Of all major powers of the 2nd world war, Japan is probably the nation least documented. Outside of the general information, few details have been preserved, indexed and published.
This also is the case with the painting systems used by the Japanese Army and Navy Air Forces. While systems such as the RLM have been heavily researched and documented, a lot of information about Japanese systems is still undiscovered, and what is known is often purely empirical, based on old photographs and painting chips. The information that has been discovered is often not widely known and published on the internet. A lack in the subject perhaps? Nevertheless I’ve tried to create a comprehensive list of all the Japanese paints. Nothing here is primary research. Merely snippets of information I’ve locate on the abandoned corners of the web and scruffy books.
As with all pages of this type, the colours shown are an approximation. Monitors can change the colour displayed and don’t account for shading and glossiness. In reality these colours would also fade over time, and different batches had different tones.
(IJNAF/IJAAF) Thorpe system
In the 1960’s, researcher Donald Thorpe tried to index the colours used by Japanese aircraft. His system was the first comprehensive system.
The system is created purely by examining old photographs, paint chips and other surviving artefacts and it’s naming is purely arbitrary as a result. Nonetheless it gives a clear overview of the paints often used on Japanese Aircraft.
Army colours were denoted with an A and navy colours with an N. Some colours overlapped, but for readability I put them in both tables.
Army
Code | Colour | FS equivalent | Gunze | Tamiya | Vallejo | AK |
A1 | Dark Green | FS-26081 | XF-67 | |||
Single overall colour Upper surface camouflage Sometimes as anti-glare |
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A2 | Olive Green | FS-34088 | ||||
Single overall colour Upper Surface camouflage Possibly #7; Ohryoku 7 Go Shoku |
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A3 | Medium Green | FS-34108 | ||||
Unit Markings colours Upper Surface camouflage Possibly IJA #39 |
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A4 | Light green | FS-25352 | H-062 | XF-14 | ||
Upper and Lower Surface camouflage Possible the same colour as A5, #1 Hai Ryoku Shoku |
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A5 | Light grey Green | FS-25414 | XF-12 | |||
Control surfaces of all metal aircraft Upper and Lower Surface camouflage Single overall colour Possible the same colour as A4, #1 Hai Ryoku Shoku |
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A6 | Dark Grey | FS-26132 | ||||
Single overall colour Upper Surface Camouflage |
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A7 | Medium Grey | FS-36300 | ||||
Single overall colour Upper and Lower Surface camouflage |
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A8 | Medium Blue Grey | FS-35177 | ||||
Single overall colour Upper and Lower Surface camouflage |
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A9 | Light Grey | FS-36650 | ||||
Single overall colour Upper and Lower Surface camouflage Landing gear assemblies |
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A10 | Light Blue Grey | FS-35550 | ||||
Lower Surface Camouflage | ||||||
A11 | Dark Brown | FS-20059 | C-131 | |||
Upper Surface Camouflage Spinners and Propellers Unit Markings |
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A12 | Medium brown | FS-10075 | XF-64 | |||
Upper Surface Camouflage Sometimes used as a primer |
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A13 (N12) |
Dull brown | FS-20061 | ||||
Primer Spinners and Propellers |
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A14 | light earth | FS-30475 | ||||
Upper Surface Camouflage Might be the same colour as A15 |
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A15 | Ivory yellow | FS-20260 | ||||
Upper Surface Camouflage Might be the same colour as A14 |
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A16 (N13) |
Yellow | FS-13655 | XF-3 | |||
Wing leading edge Unit Markings colours Single overall colour of training aircraft |
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A17 (N14) |
Deep yellow | FS-23538 | ||||
Wing leading edge Unit Markings colours |
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A18 (N16) |
translucent blue Aotake |
FS-15125 | any%X-25 any%X-23 over bare metal coat |
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Interior Primer | ||||||
A19 (N18) |
Red Orange | FS-21400 | ||||
Single overall colour of training and experimental aircraft | ||||||
A20 (N19) |
Himomaru red weathered | FS-21136 | ||||
Hinomaru weathered | ||||||
A21 (N20) |
Hinomaru red fresh | FS-31350 | XF-7 | |||
Hinomaru fresh Airframe waring stencils Unit Markings colours |
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A22 | dark blue | FS-35048 | ||||
Anti glare | ||||||
A23 (N21) |
medium blue | FS-35183 | ||||
Unit Markings colours Spinners |
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A24 (N22) |
blue-black | FS17038 | 50% H-055 50% H-002 |
X-18 | ||
Anti glare Numerals and stencils overall surfaces for night aircraft |
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Natural metal | H-008 | XF-16 | ||||
Unpainted surfaces |
Code | Colour | FS equivalent | Gunze | Tamiya | Vallejo | AK |
N1 | Black Green | FS-14056 | ||||
Single Overall Camouflage Upper Surface Camouflage Cowlings |
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N2 | Dark Green | FS-34058 | H-059 | XF-11 | ||
Upper Surface Camouflage | ||||||
N3 | Dark Grey Green | FS-34094 | ||||
Upper Surface Camouflage | ||||||
N4 | Light Grey Green | FS-24226 | ||||
Cockpit, Interior | ||||||
N5 | Light Olive Green | FS-34151 | ||||
Cockpit, Interior | ||||||
N6 | Buff Green | FS-14255 | ||||
Rear Spars, Wheel wells, ect | ||||||
N7 | Black Grey | FS-27040 | ||||
Single Overall Camouflage Cowlings |
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N8 | Dark Grey | FS-36081 | ||||
Single Overall Camouflage Upper Surface camouflage |
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N9 | Medium Grey | FS-34201 | ||||
Single Overall Camouflage Undersurface |
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N10 | Light Grey | FS-26493 | XF-12 XF-76 |
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Single Overall Camouflage Undersurface Camouflage Unit Markings |
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N11 | Medium Brown | FS-26493 | XF-10 | |||
Upper Surface Camouflage | ||||||
N12 | Red Brown | No close approximation | ||||
Exterior Primer | ||||||
N13 (A16) |
Medium Yellow | FS-20061 | XF-3 | |||
Single Overall Camouflage of trainer aircraft | ||||||
N14 (A17) |
Deep Yellow | FS-13655 | ||||
Wing ID Markings, Unit Markings, Stencils | ||||||
N15 | Yellow Ochre | FS-23538 | 10%H-003 90%H-014 |
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Wing ID markings, Experimental Aircraft | ||||||
N16 (A18) |
Translucent Blue Aotake |
FS-15125 | any%X-25 any%X-23 over bare metal coat |
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Bare Metal Prime Coat | ||||||
N17 | Translucent Green Aotake |
No close approximation | any%X-25 any%X-23 over bare metal coat |
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Bare Metal Prime Coat | ||||||
N18 (A19) |
Red Orange | FS-21400 | ||||
Training, Experimental Rare Hinomaru |
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N19 (A20) |
Deep Red | FS-21136 | ||||
Hinomaru Unit Markings |
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N20 (A21) |
Medium Red | FS-31350 | XF-7 | |||
Hinomaru Unit Markings |
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N21 (A23) |
Medium Blue | FS-35183 | ||||
Unit Markings | ||||||
N22 (A24) |
Black | FS-17038 | ||||
Unit Markings, Anti-Glare, Overall, Stencils | ||||||
Natural metal | ||||||
Single Overall Camouflage | ||||||
White | ||||||
Single Overall Camouflage |
(IJAAF) Kō-kaku 39 / 航格39
The kokaku 39, (陸軍航空機材料規格 航格第39) was a standard for paints used by the IJAAF.
Code | Colour | Equivalent | Gunze | Tamiya | Hataka | AK |
#1 灰緑色 |
Hairyokushoku Grey Green ash green |
FS-25622 | XF-76 | AK2261 | ||
Standard overall colour of aircraft fron 1936-1945 The precise appearance is still argued about. Thorpe A4 Aviation of Japan – Army Hairyokushoku Part 1 |
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#2 黄橙色 |
Tohohshoku Yellow Orange |
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Overall trainer Colour | ||||||
#3 灰藍色 |
Hairanshoku Ash Indigo |
FS-25053 ? | AK2262 | |||
Interior Primer from 1936-1943, replacement of Aotake of army air craft. In practice this only happened for crew areas and Aotake kept being used as primer for other internal areas. Known aircraft with this paint are the Type 91, Ki-21, Ki-27, Ki-36, Ki-43, Ki-44 and Ki-48 Different Sources often depict this colour as a lot less blue. As I personally have the most faith in this post from straggler in Aviation of Japan, I’ve choosen to depict it as such. |
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#4 赤褐色 |
Seki-Kashoku | |||||
Propeller and Spinner Colour | ||||||
#5 |
Gin-Iro Silver |
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bare metal | ||||||
#7 黄緑七号色 |
Ohryoku Nana Go Shoku Olive Brown |
FS-33070 | AK2263 | |||
On the 14th of June 1944 a revisited ‘Rikugun kokuki tosou kitei’, Army Aircraft Painting Regulation was distributed. The new regulations weren’t applied immediately, with new aircraft only appearing from August onward, the Hayate even waiting to October. Exterior colour from June 1944 onwards Interior colour from June 1944 onwards Aviation of Japan – Useful colours ~ Army interiors part 2 AviationOfJapan – More about JAAF # 7 |
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#9 赤色 |
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Hinomaru’s | ||||||
#10 赤色 |
Awai aka iro | |||||
Hinomaru’s | ||||||
#11 黒色 |
Kuro iro black |
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Anti-Glare paint | ||||||
#12 白色 |
Shiro iro White |
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#13 青色 |
Ao iro blue colour |
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http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2009/08/useful-colours-army-interiors-part-one.html | ||||||
#14 黄色 |
Ki iro |
FS-33538 | XF-3 | |||
Identification markings, | ||||||
#17 淡青色 |
Tan Sei Shoku |
FS-25352 | ||||
http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2009/02/ki-43-iii-ko-colours-part-3.html | ||||||
#21 緑色 |
Midori iro Green IJA Green |
FS-34108 | C-129 | HTK-A242 | AK2264 | |
Standard camouflage green of the Imperial Japanese Army aircraft, originally intended to be used with #27 Ao Midori Iro (Blue Green) in Luftwaffe style, later solid or mottle; in use in 1941-1945. | ||||||
#22 濃緑色 |
Noh Ryoku Shoku Deep green |
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#26 | An Ryoku Shoku | |||||
#27 青緑色 |
Ao Midori Iro Blue Green |
FS-34036 | AK2265 | |||
Standard camouflage green of the Imperial Japanese Army aircraft, originally intended to be used with #21 Midori Iro (Green) in Luftwaffe style, later solid or mottle; in use in 1941-1945. | ||||||
#29 黄緑色 |
Ki Midori Iro Yellow Green |
FS-34259 FS-34151 |
AK2266 | |||
Aircraft interior colour used by the Imperial Japanese Army from circa 1943 Droptanks |
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#30 枯草色 |
Karekusa Iro Dry Grass Colour |
HTK-A243 | AK2267 | |||
Standard camouflage color of the Imperial Japanese Army aircraft, used together with green colours in the 1937-1945 period | ||||||
#31 茶褐色 |
Cha Kasshoku Tea Colour |
HTK-A241 | AK2268 | |||
Standard camouflage colour of the Imperial Japanese Army aircraft, used together with greens in the 1937-1945 period. | ||||||
#32 黒藍色 |
Koku Ran Shoku black indigo colour |
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A very dark, blackish blue colour with slight purple undertones. Almost like an Eggplant. Anti glare panels. Nicholas Millman, Ki-61 and Ki-100 Aces (2015) Osprey Publishing |
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#33 柿色 カーキ色 |
kaaki iro Khaki |
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#37 暗褐色 |
An Kasshoku |
FS-34056 | FS-34108 | |||
Prop colour | ||||||
#38 濃暗褐色 |
Noh An Kasshoku | |||||
#39 草色 |
Kusa iro |
FS-34056 | FS-34108 | |||
#43 | Tochi Iro | FS-36008 | ||||
The exact purpose and usage of this colour remain unknown, however it must have hold some significance, as it was included in 航格8609 as 2~2. Aviation of Japan – Kawasaki Ki-100 Fighter Colours |
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黒褐色 |
Kuro Kasshoku black brown |
RAL-6014 | ||||
Overall colour of some Ki-100’s. Possibly a very dark variant of #7. The name is sometimes mistranslated to english as ‘charcoal’, resulting in planes depicted as black instead of very dark brown. Aviation of Japan – Kawasaki Ki-100 Fighter Colours Nicholas Millman, Ki-61 and Ki-100 Aces (2015) Osprey Publishing |
(IJNAF) 仮規117 / Kari Kikaku 117
The 海軍航空機用塗料識別標準 假規117 別冊, or ” Color identification Standard for Naval air plane –Temporary Specification No.117 Additional Volume”, often shorted to “Kari Kikaku 117” and abbreviated as “Kariki 117”, “Temporary Specification No.117”.
The Kariki is a IJNAF specification which describes the colours used for painting aircraft from November 26 1938 onward. It contains 54 colours, divided in 17 series ranging from A to Q. It was published November 24 1938
usage of this system was, as far as known, rather limited. The most famous use was in the空技報0266 / Kugiho 0266.
Standard 8609 / 航格第8609
Near the end of the war shortages were more and more common. As a result there was a push to standardize the paints between the army and navy air forces. As a result on february 5 1945 the “Japan Aircraft Standards No. 8606 Aircraft Paint color standard” was distributed ( 日本航空機規格規 第8606 航空機用塗料色別標準 ). Not all colours in it were used. Very limited information of the application of this system is available as far as I’ve found.
http://www.j-aircraft.com/a6mresearch/accolors.htm
https://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/satsukiyamazakur/diary/200807150000/
https://ndlonline.ndl.go.jp/#!/detail/R300000001-I000007460147-00
Code | Colour | FS equivalent | Gunze | Tamiya | Hataka | AK |
1~1 | FS-33070 | |||||
replaced Army #7 after February 1945 | ||||||
1~2 | ||||||
replaces Army #27 replaces Navy D2 |
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1~3 | ||||||
replaces Army #39 replaces Navy M1 |
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1~4 | ||||||
replaces Army #39 replaces Navy M1 |
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1~5 草色 |
Kusa iro | |||||
replaces Army #21 replaces Navy D4 |
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2~1 | ||||||
replaces Army #3 | ||||||
2~2 | ||||||
replaces Army #43 | ||||||
2~3 | ||||||
replaces Navy J1 | ||||||
2~4 | ||||||
replaces Navy L3 | ||||||
2~5 | ||||||
replaces Navy K3 | ||||||
2~6 | ||||||
replaces Army #1 replaces Navy J3 |
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2~7 | ||||||
replaces Army #42 | ||||||
3~1 | ||||||
replaces Navy N0 | ||||||
3~2 | ||||||
replaces Army #4 replaces Navy A3 |
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3~3 | ||||||
replaces Navy I3 | ||||||
4~1 | ||||||
replaces Navy C1 | ||||||
4~2 | ||||||
replaces Army #14 replaces Navy C3 |
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4~3 | ||||||
replaces Army #2 replaces Navy H4 |
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5~1 | ||||||
replaces Army #9 replaces Navy #B2 |
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5~2 | ||||||
replaces Army #10 replaces Navy B3 |
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6~1 | ||||||
replaces Army #32 | ||||||
6~2 | ||||||
replaces Army #13 | ||||||
6~3 | ||||||
replaces Army #17 | ||||||
7~1 | Black | |||||
replaces Army #11 replaces Navy Q1 |
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8~1 | White | |||||
replaces Army #12 replaces Navy O1 |
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9~1 | bare metal | |||||
replaces Army #5 replaces Navy #P1 |
青竹, Aotake
When discussing Japanese paints, Aotake will inevitably come up. So what is Aotake? Aotake was a translucent blueish green coating used for interior surfaces on both army and navy aircraft.
Aotake finds it’s roots in urushi varnishes, lacquers made from the sap of the Toxicodendron vernicifluum, the Chinese lacquer tree. These forms of Aotake would be used for the protection of armour.
‘Modern’ Aotake was developed early 1930’s. For the army it was officially introduced on the 3rd of March 1932.
Similar in usage to the American zinc chromate, this Japanese enamel coating was of superior quality. It however remains a mysterious paints. Virtually forgotten after the war until the ’80, few intact samples remain after more than 75 years. Most salvaged aircraft were stripped of their original paints, and/or repainted.
Translation
The controversy of Aotake starts with the name. If you were to pull the word through google translate, the individual kanji would translate as “blue” (青, ao) and “bamboo” (竹, take). If both were to be translated together they however would result in “Green bamboo”.
So what causes this discrepancy? This is because colours are a spectrum, like the rainbow. Where the lines between colours are placed, where a colour ends and where a new one starts, sometimes differs from language to language. For example Russian sees light and dark blue as two distinct colours; Голубой (Goluboj, sky blue) and Синий (Sinij, darker blue).
In ancient time, Japanese didn’t have a distinction between blue and green, and both were called 青, ao. Later on, during the Heian period (794-1185) a distinct word for green was developed; 緑, midori. This however was still seen as a shade of aoi, 青, with the latter encompassing colours. Simular to how in English crimson and maroon would still be seen as a shades of red.
The split to two separate colours didn’t happen until after the second world war (maybe due to globalization?) meaning WWII era ao, 青 would encompass the part of the colour spectrum that in English is referred as either blue or green. Even to this day certain green objects are still referred to as ao, 青 in modern Japanese, such as plants and and traffic lights. This is also the reason for the earlier mentioned translation difference. This means there is no correct translation of aotake, 青竹, as the english lexicon doesn’t have a word for a colour that encompasses the full range of WWII ao, 青.
In some original Japanese documents the colour is also referred to as 青竹色, or aotakeshoku, where shoku, 色 means “colour”; blue green bamboo colour. It’s sometimes also written as 淡青色透明, thin translucent blue colour.
Colour
As with most wartime primers and coating during the war, the exact shade wasn’t really important and as a result, different variations of aotake shade existed, ranging from the famous teal colour, to green and even brown.
Aotake in as of itself is colourless, with pigments added to aid in creating an even, thick enough coating. It’s metallic sheen comes comes from the aluminium underneath.
The colour difference is sometimes suggested to be the result of the paint fading, as this was quite common among other paints. There is however very little concrete evidence to support this. On the contrary, samples show that exposed areas showed very little fading when compared to covered areas when examining surviving wrecks. That is not to say they would look exactly the same. Because new coatings of Aotake would be applied throughout the manufacturing process, even after assembly, the covered parts wouldn’t necessary look the same as the uncovered parts.
Application and Usage
The way Aotake was is different then usual. Where the Americans for example applied their Zinc Chromate primer after assembly, the Japanese applied a layer Aotake after every step of the manufacturing process. When A part would be manufactured, it would receive a coat, and after assembly, it would for example receive a new coat. At the end there would be no metal visible

http://colesaircraft.blogspot.com
At the end of the manufacturing process, the plane would sometimes receive a matte black coating. The reason for this is unknown, it might have been further protection, or to reduce de glare of the Aotake.

http://colesaircraft.blogspot.com
The Japanese aircraft industry was quite decentralized, especially in the later stages of the war to try to evade allied bombing. This sometimes resulted in different parts being produced at different locations by different subcontractors. These often had different batches of Aotake they used on their parts after their assembly. This resulted in aircraft often having a variety of different shades of Aotake. Below an example of two different shades of Aotake encountered on the main wing spar of a Zero.
As far as I’m aware, neither of these differences are accounted for with restored aircraft, which are painted with the ‘regular’ style of primer application; only after assembly. This results in a even, mono-colour Aotake layer, where in reality different parts would have different colours, with different amount of application.
Photo by Ron Cole, used with permission.
http://colesaircraft.blogspot.com
Reproduction
When painting Aotake as a modeller, there is no definitive Aotake colour, so don’t sweat about it. Use an Aluminium base and spray this over with translucent blue, green or a mix of the two and the result will most likely be correct. Personally I use Tamiya X-25 and X-23.
Much more important for the modeller with an eye for perfection is to use multiple shades of Aotake. make the landing legs more greenish while making the wheel bays bluer for example.
Sources & further reading
- Ishiguro, R., Januszewski, T., & Karnas, D. (2018). Japanese anti-submarine aircraft in the Pacific War. Sandomierz: Stratus sp.j.
- Mikesh, R. C. (2000). Japanese aircraft interiors, 1940-1945. Sturbridge, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications.
- Color identification Standard for Naval airplane –Temporary Specification No.117 Additional Volume.
- Japan Aircraft Standards No. 8606 Aircraft Paint color standard
- Research on Kariki 117 by Ryoichi Watanabe
http://angelof.web.fc2.com/subw117-1.htm - https://www.alternatewars.com/BBOW/Colors/Japanese_Aircraft_Colors_WWII.htm
- http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2019/12/army-prop-and-spinner-colours.html
- http://www.aviationofjapan.com/2008/04/j3-2-6.html
- https://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/zerosenochibo/diary/ctgylist/?ctgy=30
- http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~cdh88520/il2_1946_skin_color_index.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20150727230123/http://maker-one.ddo.jp:8080/cdh88520/color_list_for_ww2fighters.html#c19
- https://roncole.net/blogs/ron-cole-coles-aircraft-aviation-art/12072261-japanese-world-war-ii-aircraft-aotake-paints
- http://colesaircraft.blogspot.com/2014/08/japanese-wwii-aircraft-aotake-primer.html