Shell Assembly, page
2

Part Two,
Loading

Now that your
shell is properly fused, it is ready to load with stars and a break charge.

For ease of assembly (and to protect the fuse protruding from bottom
half), sit the two hemispheres on cardboard tubes or cups.

Starting with the top half (the one without the fuse), begin loading
stars into the shell. Spread them one layer deep all around the inside of the
hemisphere.

Continue loading until both halves of the shell have a layer of stars
along the inside. Do not load the stars all the way up to the rim. There is a
small lip on shell halves that must fit together, so leave a space of about 1/4"
from the rim on both halves.

Next, you will need some tissue paper, the kind that you wrap fragile
items in or pack you Christmas presents with. You can certainly use other types
of thin paper, even a 1 ply paper towel, but tissue paper is both thin and
strong and easily obtainable.

The next thing you'll need are
some Meal Coated Rice Hulls, info on making them can be found in our  Black Powder & Rice Hulls
section.

Cut a piece of tissue paper about 12" square, form it into a little
cup and dump a heaping handful of Coated Rice Hulls into it.

Hold the package of
Hulls by the top and drop it into the shell, quickly spreading the Hulls up
against the wall of stars. The Rice Hulls pressing on the stars will prevent
them from falling in. The tissue paper merely prevents the stars from migrating
into the center of the shell during transport or launch.

Trim the tissue paper so
that it's under the lip of the shell casing. Add or remove some Rice Hulls until
the shell is full to about 1/8" from the top. Check with a straight edge and be
careful not to overfill, it would make it difficult to assemble the shell. Set
this half of the shell aside when complete.

Loading the fused side of the
shell with Hulls is a tad more difficult...

Cut another 12" square
of tissue paper and tear a small 1/2" diameter hole in the center. Form it into
a little cup with the hole at the bottom.

Now gently, slide the paper cup over the straw and let it rest in the
shell. If you bump the shell, your stars will go tumbling to the bottom, so be
careful.

Get a cupful of Coated Rice Hulls and all at once, dump the entire
cupful into the shell. Do not do this slowly, the stars will fall in. If you
just dump it in all at once, the Hulls will hold the stars in place before
they've got a chance to fall. Spread the hulls around evenly.

Trim the tissue paper all around the shell and make sure that it
doesn't extend above the rim.

Do the same as you did on the other shell half, adding or removing
Hulls until the shell is full to just about an 1/8" under the rim.