I am building an Aichi ‘Val’ dive bomber and a Nakajima ‘Kate’ torpedo bomber and I need some help as to what to paint the interiors of those planes as to make my replications genuine. I have accessed a few books on the subject and all that I could come up with is black and white photographs so I would really appreciate any suggestions…thanks for reading.
Here’s a good website for color pics of Japanese aircraft. Cockpit color was sometimes a matter of which company produced the individual aircraft. An A6M built by Mitsubishi will have a rather dark green, while those made by Nakajima will have a lighter, yellow green color. Look at the pics of the planes by manufacturer (Aichi & Nakajima) for cockpit colors. The Aotake blue that you refer to is an anti-corrosive “coat,” generally used in gear & bomb bays, flaps, etc. by the IJN, and on certain cockpit components. Hope this helps ![urlhttp://www.j-aircraft.com/walk/walkarou.htm][/url]
You can try also www.j-aircraft.com site ! Aleksander
According to JAPANESE AIRCRAFT INTERIORS 1940-1945, by Robert C. Mikesh, there is not much info about the cockpit colors of these two aircraft, but I will quote what he says about each.
NAKAJIMA B5N2, KATE: “Specifics have not been recorded that pertain to this aircraft. As can be seen from the photographs, the pilots metal instrument panel is painted black. A dark green of some undetermined shade appears to have been used throughout the rest of the cockpit areas.”
AICHI D3A2, VAL: “The remains of only one aircraft have been recently examined to determine interior colors…This aircraft…has severely deteriorated. The consistency with which no single color appears on the instrument panels is a good indication that tradition was followed in having these panels coated with a crinkled black finish.”
“The unevenness with which the yellow primer coating was applied to the cockpit makes it difficult to distinguish between those parts which were painted separately as a sub-component, and those which were painted after assembly. In general, it would appear that the cockpit interior originally had an overall brighter green finish than later production aircraft, reported to be yellowish-green, which often describes N.2. Sub-assembled components added after the general interior painting had various shades of green. Communication equipment would have had the traditional black finish.”
As you can see, you can use various shades of green in the cockpits of these aircraft without fear of contradiction. [;)] However, there is no mention of the use of aotake in their cockpit interiors. Aotake is that elusive clear protective coating that appears as various shades of metalic blue-green when applied. [:I]
Pete
Thank you for all of the information and links! I especially liked the link to the Imperial Japanese Navy page. On this site there is a picture from the sunken Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga of the Battle of Midway! I was very impressed. Please keep the replies and links comming. I have learned more in one day about Japanese aircraft interiors, because of great replies, than I have learned in a month of gathering information on my own! Thanks again!
That was one burried thread revived
Umm. This thread is 14 years old. The OP isn’t even here anymore
There is no known color photo of an interior color of a Zero or any other type.The best assumption is the Tamiya brand.