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Saturday, September 15, 2012

Dave Porter's Mitsubishi F1M (Pete)


Here are some images of Dave Porter's Tamiya 1/50 scale Mitsubishi F1M (Pete) float plane finished in acrylics and artist oils.

From Wikipedia"

The Mitsubishi F1M (Allied reporting name "Pete") was a Japanese reconnaissance floatplane of World War II. It was the last biplane type of the Imperial Japanese Navy, with 1,118 built between 1936 and 1944. The Navy designation was "Type Zero Observation Seaplane" not to be confused with the Type Zero Carrier Fighter or the Type Zero Reconnaissance Seaplane.

The F1M1 was powered by the Nakajima Hikari MK1 radial engine, delivering 611 kW (820 hp), a maximum speed of 368 km/h (230 mph) and operating range of up to 1,072 km (670 mi) (when overloaded). It provided the Imperial Japanese Navy with a very versatile operations platform.
Optionally armed with a maximum of three 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine guns (two fixed forward-firing and one flexible rear-firing) and two 60 kg (132 lb) bombs
The F1M was originally built as a catapult-launched reconnaissance float plane, specializing in gunnery spotting. However the "Pete" took on a number of local roles including area-defense fighter, convoy escort, bomber, anti-submarine, maritime patrol, rescue and transport. The type fought dogfights in the Aleutians, the Solomons and several other theaters. See also PT 34 sunk 9 April 1942 by "Petes".

4 comments:

Hanny said...

That looks great! The paint has just the right amount of aging.

Warren, I have to tell you that I was out at a local park reading yesterday when I was surprised to see a PBY Catalina flying slowly overhead. Obviously a bit unexpected, but what a treat! I need to pay more attention to what our flight museum has going on!

-Warren Zoell said...

On occasion we get the odd old aircraft flying overhead here. You can always tell that it's something one doesn't see everyday before one see's it just by the sound of its engines.

FBMinis said...

The aging of the paint job was done with oils, correct? The overall look is perfect: not too little, not too much.

Anonymous said...

Hi Francisco,

The aging of the paint was achieved by doing numerous coats of paint starting with a dark green followed by progressivley lighter coats of the same color applied very thin. Adding yellow to the green lightens it properly. By the time the last coat is put on the ratio should be 50% yellow to 50% green. The oil wash is done last(raw umber)to bring out the detail and to add a filthy look to the model.

Dave