Got an old Tamiya kit. Everything in Japanese. What are the colors? Interior & exterior.
I’ve got my old instructions here, so I’ll give 'em a read and get back to you.
I built it ages ago, and don’t really remember exactly what I used…Tamiya Dark Green, Brown, and Yellow, I think…didn’t do an interior.
What version are you doing?
My instuction sheet says, khaki, brown and dark green. I’ve seen a lot of them done with the bright yellow stripe as well. Most AFV interiors during the war were white or light buff. I don’t know what color Japan used. There was a good paint job (in color) on display on Archer’s website.
J-Hulk, how about it? Can you help this guy? 
Spamicus has it with khaki, brown, and dark green. Yellow stripe. Khaki as the base color. Interior is white.
Other versions are dark green and brown, or just dark green.
Ger -
Another option is to use the French camo scheme in use at the same period (similar to the pattern you might see on the H-39 or B1-bis). It’s essentially an Afrika Yellow with black outlined splotches of brown and green. Both Japan and Hungary used French pattern camo in many of their early war tanks, and Japan to my knowledge continued to use the pattern on many variants into 1945.
I have a picture of a Chi-Nu with French pattern camo, if that tells you how common the paint scheme was.
(Only 66 Chi-Nu were built)
-T77
Tamiya’s all have the same paint color numbers so they should match up in english as many of the models I’m building have been purchased from town and all wording is in Konji but the colors all use standard tamiya numbers
I have this same kit and the Tamiya numbers are called out. I also remember recently seeing a newly released book from a polish company that dealt specificaly with Jap armor.
Let me hunt around and if I can find it I’ll get you the title and publisher.
Mike
Found it.
Japanese Armor Vol. 2
Andrzej M. Tomczyk
Tank Power Series No. 10
AJ Press Poland
ISBN 83-7237-111-3
$28.00 (aprox)
Both volumes are supposed to make a pretty good reference source for Japnese Armor. It might be worth picking up.
Mike
Thank you all for your help. My son thanks you as well.
I got the 97 recently at a sale, my kit came with BOTH english and japanese instructions.
Let me know if you want the english copy or a scan thereof, good history writeup on it too.
90% of the Tamiya Kits I buy over here have BOTH Japanese and English Instructions included.
I’ve noticed that too, MMF.
I wonder why they neglect the other 10%? Never got around to translating them?
If you use the French 3 color pattern, its a great opportunity to use the silly putty method of paint masking.
I completed my version of the 97 and somewhere in the archive of the forum are pictures of it. I’ll see if I can look back or do a search and you can see my version with the 3 color pattern.
I was happy with the finished build even though the trip there was a trying one. It certainly wetted my appetite for doing more Japanese vehicles. Some of the variants of this family of tanks are pretty interesting and that kit (97) will make a good platform for some other conversions. Been keeping my open for them.
I, like you, wish Tamiya or Dragon (or some one…) would do more Japanese Armor.
Mike