Hello all,

I have wanted to build a Japanese tank for as long as I can remember and decided to take a punt the other day and bought Tamiya's Type 97 late (shinhoto chi-ha) kit (no. 35137).

The PTO is far from my area of expertise and my knowledge of Japanese armour very limited. However, I am reading up as we speak and learning more by the minute. There are a few things that I would appreciate help with however:

1. What colour were the inside of engine bays etc. on Japanese tanks? I have seen a type of Orange-red primer used is this the case?

2. Can anyone direct me to some good references for the Type 97 Shinhoto?

3. I'd love to see some turret interior pics in particular, what colour would the breech be, i've seen white and green used on models.

3. Does anyone have some good shots of Japanese tanks in prepared hull-down defensive positions, the Type 97 in particular.

4. A review/blog or your own suggestions of the kit that may help me with my own build.

I'd appreciate any help you may be able to offer.

Cheers,

James

Maybe this can help ?
http://svsm.org/gallery/Type97?page=1



HTH
Frenchy

As for a good English reference, there is the Tank Power Japanese Armor series (5 volumes) from Aj Press. Polish publication with English translations. Tank Power #10 (Japanese Armor #2) covers the Type 97 Medium tank. The first part of each volume covers a set of vehicles while the latter part is devoted to history so I would recommend getting them all for the history (and pictures). At the end are usually color profiles as well.

A much shorter reference would be Osprey New Vanguard #137: Japanese Tanks 1939-45. Of course it's way fewer pages and covers way more vehicles in those pages but it can be a quick cheap way to get up to speed on Japanese armor.

Of further interest, there is also Osprey Elite #169: World War II Japanese Tank Tactics.

I'll second Gary's recommendation of the AJ Press series of books. They really are the best references yet on IJA armor.
The Type 97 kits are some of the best of Tamiya's old kits; they were never motorized and are fairly accurate. The kit builds very nicely OOB (except for those muffler screens). I built the older Type 97 last year. It goes together with no problems at all.
Eduard does a photo etch set for this kit that dresses it up, especially the muffler screens. The kit tracks are fine, but Friul does a nice set for Type 97's.
For all things IJA, I always refer to Akira Takizawa's excellent website -
http://www3.plala.or.jp/takihome/

Thank you all for your help so far!

Frenchy, I can't beleive I forgot to check the SVSM site, thank you for pointing me to it, that's a great set of pictures.

Gary, thanks for the book tips. I have ordered an Osprey title but as this is just a breif interlude to build something a little different I don't want to start spending a fortune with references, if you understand what I mean.

Matthew, I appreciate your input on the Tamiya kit, glad it's going to go together without any headaches, however, I find that I have a habit of always managing to make builds far more complicated than neccesary! Thanks so much for the link to Taki's site, some great info on there, and I managed to find a couple of interior pics from a vehicle being restored, although not ideal as the tank was very coroded.


Really appreciate anyone helping me out with any more info.

Many thanks,

James

Just a bump to keep this on the main page.

I'm eager for more info if you are able to help!

James