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Help with early war Zero colors

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  • Member since
    June 2014
Help with early war Zero colors
Posted by R_Bolton on Saturday, June 21, 2014 5:23 PM
I will be building a Mitsubishi built A6M2 flown by Commander Shingeru Itaya flying from the Akagi Dec 8, 1941. My question hopefully without opening a can of worms is, what colors will I need to paint the interior, fuselage, and control surfaces? I will be using Vallejo model air paints and as I have several of these I would only be interested in using them. I have looked at the Vallejo paint ref chart and have not been able to find the IJN colors I need. I don't know if this matters but I am also color blind. Thanks in advance, Rick
  • Member since
    November 2004
Posted by snapdragonxxx on Wednesday, July 2, 2014 8:42 AM

IJN colours are not represented very well in the Vallejo model colour range at the moment.

However you can use them to produce a very good looking model.

Being colourblind won't help you much, may even hinder you a little but you must be aware that IJN colours are very much a can of worms.

You have to be aware that the official colour overall for fighters on this raid was a colour called Ash Grey. This colour really is a white colour with a hint of green.

The closest FS colour is FS37925 Insignia white which is a 95% match to the original colour.

In actual fact to get the colour of a new aircraft you need to mix Vallejo MA 71.119 White grey with a drop of 71.009 duck egg green just so that it has a greenish hue/tint.

For a colour faded aircraft just use the white grey colour.

The engine cowling again is a colour that is not easy to reproduce as it was black with a dark blue tint. Try 71.054 dark grey blue. see how dark it will go when applied. Try on some white paper, then add a little black.

Cockpit interior would have been a bamboo colour. The closest you'll get with Vallejo is this 71.010 but it is not far out at all!

Now the colour that is the hardest to do was the anti-corrosion paint called Aotake. It was resin based and with chemical reaction and air contact changed colour. Also the pigment die was individually mixed for each batch so the metallic colour varied greatly. I would call the colour myself a light Turquoise, but the only colour I know that comes close to it effectively is Lifecolor UA 136. I do use Vallejo extensively, but when doing an early war Japanese plane, use this paint. You can airbrush it.

you need to check sources and try and find out if he had a brand new aircraft for the raid. If so then then salt air had not really started to change the colour with exposure.

Rule of thumb for these things, is that if it looks right and you are happy then that's fine!

  • Member since
    June 2014
Posted by R_Bolton on Wednesday, July 2, 2014 8:50 PM

Thank you very much Snapdragonxxx you have been a great help.

Rick

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