Brad Carlile Videos

Building Firework Videos

In the Fall of 2025, I attended the WPA DoIt event to build my first professional-grade shells. I spent the week hand-crafting six-inch double-petal shells, all featuring rising comets and some with strobes. Vic, Marc, Diane, and Doug of the Show Stopper Fireworks team were my mentors. I also learned a lot by chatting with the other builders at DoIt. It was an amazing week with four days of both building and shooting.

Below is the fourth shell getting built.

Brad's 4th 6in shell
Brad's fourth 6-inch shell build. Top hemi nearly done, bottom hemi with outer green stars.

All Show Stopper Fireworks from the WPA DoIt 2025

aThis YouTube video features all 42 shells created by the Show Stopper Fireworks team at WPA DoIt.
All are 6" shells and most were at least double-petal designs. Congrats to the whole team - all builds were perfect!

Vic-Chaney-Do-It-2025 YouTube

Vic has perected flawless rising comet effects. Here is his instructional video:


Composite of Hand-Crafted Show Stopper Fireworks:

Composite of hand-built 6in shells
Sample Composite of Show Stopper Fireworks Team's 6" shells. Photo by Vic Chaney.

Schematic of Double Petal Shell:

Brad's double petal shell schematic
Double petal shell schematic. Diagram by Brad Carlile.

Brad's Shell #1

  • Green outer petal
  • Red inner petal
  • ...and yes, Diane was snickering at "magnificent"

Shell #2

  • Green outer petal
  • Brocade inner petal
  • 3 Strobes

Shell #3

  • Orange outer petal
  • Green inner petal
  • 3 strobes

Shell #4

  • Lemon outer petal
  • Green inner petal
  • 10 brocade
  • 3 strobes - 2.5 burned at burst, which made the burst extra bright