50mm japanese mortar markings

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Hi all,
I have just restored a 50mm mortar HE round from the Mukden Arsenal.
I had just enough of the faint markings left in places to be able to restore exactly to original. The only problem I have is that the fillers stamp had but all disapeared from the white circle. Just enough remained for me to be able to confirm if I have the correct mark when I find it.

This mortar was filled 17.1 ie January 1942.

Does anyone have Mukden examples with complete fillers stamps (in the white circle).

I will post a photo of project when completed.

Many thanks,
Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Hi all,
I have done further research and also with confirmation from a Japanese member of gunboards I have this to post. All comments on my findings are more than welcome.

Bearing in mind that the symbol used for the fillers mark is the initial syllable of the name of the place. Size about 1/4 diameter of projectile, and placed adjacent to date. The symbol is usually enclosed in a circle.

The Japanese name for Mukden was Hoten. Thus the fillers mark for Mukden Army Arsenal should be an encircled ホ (ho). "Ho" being the first syllable of Hoten.

Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Japanese type 89 50mm mortar

I all,
Here at long last is my finished restoration project of the Japanese Army Type 89 50mm Mortar. The colour scheme and markings are 100% correct as I was lucky enough to have had enough flakes present before restoration to confirm that. The original paint work was to far gone to have kept it as it was.

It was produced at the Mukden (Hoten) Army Arsenal in Manchuria in looks like 1940 and filled at the same arsenal in January 1942.

Oh yea by the way the fuze is a Type 88 Small Instantaneous Fuze from the Tokyo Arsenal made in April 1941.

Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

 

[Slick]

Spectacular! Any chance of seeing the process used for replicating the numbers and "HO"? Stencils? Freehand?

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Hi Slick,

Yea sure mate I will take a photo of the stencil and post it tomorrow.

What I did was play around on the computer untill I had everything exactly as I wanted it - fonts, size etc. I also used a photo editing program to get the filling circle and "Ho" just right before pasting it into my word document. After printing I used a Stanley knife to cut out the stencil.

Positioned correctly I used a spray can before wiping off with terps and paint that had crept into unwanted areas. With a 2mm paint brush I touched up and also closed the stencil gaps to give the same look as an original.

Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

Spectacular! Any chance of seeing the process used for replicating the numbers and "HO"? Stencils? Freehand?

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Hi Slick,
Here is the stencil that I used. All that it is is just a print out from my Word program where I selected the right style and font. I then cut it out with a Stanley knife.
Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

Spectacular! Any chance of seeing the process used for replicating the numbers and "HO"? Stencils? Freehand?

 

[Slick]

Pretty crafty there, B'ville. I'll be watching for the other items "upgrade" that you mentioned earlier.

Rick

 

[ogreve]

It sure turned out nicely!
For now, I'm leaving my Mukden one as-is (it has badly damaged, but original, paint), but it's certainly good to know what it should have looked like. Mine has the different (yellow-white) band colour scheme though...

Cheers,
Olafo