Since word got out that Tamiya works better with lacquer thinner (it certainly does in my opinion) and Gunze Mr. Hobby also joined the lacquer world, I've been looking for a good water based acrylic. I intend to continue using Tamiya and Gunze when conditions call, but it would be sweet to have a nice easy on the air, easy on the fingers paint that worked good. I've tried LifeColor and found it very good within a certain range. Also tried Badger which doesn't work badly but has some very odd colors. And Tamiya: well, it looks a lot less good when you know that you can add some chemical warfare and get a better color and less clogging.
Last two kits I've done have highlighted Polly Scale. One was a flat aluminum on an Oscar. I don't doubt that Alclad would have been the ticket for the 72 scale Oscar: but it was 72 scale and an Oscar - meaning that most of the body would be covered by greens. So I used Polly Scale and it worked great. Mottling a 72 scale fighter invites error and I made some, it strikes me that the flat aluminum was much less "flaky" than competitors and the result struck me as being very Oscar-like. I don't think IJA planes had the same polish that you found in later USA ftrs. Anyway, it worked well and sprayed great.
Am doing a KV-1 right now. I like to give armor kits a light prime - Tamiya surface preferably. Somehow I managed to screw this up (bet I put enamel thinner in the Tamiya lacquer: something looked like oatmeal) and by the time it was tidied, I'd blown an hour working with poison to clear my airbrush. Once done, but decided to put on a black preshade on the kit. I used Polly Scale Engine Black. This color, ladies and gents, is the blackest black in history. It is blacker than the soul of Joseph Stalin. And it laid down beautifully. No problem on the brush or the tank.
Eric