SHOGUN FIREWORKS BLOG

Vulcan's Born To Be Wild

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 06 May 2013 10:41:00 +0000

For more details, click HERE!

The China Bubble is About to Burst

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 03:14:00 +0000

Interesting article from Wealth Daily about the state of China's economy.

Vulcan's Display at Pyro Forum 2013 Ludinghausen

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 02:45:00 +0000

On 23rd March 2013, Vulcan put on a demo and display at the Pyro Forum in Ludinghausen. Below is the video!

Details on Pyro Forum can be found here !

China Fireworks News - March 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:31:00 +0000

After a relatively long cold winter, factories returned to work after the Chinese New Year to not the best circumstances at all! Quite a few factories are not able to comply with the new National Safety Standard, and are not able to renew their manufacturing permit. The Jiangxi government ordered all factories to stop manufacturing for 2 weeks during the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, which ends this Sunday. Factory workers, seeing there is labour shortage everywhere, put on a strike whenever they feel like it, and when they feel that's time to ask for a raise.

As a result all the above has affected delivery, as we continue to see the development of the fireworks industry in China, which will continue to affect us in the long term.

Born to Be Wild ... L'International des Feux Loto-Québec 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:15:00 +0000

Vulcan is proud to be representing Hong Kong, China at the 29th L'International des Feux Loto-Québec presented by TELUS on Friday 5th July 2013.

Born to Be Wild ..... the sounds that brought on a new era of rock music will be rediscovered again in pyrotechnic form through the power and intensity of contemporary fireworks.

More details can be found here

Chinese New Year Fireworks Display Hong Kong - 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 07:06:00 +0000

Watch a time lapse video of the fireworks display in Hong Kong!

New Years shows around the world 2013!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 16:28:00 +0000

Good video compiling all the fireworks shows around the world on New Years Eve!

Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas and Wonderful New Year 2013!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:08:00 +0000

We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a safe New Years Eve!

Automating fireworks production in China

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 04:15:00 +0000

As labour shortages continue to plague China, many factories are turning to mechanics in order to alleviate the shortage in manpower.

Below are videos of a reloadable shell pasting machine and a machine that fills tubes with clay plugs.

Our brand new Factory in Liuyang, Hunan, opens!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 07:05:00 +0000

Factory Office Building - He Sheng

Our new factory "He Sheng" in Liuyang is finally in operation! We have spent almost a year modernising the factory and bringing it up to compliance with current National Safety Standards. This week, we received our permanent 3 year Safety Production Certificate!

This factory is now the largest factory in our Group with an area size of 1000mu (about 66 hectares). In total we now have 3 factories in Guangxi and 5 factories in Hunan:

This is a map of He Sheng Factory - He Sheng

* Golden Dragon Fireworks Factory, Shankou, Guangxi (240mu or 16 hectares)
Produces Vulcan display shells and mines.

View from Top of the Factory - He Sheng

* Tong Tai #1 Fireworks Factory, Shankou, Guangxi (200mu or 13 hectares)
Produces Vulcan display cakes, large rockets and missiles.

* Tong Tai #2 Fireworks Factory, Shankou, Guangxi (230mu or 15 hectares)
Produces Vulcan display roman candles, single shots, modular cakes and display cakes.

* Golden Bell Fireworks Factory, Tai Ping, Hunan - with Dong Tai Assortment Annex. (800mu or 53 hectares)
Produces consumer fireworks including cakes, fountains and assembles assortments. This factory has a 1600m2 testing site with roof and electricity.

* Gugang Fireworks Factory, Sankou Town, Hunan (180mu or 12 hectares)
Produces consumer fireworks including cakes and fountains. This factory has a UN 6 Series compliant testing facility with roof and electricity with an area of 6000m2.

* Dong Yang Fireworks Factory, Dong Yang, Hunan (200mu or 13 hectares)
Produces sparklers, and small consumer items.

Factory trail - He Sheng

* Jixiu Fireworks Factory, Liuyang, Hunan (280mu or 18 hectares)
Produces Shogun display shells and cakes.

* He Sheng Fireworks Factory, Gaoping, Hunan (1000mu or 66 hectares)
Produces Vulcan display cakes, consumer cakes, rockets and display shells.

Our factories produce only Vulcan/Shogun brand fireworks and OEM fireworks for our customers around the world. All factories are under our control and managed by our own staff. Many staff have been with us since we first opened our first factory in Jiangmen 20 years ago in 1992!

As one of the largest fireworks manufacturing group in China producing only for export, we are in a strong position to control all aspects of safety and quality in our products. Having been established in the firework business since 1974, we understand our customers needs and always keep up to date with the ever changing International Regulations.

Fireworks is an awesome job - New Zealand

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:16:00 +0000

Here is an article on James York, whose company was founded in 1948 by his grandparents. They used to make fireworks in New Zealand and in the early 1990s, the Yorks joined with Vulcan to build a factory in Jiangmen, Guangdong, China, making machine pressed rockets.

At the time, rockets were all hand-pressed in China by workers and our joint venture revolutionized the manufacture of rockets in China. From 1992 to 2001, the Joint Venture factory made the best quality rockets in China, branded as VULCAN.

This is our catalog from 1993!

Malta Fireworks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 13:10:00 +0000

Absolutely amazing video of some of the best shells in the world from Malta!

If you are interested to see more videos and photos of fireworks from Malta, visit Bertie Decelis website here.

Himmelszauber in Hannover

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 12:16:00 +0000

A documentary about the International Fireworks Competition in Hannover featuring Vulcan/China, Ipon/Italy and Team Pyro Star Production/Germany.

Globalfest in Calgary 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 09:25:00 +0000

We've just come back from Globalfest having presented our display on 20th August. Video will be ready on Vimeo soon!

Photo by Steven Coutts (Flicker)

We had a great time there and a big THANK YOU to the Canadian crew for making it happen: Patrick, Kelly, Bob, Luis, Don, Kelly, James, Chris, Toby and Hrani.

All Fireworks Photos below taken by Doug Wong (www.facebook.com/dougwongspage)

Diamond Wall

Candle Racks

Photon Flash

View of Elliston Park

Fronts

The Art of Foiling

The Art of Scab Wiring

Nice Trees

The Art of Working Hard

Born to be Wild

Oops. It is highly recommended that Vulcan cylinders shells are fired from HDPE tubes.

Doug Wong's Facebook page has some great photos from Globalfest here.

Trico Homes International Fireworks Festival August 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:27:00 +0000

Vulcan will be participating at the annual Globalfest in Calgary, Canada on August 20th!

This year, there are 5 participants in the TRICO HOMES INTERNATIONAL FIREWORKS FESTIVAL including PHILIPPINES, MEXICO, CHINA, BRAZIL, and USA.

More details about the event can be found at: http://www.globalfest.ca/

Videos of various setpieces from St Paul's Bay - Malta ISF 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 07 May 2012 06:59:00 +0000

Malta!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:49:00 +0000

With the Symposium coming to an end, we've all enjoyed our visit to this friendly island!

Below is an aerial view of Malta from the plane. Malta consists of three islands: Gozo, Malta and Comino. Malta, the main island measures only 245.7 sq km (94.9 sq miles).

The Symposium is a great place to meet all our friends from the fireworks industry from all over the world!

We had the opportunity to visit a few fireworks factories in Malta too ...

A visit to the St John's Co Cathedral in Valetta ..

A street in the old capital city of Mdina first inhabited around 700BC.

One of the Maltese setpieces in Mellieha

Inside one of the Band Clubs in Mellieha ..

A band club in Malta is a social gathering place for the Maltese community. Many pyrotechnicians gather in these Band Clubs to discuss fireworks over a nightly drink.

Below are all the setpieces and wheels set up on the St Paul's promenade ..

Here's a video of the final setpiece! A mosaic of gerbs with a colour changing chromotrope wheels.

ISF Sympsium, 23rd - 27th April 2012 Malta

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 02:01:00 +0000

The 13th International Symposium on Fireworks will be held in Malta from 23rd April - 27th April. The Malta Fireworks Festival will then continue from 28th April to 1st May. That's an 8 night fireworks fiesta on the island of Malta!

We are excited to be there, and if you plan to visit, come by the Vulcan booth at the Trade Show!

Production Update: post-Chinese New Year 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 09:13:00 +0000

It has often been said that Hunan and Jiangxi have the worst weather for fireworks production. Dripping wet in Spring, scalding hot in Summer and bitterly cold in Winter. All conditions which are not ideal for fireworks production.

Each year, right after Chinese New Year, when all the factories return to work, we always face the same problem - rain and humidity. This is typical Spring weather in this part of China. This year, it has been worst as it hasn't stopped raining since the end of the Chinese New Year.

What does rain have to do with fireworks you ask? The principal components of fireworks are all sensitive to humidity.

1. Safety fuse - ever tried to light a wet fuse? Sure, the quality of safety fuse has improved greatly over the years and most safety fuses are now coated with a layer of varnish to keep moisture out. But it can also keep moisture in if the fuse is produced on rainy wet days and it's not 100% fool-proof. Moisture sometimes seep in, especially when the firework is packed in a sealed carton or in plastic wrap leaving you with a product that has uneven timing or sometimes stops firing in the middle.

2. Black powder absorbs moisture. One of the components of black powder is charcoal which absorbs moisture like a sponge. When black powder is wet, it may clump together affecting ignition and burn rate, and sometimes even will not light. This affects the timing, the height of aerial shots, and the burst size of a firework, and can also contribute to frequent stoppage in multiple shot items.

3. Paper - Fireworks are all made with rolled paper tubes. After the tubes are rolled, the glue needs to dry. If the weather is wet, the glue doesn't dry and worst, the paper starts to absorb moisture. If tubes are wet, they can easily change shape, overall affecting the quality of the firework. Worst, the wetness will affect the chemicals in the firework and possibly cause fuse stoppage.

4. Stars - Have you ever watched a firework and thought it didn't have as much color as it should or did you ever come across lots of round black pellets on the ground after a fireworks show? It is possible that the stars have absorbed moisture and hence, did not light. This is what we call a black star. It does just that color - black.

5. Bamboo / Wooden sticks - ever seen moldy bamboo or wooden sticks on your fireworks? Yep, it's because it's often so wet in China and high levels of condensation contribute to the rapid growth of mold.

Factories have to make sure none of their fireworks suffer from the above problems, so it takes longer for production to complete as they wait for a day where the sun may come out and dry up some of this moisture. When you consider the fireworks will be loaded in a sealed container for around 3-4 weeks, with the high humidity trapped inside and condensation, it is often a good idea to unload your fireworks, inspect the cases for any signs of dampness and place them in a warm dry area with plenty of good air circulation so they can dry out as fast as possible. Usually the fireworks will function properly afterwards if caught in time.

A 10 day forecast for this week shows rain every day in Liuyang .. except one day with a small chance of sun peeking from behind the clouds.

Beihai does not fair much better, with a little more sun, but rain every day.

All these are contributing to the worsening delivery and production time in China. It does not help the overall situation with a general shortage of workers in fireworks factories. We continue to advise our customers to order early and well ahead of your season. The next weather hurdle will be the Summer when temperatures can reached 40° Celsius (or 104° Fahrenheit) last year and all factories were ordered shut for one month.

Photos from our recent display at Pyroworld Berlin 2011!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:54:00 +0000

Here are some photos by Christoph Maier of a display we did in Berlin recently! All products made by Vulcan's factories in China!!

Spielwarenmesse Nurnberg Toy Fair 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:45:00 +0000

Once again we will be at the Spielwarenmesse in Nurnberg from 1st Feb to 6th Feb!

Come visit our booth, have a coffee, coke, ice tea, juice, water or cookies and peanuts and talk to Erik, Joe, Elwin and Danny!!

恭禧發財!! Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:40:00 +0000

A very Happy New Year of the Dragon to all!! As we enter another challenging year in manufacturing in China, below is an interesting article this morning from the local Hong Kong English paper South China Morning Post about the workforce in China.

Vulcan's Display at the Pyroworld in Berlin - November 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:24:00 +0000

Vulcan in conjunction with Galaxis Showtechnik put on a short opening display for the Pyroworld last week in Berlin! You can read all about the "reality" of Pyroworld here.

The show was choreographed by Cindy Cheung and John Werner. The show used ALL Vulcan display fireworks and Galaxis wireless firing system. Thank you to Steffen Braunlich of The Art of Fire for helping prepare and set up the show and a special thank you to Beko Vuurwerk! You can buy all these fireworks from Beko Vuurwerk - please contact info@bekobv.nl or visit their website!

The display can be seen below:

Prior to our show, Finale Fireworks ran our Galaxis script through their simulation software and this was how it looked!

Look out for the side by side comparison videos at www.finalefireworks.com soon!

1st Pyro World, Berlin Templehof Airport, Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 09:22:00 +0000

We will be at the 1st Pyro World in Berlin between 10th - 12th November, 2011 in Berlin Flughafen Templehof. Aside from having a booth at the Trade Show, we will be doing an opening fireworks show using all Vulcan products on 11th November Friday in conjunction with Galaxis Showtechnik.

Pyro World will not only be about fireworks but on Friday and Saturday nights there will be live entertainment and music!

More details at http://www.pyro-world.de or Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pyro-World/186582771374991

October 1st 2011 - Hong Kong Harbour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:39:00 +0000

Some photos of the National Day display on Hong Kong Harbour on a clear night! Luckily the Typhoon did not disrupt the display