Hey all,
on the Val, Kate, and Zero, I can’t find a reference that definitively says what is the main body color. To my eyes it’s a grey but some people I’ve talked to say it’s sort of a flat bare metal look. Any ideas?
Matthew
try this:
http://www.j-aircraft.com/research/otherres.htm#Camo
There is another site out there that I used when I built my zero a few months ago which said they were a IJN Grey not bare metal but I cant find it.
hope this helps
There’s no easy answer, Matt. I’ve gone through the same search for the same question. J-aircraft is the best place to go for quetions regarding WWII Japanese aircraft.
agree on looking at j-aircraft site. The short of it is that the ‘right’ answer has changed a few times. For examplem there was a time when ‘white’ was correct for the zeros in Pearl Harbor, then “IJN grey” becase the correct color, and more recently, it seems a very light tan color is the official last word (based on a recently unearthed zero airframe with some original paint still on).
Beause of my research at J-aircraft, I chose the color ‘Mitsubishi Zero Grey-Green’ manufactured by White Ensign Models. It’s a kind of Olive-tan color and takes getting used to after years of thinking it was what I saw in ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’
j-aircraft is the best place to go. from what i have seen, and mind you i am no expert, the gray-green is the best. if you wanted a faded look then a hint of tan would make it right.
joe
[:D] thanks for the j-aircraft guys will have to check the site out myself
[:D] and a big hello from down under
Here’s j-aircraft’s page on Pearl Harbor Zekes.
http://j-aircraft.com/research/jimlansdale/pearl/jimlpearl.htm
The site can be time consuming to search, but there’s TONS of info there. The forum has posts that contaqin additional stuff.
G’day,
Japanese Navy Air Force colours:
Floquil:-
505278 = IJN Green [fs 34058]
505280 = IJN Sky Grey [fs 36495]
505282 = ID Orange/Yellow [fs 33538]
Model Master:-
2116 = IJN Green
2117 = IJN Grey
2118 = Orange/Yellow ID
2119 = Metalic blue primer
The blue/black for the cowling was once made as an Acrylic by AeroMaster in their 'Warbird Range along with the brown used on the propeler.
I hope this helps alittle.
I’m with Aurora 7. The guys at j-aircraft have done a magnificent job of research, and the Mitsubishi color is a sort of olive-tan, known as Hairyokushoku and can be made by mixing 50/50 Polly Scale Concrete with IJN Topside Green. A very slightly darker version of it can be duplicated by simply using USSR Topside Green. We can, however, pretty safely put away any notions now that that very light gray we’ve had pushed on us since the end of the war was used. The only place you see that is on aircraft that were found after lying in the tropical sun for a year or more. The blue-black can be made by mixing 50-50 semi-gloss black with gloss sea blue FS 15042.
As I’ve mentioned before, Ryan Toews, whose research often appears on j-aircraft.com, and who knows more about this subject than just about anyone, sent me a small square of aluminum cut from the lower part of a flap on an A6M3, protected from the sun, and it is in that tan-green color, with the clear green ayotake protective finish on the inner side (not clear blue, clear green). It is one of my most valued possessions. The color mixtures I mentioned above were Ryan’s, matched against unoxidized pieces of real Zeros and other IJN aircraft. As for the interior of a Mitsubishi-made Zero, oddly enough, the new consensus is that MM IJA topside green is a perfect match.
I’m told by Ryan that the Model Master IJN interior green (similar to RAF interior green) is a perfect, or almost so, match for the cockpits of Zeroes made by Nakajima, which mostly made the later Zeroes.
TOM
With regards to the olive/tan colour - I remember a set of decals by Aeromaster I had purchased a while back. It mentions the use of an amber clear sealing varnish used on most carrier planes giving gray coloured aircraft a yellowish tint. For Mitsubishi built lightgrey aircraft, instructions suggest FS (?)6473 and applying an amber wash of your own concoction.
Jack