanks for the pointers, story boarding is very important for safety as I'm sure you plan well ahead all the activities you want to perform on film.
I'm not surprised that Armortek go to so much trouble to protect the owners and bystanders when using the blank firing FX. A couple of stills here show the power of a blank fired from a home made three chambered shot gun blank firer. You wound'nt want to make a mistake with these things
At the moment I'm busy building a recoil and flash system for a Armourtek Comet on the same lines of the Tamiya 1/16 system. Reasonably safe except for the HT of the flash if not properly insulated. I'm suprised Armoutek do not offer a recoil system.

Looks impressive John just be carefull any wadding or any foreign object left inside that vent tube will be travelling at a teriffic speed , the most important thing with your device is that it should be constructed so that in no way a live round could ever fit in the chamber.
When designing the armortek device we went to great lengths to ensure that when in operation it was as safe as it could possibly be, even the blanks are chambered to face 180' from the firing tubes direction of venting ( notice we don't use firearm terminology if we can help it) and the integral "pepper pot" filters are designed to minimise any debris of any significant size leaving the device when it discharges a blank ( these are a pain when cleaning but essential for the legal operation of the unit) which brings me nicely to the legality of what you are manufacturing, it looks like you have contructed a firearm all be it for the innocent firing of blanks but the law would not see it that way so be very carefull dude I am told the food inside is not good and just think no sex for maybe 5 years (you hope) cheers Phil

Hi Phil

Your totally right on everything, except prison.
Three square meals a day, open university study time, plenty of exercise, plenty of spare time, free dental service, free optical service, all bills paid and plenty of sex,,,,,,,,,,,,,,might not be what your used to though.
You'd have to be mad to getup in the morning at 0445 to struggle to work in the snow and ice, work 12 hour shift on the factory floor, work bank holidays days and night shifts and overtime to keep things together for 50 years hummmmm. 5 years inside sounds like decent rest to me
The device pictures I sent in can only fire blanks, I sent it because it shows the action of the blank which is quite disturbing and shows that these things should be treated with great respect. When it was built a similar device to the armoutek blank firer was available that fired electrically ignited Theatrical Maroons, very loud, much smoke and extreamly expensive every time you pressed the button.
These days I'm using cheap electronics for flash FX .The flash unit from disposable 35mm camera (2 quid) can be used with switch gear to give a good muzzle flash sync'd with sound unit, A recharge time about same time it takes for the loader to slam in another shell. Can be used inside with out the risk of loosing an ear drum too, no smoke yet though, thankfully
I always think its funny that on any day of the year including the 5th of November the average Joe can buy and ignite enough black powder for his own IED quite legally. Any idiot can create a weopon, it's idiot prepared to use it you have to be afraid of.
Anyway will the vid be in B/W?