WW2 IJAAF AIRCRAFT COLORS

Colors of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force

Japanese army aviation used its own numbered color standard, which did not coincide with the naval one. The set takes over its entries together with the original Japanese names, so a shade can be traced by its number rather than only by a trade name. That has a practical consequence, because the literature on Japanese machines works mostly with these numbers.

Eight items from the color standard

The set lists Hairyokushoku as a gray-green, Hairanshoku as a gray-blue and Ohryoku Nana Go Shoku, the celebrated army olive brown that most of the late fighters wore. The green tones are represented by Midori Iro, by Ao Midori Iro shifted toward blue-green and by Ki Midori Iro with a yellow cast. The range is rounded out by Karekusa Iro, meaning the color of dry grass, and by Cha Kasshoku, a brown derived from the shade of tea.

How to work with the shades

Japanese camouflage tended to be sprayed in the field, and its edges are therefore soft and irregular. The application matches that: the blotches are laid down freehand from a greater distance, or sprayed on as individual droplets. Light green tones fade strongly in the sun, which can be suggested by lightening the centers of the areas slightly.

Modelers who are only now opening up to Japanese subjects will welcome the set too. Instead of hunting down individual shades under inconsistent trade names, they get a coherent group in which the link to the period coding is given with every item. The differences between the green tones are, moreover, clearly visible in practice.