1/72 Tamiya A6M3 Type 3a build video

 Good reference, but the downside it is a hour long.

Zero aircraft colors. Part 1 Early Zero's Pearl Harbor time frame

 Here is a link to a great sort for painting your Zero correctly.  ArticleA6M Zero's correct colors Part 1

Rsponse from Tom Cleaver

Tom Cleaver said on April 20, 2019

All very interesting and thanks, Louis.

There are a couple of “shortcuts” you can use, paint-wise, and identifying the manufacturer.

The Mitsubishi A6M2s were all painted gloss, and this stood up well to a saltwater environment aboard the carriers. Nakajima A6m2s were also gloss, but as with everything else between the two companies, it wasn’t quite the same color (though most of the Color Sen-Sei say it’s close enough not to worry). Tamiya released a very nice paint in the correct shade when they released their 1/32 A6M2 back in 2004.

Tamiya’s original “IJN Green” is actually the Nakajima color, which is a blue-base green. When they released the gray-green color, they also released “IJN Green 2” which is “Mitsubishi Green,” a more green, yellow-base color. Their original “IJN Grey” is the Nakajima grey that was used on their A6M2s and in camouflaged airplanes. So far as I know, there isn’t a “Mitsubishi Grey,” and I have wondered if they didn’t just continue using their original grey-green color.

Tamiya’s “Cockpit Green” is “Mitsubishi interior green”, you can use it on A6Ms and A5Ms. (You can also use it for British interior grey-green, it’s close enough) Nakjima’s cockpit color was as close as you can get to US “Interior Green” without being that exact color. Mitsubishi cockpits were overall their color, while Nakajima had things like the throttle quadrant and radio “black boxes” in gloss black. In both cases, the instrument panels were the interior color, not black.

When you get to camouflaged A6M5s, it’s easy to tell which is which: a Nakajima airplane has the rear fuselage color demarcation as a curving line from the trailing edge of the wing to the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer, while a Mitsubishi airplane has a straight line demarcation from the trailing edge of the wing to the tip of the fuselage, that passes under the horizontal stabilizer.

So, if you use Tamiya paints, there’s the easy way to do it. If you use oil-base enamel, I suggest Xtracolor paints, which are well-researched and accurate colors. The Xtracrylix line is similar.

Looking forward to more of this stuff, Louis. Keep up the good work.

More info By Louis Gardner.

To the best of my knowledge, Nakajima didn’t use the same colors on the exterior that Mitsubishi did.

The main differences between these two companies as far as painting was concerned were as follows:
1. Main landing gear wheel wells painted in exterior color Mitsubishi
Nakajima used the translucent “Aotake” blue / green

2. Cockpit colors were different between Mitsubishi and Nakajima.

This was depending on the production time frame as to when the individual airframes were produced. It could have had a slight difference in the shade, but the individual colors used by the manufacturers remained fairly consistent.

It also depends on what author you believe, and which Zero relic, (and to some extent what color chip book) was used to determine as a match to the “closest equivalent”.

I’m not trying to knock the person that you specifically mentioned, (as he is very knowledgeable), but I would definitely look for a second opinion on what he says and claims to be gospel truth. On more than one occasion he has been proven wrong, by other persons and not only me, yet continues on making these “incorrect” statements. In his defense, this can be very confusing subject, and the material is constantly evolving as new discoveries have been made.

Please keep in mind that there are a lot of variables that can affect how a given color looks at a given time. Things such as lighting, and even how the color looks on different computer monitors will be different. The final thing is that even people can interpret how a color looks. One person may think a specific color looks more green, while another may think it’s more blue as a hypothetical example.

Mitsubishi used a cockpit color very close to the US equivalent of “Interior Green: FS 34151. A6M2 s/n 3277 (manufactured in July 1941) flown by Iida that was shot down at Pearl Harbor, was given a close match to FS*4095. I left the first number off intentionally, as this refers to the gloss or lack of.
The Planes of Fame A6M5 s/n 4400 (manufactured in December 1943) was given a color value of FS *4097.

So you can see how the colors can be interpreted differently, and may indeed be different due to the paint being supplied during different times.

Nakajima used a different cockpit color from Mitsubishi, and this color also changed between the various models of the A6M, such as A6M-2 versus an A6M-5.
Nakajima built A6M2 s/n 646 (manufactured in February 1942, had a cockpit color close to FS 4095…………… and 4096. These are two different shades of green.

The Blayd collection Zero also has a number of similar dated Nakajima cockpit interior components with a paint finish matching FS 4098…………. yet another interior green color.

An A6M5 captured on Saipan (s/n 2183, manufactured in early April 1944) and examined by Douglas Aircraft, was described as having its cockpit interior painted “with a yellow-green primer similar in appearance to the zinc-chromate primer used in American airplanes.” Zinc-chromate was either yellow (FS *3481) or green (FS *4227). The former could be a variation of FS*4255 while the latter has similarities to FS *4373. The reference is most likely to the yellow shade of zinc-chromate, as the green shade has no yellow in it at all. Possibly what was described was an oxidized variation of FS *4255.

Then there was a visible difference between a Mitsubishi and Nakajima built Zero, on how the demarcation line between the camouflage colors on the side of the plane was painted.

The last thing from the top of my head was the difference between the white outline on the fuselage Hinomaru of Nakajima built machines, while Mitsubishi had no such white outline. This was done as a “quick” identification guide, since in the early stages of Zero production, some parts were not 100 percent interchangeable between Mitsubishi and Nakajima plane………… Crazy stuff !!!

Now you can see why this is such a minefield of color information. I didn’t go into all of the details on the various cockpit colors. This is not even half of it……………. believe me on that.

As far as the other part of your question about the “Amber Gray” color…………
The closest US equivalent FS 595b comparison is FS16350, but this color is too dark. Another close choice would be FS *4201, but neither of these two color shades have the slightly greenish tint……………

There are two websites in particular that I would highly recommend you take a look at. They are http://www.aviationofjapan.com/ and http://www.j-aircraft.com/

I do plan on writing a few more of these articles in the future. Please stay tuned, and please don’t hesitate to send me a PM if you have any other questions. I’ll try to steer you in the right direction if I don’t know the correct answer, and I will not lead you astray with rubbish.

Thanks for the interest in the subject, and I’ll be looking forward to seeing your A6M when it gets underway.

Addition info from Large scale models

Restored Zero video.

 Great video. Plus some really good reference for the model.

Paint mixes for Zero. Mitsubishi vs Nakajimia types by Greg Springer

Below is Greg's mixes.  I have read that are  spot on when he published the  information in 2009

Mitsubishi Airframe Paint mix:

XF-2 (White) 100 drops

XF-8 (Yellow) 24 drops

XF-1 (Black) 11 drops

XF-7 (Red) 7 drops

You'll have to multiply the formula by 3 or 4 to get enough to airbrush the entire airframe (minus the control surfaces)

Mitsubishi Cloth Covered Control Surfaces:

XF-19 (Sky Grey) 105 drops

XF-49 (Khaki) 20 drops

XF-25 (Lt. Sea Grey) 15 drops

The formula above will yield enough paint to spray the cloth covered control surfaces the correct color.

The cowl on Mitsubishi aircraft will be a blue-black color, not X-18 as called out in the instructions.

CAVEAT: These colors are only for a Mitsubishi built aircraft and are not valid for a Nakajima built A6M2 Model 21.

Here goes. These are taken from a Word document that I hand out when I give a PowerPoint presentation of Japanese Naval Aircraft colors.

Paint mixes for some Japanese aircraft colors

All mixes are covered with gloss clear coats
.
Mixes matched to the coating on the metal portions of the airframe of the Mitsubishi-built Zero flown by Lt. Fusata Iida to his death at Kaneohe NAS and to Zero AI-154 that crashed at Fort Kamehameha, Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941.

Mix 1M(odelMaster enamels)
100 drops "SAC Bomber Tan" FS 34201
64 drops Flat White FS 37875

Mix 1T(amiya)
100 drops IJA Grey XF-14
40 drops Khaki XF-49
4 drops Neutral Grey XF-53

Mix matched to a cloth artifact from Zero BII-120, landed on Niihau Island, Dec. 7, 1942. Likely also to match cloth on control surfaces of AI-154 shot down at Ft. Kamehameha and BI-151 crashed at Kaneohe NAS the same day.

Mix 2T
105 drops Sky Grey XF-19
15 drops Lt. Sea Grey XF-25
20 drops Khaki XF-49

Mixes matched to the overall metal surfaces of the Nakajima-built Zero shot down on Midway Island, June 4, 1942. This color would be found on all metal surfaces of the airframe, except the cowling. This color also found on some Vals at Pearl Harbor.

Mix 2M
100 drops "Field Drab" FS 30118
42 drops "Flat White" FS 37875
8 drops "Insignia Yellow" FS 33538

Mix 3T
100 drops Khaki XF-49
35 drops White XF-2
6 Orange X-6

Mixes matched to a fabric surface taken from the same Zero. This gray color would be found on all fabric-covered control surfaces.

Mix 3M
100 parts "Light Sea Gray" FS 36307
14 parts "Aggressor Gray" FS 36251
1 part Insignia Red FS 31136

Mix 4T
50 drops Medium Grey XF-20
7 drops Sky Grey XF-19
5 drops Neutral Grey XF-53

Mix for the gray-green base coat found on the Nakajima Type 97 "Kate" attack plane that crashed at the Navy hospital at Pearl Harbor.

Mix 4M
40 parts "Faded Olive Drab"
28 parts "Armor Sand" FS 30277
26 parts Flat White FS 37875
1 part Black

Brush-applied yellowish-khaki coat over natural metal on Type 99 Val shot down in Middle Loch, Pearl Harbor. Tail code AII-251.

Humbrol 187 "Dark Stone" (recent production)

Mix 1H for 1/48 scale
50 drops Dark Stone187
10 drops Flat White 34
3 drops Yellow 154

Early and late Zero cockpit color is FS 34095 made only by Model Master as enamel
"Medium Field Green".

Mid war Nakajima cockpit gray-green.

Mix 5M for both enamels and MM acrylics
5 parts Pale Green FS 34227
4 parts Sky type S
1 part O. D. FS34087

To simulate the aotake translucent interior coat for areas outside the cockpit, spray the areas with an aluminum finish. I like to use Alclad II White Aluminum. Then make a mix of:
11 parts Tamiya Smoke X-19
10 parts Clear Blue X-23
1 part Clear Green X-25

This will yield a primarily blue color with a slight green tint. Spray on with a light color feed and stop when you are satisfied with the color. You can experiment with different mixes. Green has a very strong chroma so very little is needed. The Smoke is used to tone down the clear colors as otherwise they will give a bright "candy apple" phony look.

Mitsubishi-built Zeros have their landing gear bays and doors painted inside and out in the exterior gray-green-khaki color.

Early Nakajima Zeros have their landing gear bays in aotake. The doors are the underside color except for the interior surface of the central 'butterfly' doors that are coated in aotake.

Cowlings, the areas of the fuselage beneath the canopy in front of and behind the pilot as well as the inner surfaces of the canopy frames are blue-black on Mitsubishi Zeros and black on Nakajima Zeros.

Links:

Summer-san's Kakiri 117 blog:

http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/zerosenochibo/d...d=0&ctgy=30

www.j-aircraft.com

Bear in mind that all of these mixes were matched to extant artifacts. Have they changed in 70 years? Yes, but they are from protected areas or were souvenired and stored away from direct light since the war. In service, all coatings weather rapidly. I am providing you with a starting point. If you don't like the appearance of a mix, modify it until it suits you. After all, you are building the model to please yourself.

Cheers!

Greg

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A6M Zero Variants

Trying to figure out the variants on the Zero design can be confusing at times.  Here is a guide that might help you figure out the changes

Zero profile from Techmod decals

1/32 Tamiya Zero from face book

Not mine, but it was. A very well built zero.

🛩 Mitsubishi A6M2b
🇯🇵 Imperial Japan Navy
🛠 312_Karl
⭐️ Scala 1/32 TAMIYA（タミヤ）

This model depicts the plane with the serial number 5349 from the carrier Hiryu during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Aftermarket parts: HGW seatbelts, metal submachine gun barrels, resin wheels.
Colors: Tamiya, GSI Creos (Gunze C)

Enjoy!

Legend flyers Zero roll-out

Nice to see a Zero being restored to life.  Don't know all the details yet.  I hope they will fly it. Part of the story can be found here.  Zero restoration

Found more info on the aircraft Rob Cole Zero.