Shell Assembly, page
3

Part Three, Finishing &
Closing

Dump half a tablespoon of standard 70/30 Flash
Powder in each shell hemisphere. Whistle Mix can also be used in place of Flash
Powder, but Flash Powder gives a more powerful break. Formulas for both Whistle
Mix and Flash Powder can be found in the Experiments & Formulas
section.

Spread the Flash Powder around a bit and work it down into the Rice
Hulls. This will help the shell break more evenly.

The shell is now ready to be
closed. There are two ways to do this. You can simply snap the two halves
together (as we do) or you can hold a piece of thin cardboard over one half.
We'll show you both ways:

The quick way is to line
up the two shell halves. One has a lip that fits inside the other. Rest the
opposing shell on the lip and tilt them a little toward each other.

With one fast move, snap
the shell together. I know, it looks like everything will go flying, but every
person who we've taught to do it, does it with ease. If you feel you lack the
coordination to accomplish this daring maneuver, try the alternate
method...

Place a thin piece of
cardboard (like the kind you find on the back of note pads) on one half of the
shell. Holding it in place, flip the shell over and lay it on the bottom half.
Align the two halves, and slowly pull out the cardboard, snapping the two
hemispheres together.

The shell is now ready
to be sealed (you'll need a glass or metal container to catch the excess solvent
that will drip off). Pull the shell just a hair apart (not too much, just a
hair) and using either Xylol or Methylene Chloride in an eye dropper (squirt
bottle, or similar), run the solvent around the seam of the shell. Rotate the
shell so there are no dry gaps. Capillary attraction will draw the solvent into
the seam and melt the plastic shell lips together.

Before the solvent dries, push the shell halves firmly together
making sure that the shell is perfectly sealed.

Support the shell and orient it so the time fuse is pointing up. The next steps
will be the final fusing of the shell and attachment of the lift charge.