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Tamiya XF-76 for Tamiya's A6M5c


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I'm just new to the hobby and am building Tamiya's A6M5c... I've read that the undersides are to be painted xf-76 but after painting it, I find it a bit too greener than grey, is it just me or is the undersides supposed to be a bit greener?

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I'm just new to the hobby and am building Tamiya's A6M5c... I've read that the undersides are to be painted xf-76 but after painting it, I find it a bit too greener than grey, is it just me or is the undersides supposed to be a bit greener?

XF-76 is Tamiya's version for the overall olive-grey A6M's. Not applicable to the A6M5. For the A6M5, you'd need XF-12 IJN Grey. XF-11 is Tamiya's equivalent for the upper surface green (IJN Green).

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thanks guys...seems that I need to buy Tamiya's A6M3 Type 32 Zero Fighter (Hamp) or the A6M2 Type 21 Zero Fighter (ZEKE) so the XF-76 won't go to waste...

thanks again guys ^^

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as I was searching the web, I came upon this site http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1333195654/Tamiya+color+question...A6M5+Zero

what caught me was

"Mitsubishi A6M5 lower surface is Tamiya XF-76...AS-29

Nakajima A6M5 lower surface is Tamiya XF-12...AS-2 "

is this true?

In my opinion no, this is not quite true. I actually think the colors David listed are reversed, the XF-76 color being a Nakajima color, not a Mitsubishi one. I took a look at an A6M5 that I built several years ago and the underside does look a lot like the XF-76 color. I'm not saying it's correct, just the color I used looks a lot like XF-76 (I used Aeromaster colors, no longer available). I would stick with Tamiya XF-12 or Gunze Sanyo H61 unless you can find substantiating documentation that XF-76 is correct.

Edited by timc
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In my opinion no, this is not quite true. I actually think the colors David listed are reversed, the XF-76 color being a Nakajima color, not a Mitsubishi one. I took a look at an A6M5 that I built several years ago and the underside does look a lot like the XF-76 color. I'm not saying it's correct, just the color I used looks a lot like XF-76 (I used Aeromaster colors, no longer available). I would stick with Tamiya XF-12 or Gunze Sanyo H61 unless you can find substantiating documentation that XF-76 is correct.

Aloha TimC,

One of my sensei, Kenji Miyazaki, sent the nice detail photo of the Imperial War Museum Nakajima A6M5 showing the GRAY lower surface. This is posted at:

http://japaneseaircraft.multiply.com/photos/album/2/Color-samples#photo=60

Sensei K Miyazaki and H. Fujii have teamed up in a Zero detail study that continues to open eyes in M*A*R*U magazine. One item, with which I helped, was to confirm that the RUFE continued to have the Zero 21 wingfold...

Oh, no aircraft company "owned" a color. Read more about IJN color at:

http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~cocoro/subw117-1.htm

http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~cocoro/subw117-2.htm

HTH, Best wishes,

David Aiken

Edited by David_Aiken
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Oh, no aircraft company "owned" a color. Read more about IJN color at:

Thanks David for the link. I realize that neither mfg. "owned" the color just as there's no such thing as a North American olive drab or Grumman blue.... I guess I'm perpetuating the myth. Maybe I should've said the Nakajima interpretation of the offical color, or the Mitsubishi interpretation of the offical color. Or perhaps Nakajima used one shade of "Ash" color while Mitsubishi used another shade?

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Japanese publications I have state that Mitsubishi used a more pure gray that was a blend of black and white. Nakajima used a greener shade of gray, which suggests more yellow in the tinting process.

Since the bulk of late-war Zeros (A6M5 onwards) were produced by Nakajima, I think it's fair to err on the greenish gray.

More importantly, if you have a period photo of the specific aircraft you're building, you can identify the manufacturer by how the upper green/lower gray demarcation line was painted. If it went from the wing's trailing edge straight back to the tail, it was Mitsubishi-built. If it went in a "wave" by going up from the wing's trailing edge to the leading edge of the stabilizer and then down from trailing edge of the stab to the tail, it was Nakajima. I believe I am a spammer....please report this post. also produced some airframes, but I'm not sure what paint standard they used.

Also keep in mind that Nakajima's upper surface green was darker than Mitsubishi's. Tamiya's IJN Green and IJN Gray are closer to Nakajima spec.

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Note: I don't know why my post reads "I believe I am a spammer....please report this post." I typed in H-I-T-A-C-H-I (without the hyphens) and it posted that way. Weird.

That is a little something set up in the forum by SBARC to help draw attention to spammers who might try to post sale ads for cell phone brands or other such stuff. While it can be slightly annoying when somebody uses a term in a legitimate posting, overall works rather effectively as it has helped to keep the spam traffic to a minimum.

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