Here I list the many compositions I have used with great success.
Stars
Stars can be made in three different ways. You can roll the stars, that is to start with a core, moisten it and roll it into your star composition. This is repeated until you get the star to the size you want. You can cut stars. This is done by moistening your composition, compacting the stuff into a loaf, and cutting it into small squares. Then you can pump the stars. That is moistening the mix, and pressing it into a tube, then ejecting the finished star. Some compositions are better suited to one or more methods. Some larger particles will not stick to a rolled star, so it must be either pumped or cut.
Most people start out with a charcoal star. These can be very beautiful, but after a while its nice to move onto colored stars, and other effects.
Willow charcoal streamer:
fine charcoal 46%
KNO3 36%
sulfur 13%
dextrin 4%
Tiger tail:
KNO3 44%
fine charcoal 44%
sulfur 8%
dextrin 4%
Fire dust:
KNO3 58%
fine charcoal 35%
sulfur 7%
dextrin +4%
White star
KNO3 57%
sulfur 23%
meal powder 20%
dextrin +4%
Flying fish glitter from APC
KNO3 55%
sulfur 17%
airfloat charcoal 11%
Sodium bicarbonate 7%
325 mesh (or similar sized) atomized aluminum 6%
dextrin 4%
Granite star
KNO3 21.5%
Zinc dust 61.5%
charcoal 11%
sulfur 6%
dextrin +4%
Blindreaper silver from APC
Meal powder 80%
325 mesh (or similar) aluminum 20%
dextrin +4%
Aqua star from Po at APC
meal powder 42%
zinc powder 58%
dextrin +4%
Steel star
KNO3 63%
steel powder 20%
charcoal airfloat 8%
meal powder 9%
dextrin +4%
Next are the colored stars I have found to work good for me.
Red
Potassium perchlorate 62%
strontium carbonate 12%
saran resin 6%
hexamine 15%
325 mesh atomized aluminum 10%
dextrin +4%
Perchlorate 42%
strontium nitrate 27%
saran resin 8%
hexamine 15%
325 mesh aluminum 6%
dextrin 4%
Green
I tried to get a good green with barium carbonate, but it was not easy, and not a pretty green. I list it here because I used it with some success.
perchlorate 60%
barium carbonate 12%
saran resin 12%
hexamine 12%
dextrin +4%
perchlorate 34%
barium nitrate 35%
saran resin 12%
hexamine 15%
dextrin 4%
Blue
Perchlorate 62%
copper (II) oxide black 15%
hexamine 13%
saran resin 10%
dextrin +4%
Purple
perchlorate 64%
copper oxide black 5.2%
strontium carbonate 7.8%
hexamine 10%
saran resin 9%
dextrin 4%
I use only one prime for all my stars it is:
Black powder milled for 45-60 minutes 70%
(My prime BP consists of:
KNO3 68%, charcoal 22%, and sulfur 10%)
green mix of black powder 20%
(standard 75,15,10)
aluminum powder 325 mesh 10%
This lights all of my stars reliably. I give each star two coats.
As you can see I use hexamine solely as my fuel source. I like the way it makes the stars flame envelope larger then other fuels. It is also cheap, and a good fuel source. It burns cool, so its excellent for blues. To heat up the reds and greens just add some percent of aluminum. Of course you can change the chlorine donor to PVC if you need, or parlon, and the fuel can be changed to red gum, or shellac. But you might want to experiment with the mix then. Always make sure to test your stars from a star gun!