…A6M5 Zero? the Hasegawa instructions just say Mitsubishi cockpit color, and I have no clue as to what that is.
It’s a green, similar to the Interior Green used on US aircraft. More info @ www.J-aircraft.com
Regards, Rick
So which Jap planes was the bluish-green “aotake” (sp.?) color used? Was this only applied to Army aircraft?
Aotake was not used in cockpits, according to the latest research, at least not officially. That’s not to say it was NEVER used in a cockpit, or cockpits. Just not officially from what the latest research tells us. Aotake was used as an anti-corrosive coating in places you usually can’t see, the way we used zinc chromate, though it shows up in a few wheel wells and inside flaps, like zinc chromate (I have a small piece cut from a Mitsubishi A6M3 flap, with one side painted a fairly dark green-gray – the underside color that’s usually sold in model paint as a light gray --and Aotake on the other side, cut from a place that was hidden from the sun and climate).
On Mitsubishi Zeros, the cockpit color is, ironically, virtually identical to Model Master IJA Topside Green, according to the only experts I know (go to j-aircraft.com to get the details and references for what I’m saying here. Those people know their stuff). For Nakajima-built Zeroes, that MM IJA Interior Green is pretty close. It’s the one that looks a lot like British interior gray green.
But those paints sold as Aotake, with the bright metallic blue, are just plain bunk. Aotake, though it varied, was more green than blue, and quite light. You can find a formula for it on j-aircraft.com.
This is a subject that can cause a room full of rivet counters to break out into what passes for violence with that kind of people. Which is to say, a lot of whining and sulking.
TOM
Tamiya has a paint color XF71 “Cockpit Color of Japanese something something, maybe Navy (??? my Japanese is very rusty)”.
It’s a kind of apple green.
So would the cockpit green XF-71 ( Tamiya) also apply to Japanese army planes ,as I.m about to start the new Hasegawa Nakajima Ki-43 Manchoukuo air corps,and the instuctions call for the metallic green for the cockpit and wheel wells.
Any advise would be great .
Sushi[:D]
well, I’ve built Tamiya 1/48 zero (model32) and the instructions called for metalic blue, and that’s what I’ve used???! id did look odd, but nonetheless I followed the instructions:)
I would probably trust the Tamiya instructions in regard to the color since they are usually pretty good about things like that. But with all of the new information coming out these days, who knows?
Sushi: No, metallic green would be wrong for the cockpit unless it was an exception. Use RAF green with a little more gray added for a Nakajima machine if you don’t have access to the Model Master IJN Interior Green. As I said before, for Mitsubishi Zero interiors, Polly Scale IJA Green (which is pretty close to good old olive drab) is the closest match based on the newest and, to me at least, the most accurate research (I know better than to swear to anything having to do with Japanese WW II colors, but there are cases where we can now be pretty sure). In any event, Tamiya’s metallic blue is not accurate for anything on Japanese WW II aircraft.
I just read a new paper on the color of Zero wheel wells from the middle of the war, and most were found to be painted in the same shade of gray-green as the underside of the aircraft.
But don’t take my word for it. Got to www.j-aircraft.com. That’s where the people who examine the wrecks and artifacts hang out. I’ve learned to trust them.
TOM
contact david_aiken@hotmail.com all he does is jap. planes and he is an honest expert on them
Sharkskin; thank’s for the advise greatly appreciated
Sushi[:D]