Willow Trainer Color thread

Yokosuka K5Y "Willow"

Willow Trainer Color?

Posted By: Rick <mailto:rcorrao@globecommsystems.com?subject=Willow Trainer Color?>
Date: Monday, 22 January 2001, at 8:42 a.m.

I recently purchased a 1/48 K5Y Willow Trainer by ARII. Most of the directions are in Japanese and all they give you for color suggestions is a color sheet with two variations.
One shows the aircraft in natural metal with a red tail, the other shows it in a yellow-orange (almost looks tan) with a red tail.

I have two questions: First, which is the appropriate color scheme for a Navy trainer? Second, if it's the yellow-orange, where can I find it? It appears that Aeromaster makes (or made) a yellow-orange but the local hobby shop told me their paints have been discontinued.

I would appreciate any help on this. You guys seem to know all about this stuff.

Re: Willow Trainer Color?

Posted By: Ed Esposito <mailto:EEML@home.com?subject=Re: Willow Trainer Color?>
Date: Monday, 22 January 2001, at 4:45 p.m.

In Response To: Willow Trainer Color? (Rick)

The better-informed gurus of this page can correct me if I get some of the finer details wrong, but the basic answers to your questions are:

1. The K5Y was exclusively a naval trainer; the army's closest equivalent was the Ki-9 "Spruce," a completely different a/c. Both color schemes shown on the Arii color sheet were applied to the K5Y at various times. The "natural metal" scheme was used prewar (and perhaps extended into the early-war period), and was in fact a silver or aluminum dope finish applied to the predominantly fabric surfaces; the cowl was usually (if not always) painted black. The tail surfaces were usually red (a common prewar recognition feature on Japanese naval a/c), and the a/c ID codes usually appeared in large characters across the topside of the upper wing. The orange or orange-yellow scheme was standardized for all training a/c (Army & Navy) sometime early in the war and persisted until the later years, when many trainers had their topsides overpainted in dark green for better concealment against the ground. In fact, late-war photos show Willows with both dark-green *and* orange-yellow/dark-green segmented (RAF style) uppersurfaces. The latter are well documented in the standard Japanese references (FAOW, Model Art, etc.) and would make for a really colorful model.

2. The yellow-orange made by AeroMaster was intended to replicate the color used for the wing leading-edge ID stripes on Japanese frontline a/c, not the orange/orange-yellow trainer color. No one, to my knowledge, offers a paint claiming to represent this color. It has been variously described by researchers as anything from a bright mandarin orange to a sandy orange-yellow, and no doubt there was considerable variation in actual practice. Some of the experts on this page (Jim Lansdale, David Aiken,...) can provide more insight. Suffice it to say that when you've settled on a shade to use (assuming you decide to go orange-yellow and not silver/aluminum), you'll probably find a close match among the broad range of Floquil/PollyScale railroad colors, which include several varieties of orange-yellow.

Re: Willow Trainer Color?

Posted By: Rick <mailto:rcorrao@globecommsystems.com?subject=Re: Willow Trainer Color?>
Date: Thursday, 25 January 2001, at 1:44 p.m.

In Response To: Re: Willow Trainer Color? (Ed Esposito)

Thanks for the helpful information. I had already started looking at those railroad colors as a possible option for the orange-yellow, so your endorsement just convinced me that's the way to go.

You guys are good! Thanks again.

Re: Willow Trainer Color?

Posted By: Grant Goodale <mailto:grant.goodale@sympatico.ca?subject=Re: Willow Trainer Color?>
Date: Thursday, 25 January 2001, at 2:38 p.m.

In Response To: Re: Willow Trainer Color? (Rick)

Take a look at Floquil Reefer Orange. I am not a Kolour Kommissar but it looks "sort of right" to me.

Re: Willow Trainer Color?

Posted By: joe taylor <mailto:jtaylor@bhfs.bellhowell.com?subject=Re: Willow Trainer Color?>
Date: Monday, 29 January 2001, at 9:51 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Willow Trainer Color? (Grant Goodale)

Grant, I took your advise and checked Pollyscale RR colors. I saw Reefer Orange but it looked too Orange. That is a pretty interesting statement since I was comparing it only to Pete Fearis' comment that he used Humbrol Satin Red on his 1/72 Ki 9 Spruce and my own supposition that is should be faded red. In any event I saw and purchased for test a China Red which has some orange but is predominated by red.
joe.