IJAAF and IJNAS....

[Wayne Little]

Shokaku Kates had a green squiggle or Mottle pattern on the wings and upper fuselage only, there was no Brown to be seen....see the well known image below. Also they did not carry torpedoes at PH only 250kg or 60kg Bombs

Source : The Internet

 

[Lucky13]

Cheers Wayne!
Wonder where they got the Brown from...?

 

[Wayne Little]

Someones imagination from a long time ago...

 

[razor1uk]

The brown could have been sun (tropical UV) burnt/faded/oxidised midori/green or a dark red or maroon perhaps, particularly if the colour was arrived at from b&w photo film/negatives - different WW2 era films types had differing graduations of colour into the b&w format AFAIK.

Loving the additional pics, infos, diorama images and kits guys

 

[Wayne Little]

The brown could have been sun (tropical UV) burnt/faded/oxidised midori/green or a dark red or maroon perhaps, particularly if the colour was arrived at from b&w photo film/negatives - different WW2 era films types had differing graduations of colour into the b&w format AFAIK.

Loving the additional pics, infos, diorama images and kits guys

definitely not the case, these aircraft were silver/NMF with Red tails, and in late Oct 1941 they were painted at their training fields in the lead up to PH, Shokaku kates were painted in the I3 Tsuchi-Iro a brownish Khaki colour, this was followed by a Dark Blackish Green squiggle or mottle camo over the wings and upper fuselage. The I3 was a glossy paint while the green was in fact a matt paint. The japanese did paint their aircraft in a proper manner and they were embarked aboard the carriers for the trip to northern Japan shortly therafter. So within weeks of painting were in the hangars of their carrier safe from the elements so were not exposed to anything that could affect their newly applied paint jobs.

 

[Shinpachi]

Historian Minoru Akimoto(1921- ) says the camouflage color for the B5N2 of Shokaku was green-black(*dark green) on the standard grey color and camouflage was applied during fleet standby at the Hitokappu Bay of northern islands in his Kojinsha book "Mechanic of World Aircraft vol. 14".

Frankly, I don't know who is correct or wrong at all.
It is no problem for me to trust Wayne's opinion as I always respect Wayne!

 

[Lucky13]

Seeing that Kaga and Shokaku are my main interests, should one do a base for any of their birds, what colour would the planking be, on the flightdeck?

 

[Wayne Little]

Thanks for your kind words Shinpachi san.

I will point out that it is also more than likely the Green camo colour was applied later during the standby stage before leaving for PH as most (western) references don't specify just when this happened.

Jan the decking colour would be reflective of the wood used, not sure what that is, however I suspect it would be different for Kaga and Shokaku. Kaga's deck was laid in 34-35 during rebuild, while Shokaku's would have been done during 40-41

 

[Lucky13]

So, maybe used different kinds of wood then, between the two?
What did they use for their decks anyway?

 

[Lucky13]

Just snapped snapped this one up....
Which airbases did they operate from?

 

[Wayne Little]

The Betty is a great kit Jan, have 2 of 'em...

 

[Lucky13]

Thanks Wayne! Glad to hear that, appreciated!

Found a possible candidate...

 

[Wayne Little]

jeez, that didn't take long to find!

Will have to check my Betty books for ya...see if there are any more 13's

 

[Wurger]

 

[Lucky13]

Much obliged Master Wayne! This one, seems to have operated from Vunakanau Airfield....

Japanese Naval units based at Vunakanau
4th Kokutai (G4M1) Feb 14-18, 1942 - ?
Misawa Kokutai (9 x G4M1) Aug 7, 1942 - Oct 1942
705th Kokutai (G4M1 formerly Misawa) Jan 1943 - April 1943
702nd Kokutai (G4M1 Betty) Late 1942 - December 1943 (disbanded)
751st Kokutai (G4M Betty) Oct 11, 42 - May 1943
Tainan Kokutai (A6M Zero) April 1942 - November 1942 also Lakunai
251st Kokutai (former Tainan Kokutai A6M / J1N1) Nov 1942 - Mid 1943

Japanese Army Air Force units based at Vunakanau
1st Sentai (Ki-43 Oscar) January - August 1943
11th Sentai (Ki-43 Oscar) December 18, 1942 - June 1943 to Wewak
13th Sentai (Ki-45 Nick) May - September 1943
68th Sentai (Ki-61 Tony) April - July 1943 to Wewak
78th Sentai (Ki-61 Tony) June - July 1943 to Wewak

 

[Wayne Little]

Here is confirmation for the above profile, only one I've found so far....

 

[Lucky13]

Much obliged Master Wayne!
See that they've removed part of the rear turret...

 

[Wayne Little]

You're welcome Sir!

 

[Lucky13]

 

[Lucky13]

She torpedoed my favourite battleship!

B5N2 type 97 model 3
Unit: 1st Koku Kantai, 1st Koku Sentai
Serial: AI-313
Pilot: F1c Fujuki Murakami.
Carrier: Akagi
Pearl Harbor Attack, On 7th December 1941. First wave. Its torpedo hits USS West Virginia.