WW2 Imperial Japanese Army AFV paint set

Japanese ground equipment in two periods

The camouflage of the Japanese army changed markedly during the war. From 1937 to 1942 vehicles wore a khaki base crossed by irregular shapes in tea brown and olive green, with a hard yellow band that separated the whole pattern. From 1943 the base lightened toward the color of dry grass and was complemented by an earth brown and a grass green.

The eight shades in this box cover both stages at once, because several colors repeat across them. The earth brown was used in the early and in the late scheme alike, and the olive green tone of the late form follows on from the earlier one. The set is therefore not a collection of two unrelated palettes but a line in which one stage passes into the other.

The selection of eight colors also covers the small equipment and the crates that vehicles carried on top. Those were painted in the same tones as the hull, only visibly more faded, so they can be lightened with a few drops of the base mixed into a lighter shade from the same box.

The yellow band and what it meant

The signal yellow is the most conspicuous component of this selection. It has to be handled carefully on a model, because it covers less well than the other shades and needs a light base over a dark finish. The width of the band varied from vehicle to vehicle, so masking tape narrower than two millimeters and a steady hand matter more here than with European equipment.

The hybrid binder of this line combines the properties of an acrylic and a lacquer: it goes on easily, it is durable once dry and it allows further coats to be stacked without the risk of the finish beneath letting go. For a multicolor Japanese pattern that has a practical consequence, because every further color goes onto a surface that is already finished.