I’ve done a lot of looking around. I see a lot of white aircraft, then a few with the brownish color that a lot of people think is right but cant figure out the exact shade. I’m doing a Val for the Pearl Harbor GB, Which color and I better off going with for the fuselage?
This Zero was at EAA this year and has the brownish color I’m talking about.
The last picture was taken during the evening which is why it looks a bit darker.
I’m doing a 1/48 scale one of the same time period, and I’ve come across about 3 different colors, tamiya XF-14, XF-76 and I think it is Tamiya INJ gray or something like that. I’m going to use the XF-14 I believe that is the closest to the Pearl Harbor Zero color.
John
Cool thanks! The Hasegawa instructions have a paint mix that they suggest. I tried it using Tamiya paints (Instructions say Gunze or Mr Color) and it seems way too dark. I’ve been adding white to it to lighten it up and I might be getting somewhere.
I just got the kate torpedo plane on ebay and I have the Kate high level bomber and the fighter in the mail right now. Going to do them all! not for the GB though, would never finish!
Pearl Harbor Zeros were a grey/green. Tamiya’s XF-76 is pretty close. Gunze also makes this color in the Mr. Color lacquer line. I also have a mix using MM enamels if you’re interested. I believe this brown color idea came from people hypothesizing that this grey/green was overcoated with a clear lacquer, which over time started to fade into a brown/caramel color. How they came up with this idea idk? Probably by looking at color photos of wrecked relics, which show a6m2s and 3s heavily weathered with paint missing/fading, and by confusing the color of oxidized aluminum skin with this brown color.
Now I’m not a Val expert, but when did they go over to the IJN Dark green color? 1943?
Nick Milman has an excellent blog on the subject.-http://www.aviationofjapan.com/search?q=val
cool link, Nathan
I follow the other “Straggler” blog of Nick’s,I didn’t know he had this Japanese one also.
a side note,are you that Nathan that runs the US Message board that I also belong to?,I have been meaning to ask you that for a while now (I am either Rex or RexTN on there, I forget which)
Rex
Glad you liked the link, Rex. I am not a runner of any Forum or message board, sorry.
The color you are refering to on early Japanese subjects is called “Ame-Hiro”. From what I understand, its was so named because it resembled a candy that was popular in Japan at the time, a brownish carmel like color. As Nathan said, Tamiya XF-76 is perfect for this color and its what I use to simulate Ame-Hiro. To my eye, the color on that restored zero seems a bit too brown but who really knows for sure anyways. Good luck…
Joe
I picked up XF-14 for my planes. It doesn’t look too bad. The green grey looks off to me and besides me, no one that looks at my models will know that it may or may not be the wrong color.
So should I assume that most of the white colored planes are not the correct color?
Yes, it has been “generally” accepted over recent years that the light colored Japanese planes were actually Ame-Hiro, not white or light gray. They apparently found a sheet metal skin to a zero somewhere which confirmed this. They attributed the white or gray color assumption to the poor photography of the time, which made them appear these colors on film. I’m unfortunately one of these guys who reads stuff, stores the info in the cranium, then forgets where it was read . If I can find the source, I’ll post it for you. I want to say jcraft.com but I’m not sure. Of course nothing is “definitive” and there may very well have been Vals and Zeros that were painted white or even gray. Perhaps Nakajima and Mitsubishi used different colors. I don’t think anyone really knows.
I’m with you on your reasoning too. Kind of like how my FW 190 Dora has a fully enclosed gear bay. Its apparently not correct but the folks who will be looking at won’t mind or let alone even care. Paint it the way you think it will look right to your eye. Good luck…
Joe
The guys here have some good advice. You might want to check the J - Aircraft website as well. I’m typing on my phone so I can’t give you a direct link but do a websearch for J Aircraft Ame-iro and it should come up.
Would love to have you in Japanese GB III - hopefully I’ll have sign-ups posted in a week and the build will start Jan 1st next year.
This doesn’t look very much like “Ame-Hiro”
www.tamiyausa.com/…/acrylic-mini-xf-76-gray-green-81776
Maybe it looks different in person?
Yes, looks different in person. This color was grey/green. I have that pic of a sheetmetal skin in Osprey’s book modeling the Zero, where Brian Crinner matches model master colors to the pic. I can scan and upload it tomorrow.
Tamiya’s XF-14 is for the underside of A6M5 zeros later in the war and is not related to any color on A6M2s and your Pearl Harbor Val.
But after all this you sure are welcome to paint as you wish… Dont’ want to appear too pushy or expertish…just hoping to dispell some myths…
Is there a model master paint that is close? Otherwise the Val will have an enamel cockpit and a acrylic fuselage. I don’t have a problem with it just wondering.
It looks way different than that. Here’s my early A6M2 done in XF-76 straight up (sans weathering). This will give you an idea how it will look should you go this route.
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/148424.aspx
If I remember correctly, from when I used Model Master Enamels, “SAC Bomber Tan” is close to Ame-Hiro.
Joe
Greg Spinger’s mix- equal parts of SAC Bomber Tan and Green Zinc Chromate, with a dash of white.
Lawdog, you’ve sold me, I’m doing that very exact kit and yours turned out amazing. I did go find your thread about painting cockpits too. Only thing that will be missing from my planes for now are seat belts, I just cant make them look good and everything I’ve tried looks like crap.
Your welcome bro…and thanks for the compliment. I’m quite fond of Tamiya XF-76 for this purpose. Reference the seatbelts, you actually wouldn’t be too far off by leaving them off. I also read somewhere (shocker) that a lot of Japanese planes did not have seatbelts. If anything, maybe a lap belt. You can always get these. They’re already painted so all you have to do is just glue them down:
I’m gonna give the new Tamiya Zero A6M3 a whirl here soon. I’ve been drooling over the spures on this one for about a year now.
Joe