Post by privatefjordy on Nov 26, 2007 15:51:39 GMT 1
Japanese Type 89 50mm mortar, the one that the Allies referred to as a "knee mortar"
Can anyone tell me what the original finish was. Did the Japanese paint them, and if so what colour/s?
Searching the internet came up with a few sold in the past few years, or in collections. Some had clearly been blued during demil and restoration. One of them did seem to be painted black, but most had little finish visible.
In the uniforms book by Tanaka, the one in the colour photos is painted Japanese army khaki/brown colour, but I don't know if that is a real one or a replica.
One of the USA wartime publications has a b/w photo of one that seems like it is painted, and has the aiming line picked out in white, but is that original or had it been repainted for evaluation purposes after being captured?
Any info appreciated.
Edit: I've now found another couple of examples on the internet, one appears to have some black paint on it, and another has traces of green in the engraved markings, knurling, etc, but I don't know if that is original or repainted at some point. The seller had apparently tried to remove the green, presumably because he though it wasn't correct. I've also read on another forum that they mortars had either a narrow white, wide white, or narrow red aiming line on the barrel. The one with the red line appears to have had a device to ensure angling was at 45 degrees.
Any further info appreciated.
And if anyone knows of a deactivated one for sale in the UK, or indeed any inert rounds or accessories, please let me know.
Thanks.
Can anyone tell me what the original finish was. Did the Japanese paint them, and if so what colour/s?
Searching the internet came up with a few sold in the past few years, or in collections. Some had clearly been blued during demil and restoration. One of them did seem to be painted black, but most had little finish visible.
In the uniforms book by Tanaka, the one in the colour photos is painted Japanese army khaki/brown colour, but I don't know if that is a real one or a replica.
One of the USA wartime publications has a b/w photo of one that seems like it is painted, and has the aiming line picked out in white, but is that original or had it been repainted for evaluation purposes after being captured?
Any info appreciated.
Edit: I've now found another couple of examples on the internet, one appears to have some black paint on it, and another has traces of green in the engraved markings, knurling, etc, but I don't know if that is original or repainted at some point. The seller had apparently tried to remove the green, presumably because he though it wasn't correct. I've also read on another forum that they mortars had either a narrow white, wide white, or narrow red aiming line on the barrel. The one with the red line appears to have had a device to ensure angling was at 45 degrees.
Any further info appreciated.
And if anyone knows of a deactivated one for sale in the UK, or indeed any inert rounds or accessories, please let me know.
Thanks.
