Somehow, I managed to miss out on the first two sheets in this series. What you basically have are markings for two of each of the major types aboard Japanese carriers at the time of Pearl Harbor. You may notice that the colors on these planes are a bit, well, different from what you've come to expect from Japanese planes. Over the last several years there has been a lot of discussion about the color of early war Japanese planes. We've all been happily painting them light grey. Well apparently it is a darker color than what we've come to expect. When you compare photos of a captured type 21 Zero with the USN officers in their khaki uniforms, you'll notice that the colors are pretty darn close. The Zero isn't a lighter shade as you'd expect were it light grey. That color is Ame-iro Or Ame-Hiro, named after a caramel candy popular in Japan. It is close to a lightened RLM 02 green grey or something in the FS 33510 -36415 range. There is a small sheet explaining these colors in the decal instructions.

Kits for these planes all come from Hasegawa. Sure, other companies make kits that would be suitable, but the Hase kits are what most of us will use. All the planes start with EI-xxx with one having an EII-xxx number. Not sure if that is a typo or not. Lettering and trim is in red with white unit markings. The Kates are mottled with IJN dark green along the spine and upper surfaces. Again, I need to mention that there are markings for two of each of the types, though only one each is shown in the image above.

This is a double sheet with a second sheet of Hinomarus not shown. If you want to do a Pearl Harbor attacker, then this would be an excellent sheet to have in your collection.

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