.............for my A6M2-N 'Rufe' (I'm depicting the early, all-grey type).

And also for the underside of my A6M5c (I was thinking AS-2, but it just doesn't look very 'light-grey' to me).

I'm going for AS-21 for the upper side of my M5c

Thanks in advance.

Hi Alex,

Ahhh...a dreaded "right color for Japanese aircraft" question!

"Light gray" is a purely subjective description.

The A6M2-N "Rufe" was built by Nakajima. Nakajima painted their aircraft a little different than Mitsubishi.

Rob Graham of J-aircraft has an excellent page of data analyzing the A6M2 shot down over Pearl Harbor, comparing the paint sample with various model paints under four light sources. See Imperial Japanese Navy Gray-Green Paint.

I have never met him but due to his credentials of research and speaking Jappanese, I look to Mr. James F. Lansdale as my oracle. See Appendix C. of his work
ZERO CAMOUFLAGE SCHEMES (Rev. 6/4/98) FACTORY APPLICATION OF
PAINT SCHEMES FOR THE MITSUBISHI TYPE ZERO CARRIER FIGHTER:
1939 - 1945:




Also treat yourself to the exhaustive OUT OF AMEIRO CLOUD INTO HAI-RYOKUSHOKU SKY by Mr. Yoshihito Kurosu.

What does all that mean, how do you corroborate it with Tamiya color? See Japanese Aircraft Color Standards, Feb 05, 1945.

A color photo of a helmet with what Mr. Lansdale believes to be the correct color: http://www.j-aircraft.org/smf/index.php?topic=9575.0

To sum this up, AS2 is probably as close as you will get using a Tamiya rattle can.

Hi Frederick, thanks for answering this question. Compared to other countries' aircraft, the IJN aircraft are a headache, which is a shame becasue I'd love to model more of them.

Tamiya now makes a gray-green color that they released in conjunction with their new 32nd scale zero (it being an A6M5, but the early M5s had the same color underneath, at least from the Nakajima plant) that is probably as accurate a color as you can hope for - they incorporated the new color research when making it.

I *think* it is "AS-29 IJN gray-green" in their line of aircraft spray paints, but would have to confirm that when i get home.

keep in mind that zeros produced at the Nakajima plant had a more normal black (as opposed to blue-black) color for the cowl.

740 Model 21s were completed by Mitsubishi, and another 800 by Nakajima, so that split is about 50/50.

I suspect that the gray-green from Mistubishi and Nakajima were probably a bit different anyway, so just get in the neighborhood and tell any nit-pickers to piss-off.

also note that interior colors were often different between the two manufacturers, complicating things even more.

Hey Vance, thanks for that.

I happen to have a can of AS-29 IJN grey/green sitting in front of me right now. I bought it for my 'Rufe' then had second thoughts if this was the correct colour or not.

As for the interior, I used Tamiya XF-71 (Cockpit Green-IJN).

I'd be interested to know if I can use the AS-29 for the underside of my A6M5.

As a side note, I asked all this on J-Aircraft but no one answered. Guess they've been asked 1,000s of times too many! lol

Hi Alex,

The Japanese gray-greens have always been my favorite. More appealing to me than RAF Sky or the legendary Luftwaffe RLM 84. Here is my Ki-27 in vintage Polly S IJA gray-green.