Thanks Coles.
You know, I think there's more lack of information in the West than lack of information itself. You see, not today, but in the first decades after the war, there were many veterans and factory workers that were still young and with good memory, I beat they provided this info.
I'm not looking for othing in specific at the momment, I just would like to see what a pilot from a Ki-44 or other still unknow type would tell if asked what color the cockpit was painted. I have some Maru Mechanic books, and I belive the cockpit colors in them were painted according to the veterans, and it's really strange sometimes.
Other question: the Zero and Ki-43 pilots belived their machines were adequate against early war Allied types such as the P-40 and the Wildcat?
Exterior colors for Japanese military aircraft seem to have been usually specified by the military services and did not differ significantly between manufacturers (but not always, early Nakajima-built Zeros were painted a different shade of gray than Mitsubishi-built Zeros, for example), but such was not the case with interior colors.
As a general rule: Japanese aircraft manufacturers outsourced many components to myriad small companies, each using its own paint and colors when painting was required. Thus the landing gear legs of many Japanese fighters were gloss black, including the Zero. Why? That's what the company that made the landing gear used. The same was true of all sorts of components, for the cockpit as well. The only military mandate that effected interior color was the one regarding corrosion prevention, and thus it was required that all aircraft manufactures use Aotake primer to cover all interior aluminum - inside the wings, everywhere. This coating was a clear coat that was mixed with a blue/green tint to make it visible. It served the same purpose as zinc chromate for the Americans, but in tests proved more effective at preventing corrosion. Until later in the war it would be found everywhere, in every aircraft, including crew areas. Many manufacturers, however, painted over the Aotake, and many outsourced parts, with their own paints for crew areas. Mitsubishi did this throughout the war, which is why Zeros and "Bettys", etc., had mat olive green cockpit areas. I've never heard why, but since the Aotake was glossy it might have been a glare concern.
The Ki-44 was a Nakajima product. Since there are no Ki-44s in existence (Except the wings preserved in China - do they have the rest? No one seems to know!) we have to look at other Nakajima-built aircraft for evidence. There are few of them around. I have several cockpit airframe pieces from a B5N2 "Kate" that reveal two different olive greens in use in the cockpit - but alas, this was a rare license-built Aichi airframe! The NASM's J1N1 "Irving" was built by Nakajima and it retains its Aotake primer in the cockpit with all the different colored components. The same seems to be true of Nakajima's Ki-43 "Oscar". Thus it's safe to suppose that the Ki-44's cockpit would be Aotake blue/green, glossy, and filled with lots of different colored parts: probably dark green for radio components, black for the instrument panel, etc.
Hope that helps! It's a long-winded explanation, but the whole subject of Japanese cockpit colors can be a study in itself!
Ron Cole