Japanese Army Camouflage Patterns of World War Two, 1937–1945
It is important to remember, that the table lists the closest model color matches for a particular standard color applied to an actual vehicle, not a model of the same. In order to paint a 1:72 scale model of a particular vehicle, the scale color effect needs to be taken into account. As a rule, matching model colors should be tinted with 10–30 % white in order to arrive at the scaled down vehicle base color. Approximately 40-50 % white is recommended for drybrushing the highlights. For a detailed painting guide, please refer to Weathering Vehicles, by Jim Gordon.
Imperial Japanese Army Camouflage Colours
| Colour | Humbrol | Revell | Testors | Tamiya | Gunze | Pactra |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khaki | 72 | – | – | XF-49 | H81 | – |
| Infantry uniform jackets, trousers, webbing, soft caps, und Helme. Artillery pieces. | ||||||
| Brown | 10 | – | – | X9 | H7 | – |
| Infantry boots, leather equipment, und helmets. | ||||||
| Middle Stone | 84 (?) | – | – | XF-59 (?) | – | – |
| Vehicle colour, part of the 4-colour pattern on Fujimi’s Ho-Ni Type 1. | ||||||
| Wood Brown | 26* (?) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Vehicle colour, part of the 4-colour pattern on Fujimi’s Ho-Ni Type 1. | ||||||
| Khaki Green | 30* (?) | – | – | XF-26 / XF-58 (?) | – | – |
| Vehicle colour, part of the 4-colour pattern on Fujimi’s Ho-Ni Type 1. | ||||||
| Mahogany | 29* (?) | – | – | XF-52 (?) | – | – |
| Vehicle colour, part of the 4-colour pattern on Fujimi’s Ho-Ni Type 1. | ||||||
| Army Green | – | – | 2114 | – | – | – |
| Aircraft colour | ||||||
| Army Light Grey | – | – | 2115 | – | – | – |
| Aircraft colour | ||||||
| Navy Green | – | – | 2116 | – | – | – |
| Aircraft colour | ||||||
| Navy Sky Grey | – | – | 2117 | – | – | – |
| Aircraft colour | ||||||
| Deep Yellow | – | – | 2118 | – | – | – |
| Aircraft yellow marking colour | ||||||
* Also available as acrylic paint.
Japanese vehicles were sometimes painted in a plain middle stone or khaki green. A variety of camouflage patterns existed as well, using one, two or three disruptive colours over a middle stone or khaki green base colour.