Zero sen

[norri]

Rabaul Zero






Climb Mt Niitaka





Guadalcanal




The Dinky version

[grwebster]

Guy, I had a metal piece of a red meatball from a wrecked zero in my collection for years that a US soldier brought back.
The aluminum was very thin and easily bent {like an alu beer can, almost} which shouldn't have been a surprise as that was both the Zero's major strength {lightness hence agility and speed} and its major weakness {general structural weakness leading to inflight breakups when lightly damaged } or so I have been told.

Of course the lack of self sealing fuel tanks were a huge factor, too, no?

But what was astounding was that the unpainted side of the piece of the Zero I had was treated with a glossy, blue/gree/touquoise shellac-like product that had the exact same color as the original, standard issue Dinky Toys Zero that you posted.

Often wondered about that - could Dinky have used a similar sample? Its odd as the normal colors of the zero were well known by then and your reconditioned ones show them both well. So why didn't they use one of those? Who knows.

I thought about asking about this issue on a very active site/forum for serious Dinky collectors in the UK, but they seem to all focus on prewar items and only rarely on postwar issues, and mainly then its the early {pre 1965} issues that interest them, and then, too, its mostly about wheeled vehicles.

The post 1965 'big planes' are never discussed.

[fliegerii]

I also think, something is behind this green metallic. I have a genuine Aero Mini Zero, which is painted in the same metallic style. Others were dark green.

Regards,
Chris

PS: Canopy is replacement part, the original was missing

[grwebster]

Chris, forgot about that one you have. It was made in Japan by Japanese who coerced the Aero Mini owner to let them make it. They must have had a good reason to use use that odd color. My mint blistered AM Zero is olive Drab green. The other variant is gray.

[Epap]

GR, your description of the bluish shellac on your Zero fragment sounds a lot like the metallic blue color that the Japanese used on the interiors of their Zeros.

[norri]

Guy, I had a metal piece of a red meatball from a wrecked zero in my collection for years that a US soldier brought back.
The aluminum was very thin and easily bent {like an alu beer can, almost} which shouldn't have been a surprise as that was both the Zero's major strength {lightness hence agility and speed} and its major weakness {general structural weakness leading to inflight breakups when lightly damaged } or so I have been told.

Of course the lack of self sealing fuel tanks were a huge factor, too, no?

But what was astounding was that the unpainted side of the piece of the Zero I had was treated with a glossy, blue/gree/touquoise shellac-like product that had the exact same color as the original, standard issue Dinky Toys Zero that you posted.

Often wondered about that - could Dinky have used a similar sample? Its odd as the normal colors of the zero were well known by then and your reconditioned ones show them both well. So why didn't they use one of those? Who knows.

I thought about asking about this issue on a very active site/forum for serious Dinky collectors in the UK, but they seem to all focus on prewar items and only rarely on postwar issues, and mainly then its the early {pre 1965} issues that interest them, and then, too, its mostly about wheeled vehicles.

The post 1965 'big planes' are never discussed.

indeed and it went from bad to worse when the F-6F showed up. what surprised me was reading Joe Foss's account of jap pilots bailing out only to cut away from their chutes and fall to their deaths ('challenge for the pacific' robert leckie). didn't think they had parachutes, much less not using them.

done a lot of diving in palau and truk over the years. picked up the odd souvenir off aircraft when no one's been looking. i have the oil filler access panel off the cowl of the jake that's in 9 meters of water off Arakabansaan Island. its wafer thin and was secured with a bath chain (well it was until i came along!). didn't see any evidence of the green paint you mention on any of the aircrft i've dived. always thought it was meccano using paint they were overstocked on. the same colour was allocated to a lot of their toys.

there's a zero on Pelelu, but all the paint's long since gone, so no clues there either.

your one looks a bit closer to the real thing Chris

[ANGELREADER7]

Jap aircraft were treated with a finish called Lanolin,it was a blueish shade but varied towards a green tinge,it was very light and was sometimes applied with a cloth causing a streaky finish,it was used both on the outside of the aircraft and in places like wheel wells.
You can see examples of crumpling of the thin metal used on Jap aircraft in pictures and these crude but effective finishes.
Lanolin was used on British aircraft but not externally mostly in hard to reach corrosion areas,during WW2 it gave way to cockpit green shades which became standard finish for interiors.
Barry.