Fine Molds makes a lot of nice Japanese tanks and tanker figures, but one problem-the figures are standing or seated and not positioned to fit inside one of their tanks! Are there any other sources of Japanese tanker figures, or do I have to resort to cutting up the ones from Fine Molds to fit? I'd prefer not going that route if possible. Thanks.

The only other Japanese injection molded figures that I know of are the old Tamiya figures. Here's a link to some other resin Japanese figures:

http://www.japanesearmorking.com/jak3.htm

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-35-Japanese-Tank-Crew-WWII-Resin-Figures-Kirin-25004_W0QQitemZ380144736751QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item58826459ef

http://cgi.ebay.com/Legend-Productions-Japanese-Tank-Commander-1-35_W0QQitemZ390034056757QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5acfd76635



http://cgi.ebay.com/FineMolds-AF-8-1-35-Imperial-Japanese-Army-Tank-Crew_W0QQitemZ330370166885QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4ceb98b065

Two of the figures in the Fine Molds set are positioned to fit in a tank turret.

I hope this helps.

Jeff

Thanks for this info Bodeen! As Tom said, after discovering the great selection of Japanese armor made by FineMolds, Japanese tank crew members are a very welcome find!

Warriors also made a tank commander

http://www.modellbau-koenig.de/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/14134

My pleasure Jim. There is definitely a lack of Japanese WWII subject matter. With the amount of kits coming from Asia...especially Japan...you'd think that there would be more interest in producing kits and figures of the IJA.

Thank goodness for Fine Molds and Tamiya...Pit Road also has some cool stuff that I forgot to list...but here's a link to it on the Hobby Link Japan site:
http://www.hlj.com/product/PITG-12E
http://www.hlj.com/product/PITG-12M
http://www.hlj.com/product/PITG-14M
http://www.hlj.com/product/PITG-14E
http://www.hlj.com/product/PITG-15
http://www.hlj.com/product/PITG-16

This really is a neglected area of the war. Hopefully the new releases by Pit Road are a sign of more good things to come.

Jeff

Wow, lots more new Japanese stuff being produced! Thanks for the info!

There are so many vehicles of all nationalities that would make great kit subjects that will likely never see production. I was just researching some information on a German reconfigured French tank in the Encyclopedia of German Tanks of WWII. Looking through the back at all the different vehicles, tracks of all sorts, trucks, and armored cars that were put into service, I saw at least 50 subjects I would buy in a second if they were available! There is a staggering lack of mid to late 1930s to early WWII armor and softskins from Germans and other Axis powers. There's almost nothing of the vehicles in their original national configurations from many of the nations the Axis nations later overthrew. I think even the French are under-represented. I don't know as much about the PTO in terms of general land operations as I wish I did. As you said, there was a lack of Japanese armor which I never understood because as the main protagonist in the PTO, the only things that seem to get attention are ships and aircraft. For land vehicles there used to be solely Tamiya who made what? Two or three kits? Then there was RPM's Ko-Gata, a renamed French FT-17 with a round riveted turret used by the Japanese. FineMolds is by far the leader in Japanese armor subject matter and I'm glad they are there. Still, while the tanks and SPGs are nice I have not come across many Japanese softskins in any size, from smaller staff and scout vehicles (except the one you posted above) to larger transport trucks. I think I may have one or two artillery pieces beyond the one listed. Japanese soldiers? Until recently less represented than even the Russians. I have a small book on Japanese tanks and there are some really neat amphibious tanks pictured in it that would make super subjects. I don't know if any of the nations Japan invaded, especially China, fielded any of their own tanks and other military vehicles or if all were imported from other countries. If there were, regardless of small production numbers, they could add to what's available for the PTO builder. I have repeated this ad nauseum: I look at RPM's models and they have some really great stuff most of which nobody else makes. But, their replication accuracy and manufacturing standards are not on a par with Dragon, FineMolds, Tamiya, or the other manufacturers. And that's a shame. I notice so many new models that are released are so often just another variant of something often already well represented. I just looked at some of Dragon's new releases. There's an Sd Kfz 250 kit with a cannon (forgot which one, but that version hasn't been released before). I have at least 3 Sd Kfz 250s with various cannons in my stash. Not that particular one, but I have enough of them to get the idea they were fitted with various big guns. There's another Flammpanzer and another halftrack, all just more versions of something previously done time and again. From their standpoint, they can mold a new cannon and a few other bits, package it all with an existing kit which they can reuse 95% of, then put it in a new box and sell it for $50.00. Cheaper to bring something to the shelves that way than creating something from scratch. I guess we keep waiting and hoping for a wider range of subjects from a broader time frame and better representation from theaters other than the ETO.

http://www.hlj.com/product/PITG-12E

Thanks for pointing this out; I made my preorder!

Originally I intended to use my Type 94 tankette kit as travelling through a Chinese city to symbolize the 1930's Japanese occupation, but the car, ironically enough, looks more menacing, namely because the Japanese crew can easily see all around them, and the Chinese are too powerless to dare even attack a passenger car, knowing other Japanese would come after them.

My one other problem: I don't know what color "Mustard Khaki", the standard Japanese uniform color, is supposed to be. Yes, colors did vary, but I'd like to know what the true color was supposed to be, especially if I wanted to do a "proper" figure.

Vallejo Military Colors 923 Japan Uniform
It's not really mustard yellow, but is listed as Japan Uniform WWII. Look down the second column from the left towards the bottom.

http://scale-models.nl/Colour_Charts.aspx?Id=Vallejo_Model_Color_chart

The color actually looks like Japanese artillery brown as used on weapons and older vehicles, if I'm seeing it correctly.

Model Master has a few Japanese colors. One is called Japanese Deep Yellow. I bought bottle of it and it's the bright yellow that you see on their armor, usually as a disruptive line. They make a Japanese Imperial Green and an Imperial Navy Blue. Maybe Tamiya Dark Yellow would be a starting point. To me, it most closely resembles the color on British vehicles that is a browner version of German Dunkelgelb. I don't think LifeColor makes a Japanese themed paint yet. I know they have two German armor sets, a Luftwaffe set, German Naval sets, American OD, Italian Royal Army, and British in the Middle East sets. Maybe they have something in individual bottles.

Here's a link to an outstanding model paint conversion chart. It's a free download and is updated regularly.

http://scale-models.nl/Colour_Charts.aspx?Id=Vallejo_Model_Color_chart

Pollyscale makes IJN brown. It is a greenish brown color. Don't know if that helps.

Thanks, but I've long since learned about Japanese equipment colors from a previous thread. It's the figures I was wondering about.

Tom- I'll dig through my paints. I have about 700+ bottles of Life Color, Vallejo, Model Master, regular Testor's, Tamiya, and Polly-Scale plus a few others. I will physically look to see if I have anything reasonably close. It's a bridge I'll have to cross eventually anyway. If I see anything I think is close I'll make some swatches on a white background, scan and post them here. i know that different monitors and video cards can affect exact color reproduction, but whatever shows should be close enough to look at.

I think now that Japanese armor has appeared in greater variety and other IJA vehicles are being released, and now figures, accurate paint can't be too far behind. My money is on Life Color coming out with a set of Imperial Japanese Army colors. They've done the Americans, Germans, British, Italians, and NATO/MERDAC. Not much else left but the Japanese!

Hey Tom! I saw in the new Squadron catalog I just got that they have a brand of paint called Andrea Acrylic. They have a color listed called Japanese Khaki, #AEXNAC07. Another color, Basic Yellow, #AEXNAC39, looks just a shade lighter.

www.squadron.com

update: I just called Squadron and they are out of the Japanese Khaki. The Andrea paints are on closeout and what's left is discounted by about $2.00. I did grab a bottle of the basic yellow.

Tom,

For a generic colour guide I normally refer folks here: http://www.hat.com/ColorsWWIIb.html

HTH

Rudi