#4a: 1942 onward (Philippines & Pacific Islands): Identical to the Home Islands scheme except that the dark olive green was replaced with a lighter green called willow green (a bright medium green). The use of black edging, and the use of the disruptive yellow stripes was eliminated. This was referred to as the 1942 three-color scheme (and thus, the earlier three-color scheme became the pre-1942 three-color scheme).
#3a: 1942 onward (Home Islands & China): The IJA decided to standardize their schemes, and opted for a base coat of parched grass (khaki) with patches of mahogany brown and dark olive green. I was told they never used patches of yellow, and they never used more than two lines of yellow (one always front to back, the other always side to side), so any photos you see where there are patches of yellow used, or more than the two bisecting lines of yellow, that tank is improperly painted. These lines would curve quite a bit as they made their way from one side of the tank to the other. They would most often meet on the turret roof, thus dividing the tank into four sections (again, when viewed from above). If you viewed the tank from above, you would find two yellow stripes: one going from the front to the back, and another going from side to side. The colors were most often painted on (by brush) and not sprayed on, so no feathering of colors.Īn important note regarding the yellow stripes – and this is the main reason I was told I could spot an improperly painted tank photo. And the use of the yellow stripes was quite common, but not always present. In both of the above cases, sometimes the colors were separated by thin black lines, sometimes not. This was called the three-color camo scheme (they dropped the patches of light sand). #2: 1940-41 (Pacific) – They used a base color of artillery brown with patches of mahogany brown and dark olive green, often with the yellow disruptive stripes. This was called the four-color camo scheme. #1: 1930s (China) – They used a base color of artillery brown (a medium shade) with patches of light sand, mahogany (dark) brown and dark olive green, often with the yellow disruptive stripes.
The reason? Most are pictures of models or restored tanks that were not painted according to the official scheme. I did a spot of research on this a few years back, and was basically instructed not to trust 90% of any color images I might find using Google.
You will find several color plates of interest. IMHO you really need to get the New Vanguard #137 (Osprey) Japanese Tanks 1939-45.
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