Modeling-ABC by Wilfried Eck

 

 

Japan 1941-1945

Japanese Paint Bad?


There are those who say "nonsense" when it comes to bad Japanese paints. But there are others who are rock-solidly convinced of it and point to photos like the two below for proof,
Who is right?

 

 
When it comes to proof of bad Japanese paint, you like to get photos like the two shown above. The incomplete paint job is obvious.
 
But then what about aircraft that are obviously not fresh from the factory, but still show a full paint job?
 
A6M-3 Zero, found abandoned on Lae, New Guinea in 1943; no bare sports.

G4M2 (alliied code name "Betty")  found abandoned at "Clark Field, Manila, in 1945; complete paint.

Japan had not only one air force, but two. In almost all respects fundamentally different and also used in other places (see page "Milestones of the Pacific War").

 
Japanese Navy   Japanese Army
Image: Srecko Bradic   Image: Srecko Bradic

Japanese Navy:

Japanese Navy aircraft are easily identified by their type designation - letter-number-letter. For example, "A6M": airborne fighter, 6th type, ordered by Mitsubishi. A subsequent numeral, for example, at "A6M3" denotes the variant 3 of Mitsubishi's 6th shipborne fighter.
 
Navy aircraft were deployed on aircraft carriers and land bases in the Pacific island region (after the battle of Midway almost exclusively). See map Milestones of the Pacific War.
 
In the case of aircraft designed for use on aircraft carriers, the airframe had to be specially protected against corrosion. In addition to coating the inside with "Aotake" paint, a primer coat was essential before applying the colored top coat. In addition - at least in the early days - there was a final coat of clear lacquer. The result was a very durable topcoat.
 
Initially, the same applied to aircraft that were to operate exclusively from land (, but from 1944 onward, a shortage of materials made itself felt, so bare undersides could sometimes be seen. However, this did not change the quality of the paint. As a country poor in raw materials, Japan could not afford "disposable" items. Aircraft had to be durable. This also required a resistant paint finish.
 
The photo below seems to contradict this:
 
The photo on the left shows the A6M3 Zero flown by top pilot Hiroyoshi Nishizawa of the "Tainan" Air Group on Rabaul. The unit insignia "V" has been retouched away by the censor. If you look closely at the photo, you will notice that bright spots are only just behind the cowling and they become less and less towards the back. Another striking feature is the (almost) straight dividing line from light to dark at the lower edge of the cockpit glazing, whereby the struts are light throughout. A technical reason why the paint on the cockpit struts is completely chipped, behind the cooling flaps almost completely, but behind the national insignia almost not at all, has not yet become clear to me.

In reality, the paint has not chipped off at all in the light spots. On the bright spots you can still see the original light gray color in which the machine was originally delivered. Since they were forced to operate from land after June 4, 1942, and appropriate camouflage seemed necessary, the dark green camouflage paint had to be applied by hand afterwards. This did not have to be even, an irregular pattern enhanced the camouflage. - But this was only during the transition period to the later general standard, factory-applied dark green over greenish gray. As before, always over a primer coat. Later on, small abrasion marks could be seen in particularly stressed areas, but never flaked paint.

Because the manufacturers worked equally for army and navy, there were no differences in the quality of colors.

Color drawings (profiles) showing Japanese Navy aircraft with large blank areas are far away from of reality.

Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero, unit letter "V" retouched  
  Below are photos of naval aircraft in the usual livery. Others can be found at www.
   
Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero ("X" denotes Rabaul) with flight leader band at the tail Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero, notice metal colored spinner and airscrew, red disc less surround Nakajima N1N1-S Gekko ("Irving") night fighter, 1945
Mitsubishi J2M1 Raiden at a Japanese base Aichi D3A dive bomber in mid war camouflage Mitsubishi G3M2 horizontal bomber ("G"= Korean home base)

Intermediate result. 1: Planes in full paint show that you can't say all Japanese paints were bad.



 

Japanese Army:

Aircraft of the Japanese Army can be recognized by the type designation "Ki-" followed by a number, e.g. "Ki-43", the Army's standard fighter. The type designation did not distinguish between fighters, bombers, etc.
 
The Japanese Army was deployed in a wide arc from Manchuria to the Asian east coast to Burma, and in the south to Indonesia and New Guinea. See map Japanese possessions 1942. In essence, this coincided with the Allied Army's area of operations (See map Japanese possessions 1942.),

A) Fighters:

In contrast to the standard in the West, fighter aircraft were initially not delivered with a camouflage coating, but in natural metal. The idea was to attract the enemy's attention with shiny metal and to challenge him to a fight. But because it soon became apparent that such planes were also highly visible on the ground, camouflage was soon applied to break up the outline, to let the plane merge with the ground. The following stages can be identified here:

1. Small curved stripes on bare metal (apparently applied by hand).
2. Oval spots  (majority sprayed) initially on bare metal, later on light background color.
3. Larger sprayed fields over light background color
4. Solid color tops (increasingly in dark green) over light undersides (ca. fall 1943, now ex-works).
 
If there were deciduous trees at the location, it was obvious to match the upper side of the airplanes to the shadow pattern of the leaves (small-scale camouflage pattern), if there were rather palm trees, then rather a striped camouflage. Small-part blank areas supported the camouflage effect. If the area of operation was in open terrain, the color of the ground was decisive for the shape and color(s) of the paint(s). Whether the camouflage was applied by hand or spray gun was merely a matter of taste or depended on the material available. As for the colors, initially mainly dark green, but in the further course also others. Which exactly, however, should not be the subject here.
 
All this without a fixed time frame, depending on which camouflage pattern seemed suitable to the respective "Sentai" (group with three to four "Chutais"). It should also be noted that the area of operations was very extensive, ranging from Manchuria to Burma in the west and from Indonesia to Papua New Guinea in the south. The warm, humid jungle climate cited as the reason for paint chipping was not an issue in Manchuria.

 

Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (all.: "Oscar") Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki (all.: "Tojo"), Akeno fighter school Kawasaki Ki-61 I ko Hien (all.: Tony"). 68 Sentai, 2 Chutai
     

Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu (all.: "Nick"), hme based Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai c Toryu ("all.: Nick") Nakajima Ki-43 II Otsu Hayate (all.:"Oscar")
     
   
B) Multi-engine airplanes always had camouflage paint. Solid green-gray, or with spots and stripes in various colors, depending on what the Sentai deemed suitable.

 

Bomber Mitsubishi Ki-67 Hiryu (all.: "Peggy")
Bomber Mitsubishi Ki-21 (all.: Sally")
Bomber Nakajima Ki-49 Donryu (all.:"Helen")
     
 
Intermediate result 2: Bare metal only on fighters and only intermittently, other aircraft with full paint scheme.
 
Result 1 plus Result 2: Aircraft with bare spots were in the minority and their appearance intentional.
 
In the outcome: In truth, the claim "bad Japanese paint" is simply based on misinterpretation and generalization.
 
For paints and their quality see page "Japanese paint bad?"

 

Finally a hard nut: A Ki-44 found in 1945 at Clark Field, Manila, obviously heavily weathered - But why do the paint flakes on both sides of the fuselage stop at exactly the same place and also exactly vertically? It would then also be explained why nothing has flaked off around the national insignia and, above all, why the wings, tailplane and vertical stabiliser have a complete paint job. - I can imagine lack of paint, but I'm not quite convinced either.


There were and are exceptions everywhere. But they should not be generalized,
 


Page "Milestones of the Pacific War": http://www.pmcn.de/English/Milestones_Pacific_War/Milestones%20Pacific%20War.htm
Page "Japanese Paint Bad?": http://www.pmcn.de/English/Japan/Bad%20Japanese%20Paint.htm
Recommended literature on this subject:
History Japanese lacquers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_lacquerware
History Japanese lacquers II http://www.marumata-japan.com/urushinorekishi_E.htm?lang=1
Quality of lacquers: http://www.j-aircraft.com/research/weathering_question.htm
Protection Coat "Aotake": https://roncole.net/blogs/ron-cole-coles-aircraft-aviation-art/12072261-japanese-world-war-ii-aircraft-aotake-paints
Protection Coat "Aotake" II: http://emmasplanes.com/index.php/paints/ijaaf-ijnas-colours-japan/#Aotake
"Urushi" preservation varnish https://www.jstor.org/stable/4629296?seq=1

Colors in general:

http://www.j-aircraft.com/research/colormix.htm

Own page to Japanese paint: "Japanese Aircraft Paint"