Rolls-Royce

OOOkay... I have mixed and sprayed 2 patches of Eduard's 70% MMP-107 J3 Zero Lt Grey / 30% MMP-056 Grau RLM 02. The reason I did two is that I have a 2-year-old still-sealed bottle of the MMP-056 that is noticeably lighter and less green than the brand new bottle I just received along with the MMP-107 J3, so I wanted to see the effect this would have on the overall resulting color. I will let these dry/cure overnight and measure them tomorrow. Stay tuned!

You could try here: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?kn=aichi d3a val&sts=t&cm_sp=SearchF-_-TopNavISS-_-Results&ds=20

Making it easier for the Eduard release, all PH A6M2s were Mitsubishi production, as Nakajima had just spun up their production line not too long before the operation. Fabric control surfaces are thought to have been regular J3 gray, as the anticorrosive protection for light metals incorporated into the airframe olive/amber gray wasn't needed. I highly recommend Nicholas Millman's "Painting the Early Zero" PDF file available for purchase from him directly via email at his site aviationofjapan.com as it discusses such details and is not expensive. The newest version discusses current model paint offerings as well.

Thanks, Jack. A reversal is a definite possibility. They also misidentified the crashed Zero pictured in their instruction booklet as the Niihau machine when it is in reality the one that crashed at Fort Kamehameha during the attack. I'll do it both ways and report back...

As @JackG shows, Eduard is recommending paint mixes, among them a mix of Mission Models' paints (IJN J3 and RLM02). This is a little funny because Mission Models' own MMP-110 J3 IJN Gray (SP) (Amber) has been listed by Nicholas Millman as very close to the color Mitsubishi used, with a dE2000 of 1.31. That's about as close as it gets for an out of the bottle paint. In fact, I used that paint when building a Hasegawa 1/48 A6M2 a couple of years ago. I have ordered and received the two Mission Models paints Eduard uses for their suggested mix and intend to replicate it and measure and publish the results. Watch this space! Edit: As the OP appears to live in Blighty, the Mission Models paints may be hard for him to come by...

Those look like ground-adjustable (via bending) trim tabs for static elevator trim.

The removable wing ammo boxes were also stenciled with the registration number, as detailed in descriptions of the search for the identity of the recovered P9374.

That would depend on whether or not the aircraft was in as-delivered factory camouflage, particularly on the lower surfaces. If the aircraft undersurfaces had been repainted in the field, as was done prior to the BoB, the maintenance stenciling was often simply painted over.

Probably because the single hydraulic pump wasn't up to providing the volume of fluid needed to move both struts at the same rate simultaneously. These were relatively low-pressure systems, so you had to move a lot of fluid instead. Did a few "jack-and-retract" gear swings in my USAF career!

If those were meant to stop the tire turning once retracted, we'd see a lot of chafing and scuffing of that area in period photos. I believe that they are meant to protect the inside of the door from damage if it doesn't open as it should before the strut begins to swing out from its closed position. EDIT: Aha! Note the tire on the aircraft's right (viewer's left) slightly dragging on the bottom of the inboard door during gear extension in the video linked by @72modeler below...

I don't have the Xtracolor enamels, but I did test the Xtracrylix colors last year with a spectrophotometer against my copy of the RAFM book. None were particularly close, with their rendition of Ocean Grey being the best at a dE (2000) of 3.98. Dark Green was at 4.91. Dark Green appears to be especially tough to pin down, and the best I found at the time was Vallejo's Model Color 70.894, at 1.4 dE.

Sovereign Hobbies' Colourcoats enamels are available from two sources in the US, and are probably the best out there. If you want acrylics, the Tamiya XF-81 RAF Dark Green II is good. Vallejo also has some very close equivalents, but they are NOT the Dark Green in their WWII RAF color sets. This topic has been discussed a lot here (last week, for instance). You can do a search for the other threads and find other recommendations.

Ack! I accidentally transposed the last three digits of that FS number. I'm also dealing with at least 29-year-old-memories here. I remember when vehicles went from Strato Blue to OD and AGE went from yellow to OD. As a modeler, I was always more focused on the specified colors of the aircraft themselves rather than of auxiliary items. My bad.

IIRC, 34087 is the current (modern) Olive Drab shade used by the US military. I saw it used on ground equipment, vehicles, and iron bombs when I was in the USAF.

I was just joking about "foul play". But I did order a copy of the book from the link @JackG provided...

That could conceivably be grounds for foul play...

H & B Hobbies (https://www.hbhobbies.com/) and White Ensign Models are the US sellers for Colourcoats. And while Sprue Brothers does stock some, they appear to be less-popular shades from the older UK White Ensign production and Dark Green and Dark Earth are not listed. EDIT: Vallejo has good matches for Dark Green and Dark Earth, but they aren't the ones in their RAF paint sets...

Nick Millman's blog www.aviationofjapan.com is searchable, and would have information. He also produced and sells an excellent .pdf file, "Painting the Early Zero-Sen", a terrific source of info on the much-debated colors of the early A6M up to about 1943.

I suspect that the first picture may have been an original color photo in which parts (specifically skin tones and the aircraft in the lineup) were "corrected" due to severe color shifting over time. This very photo was on the cover of one of Ballantine's WWII series paperbacks back in the 1960s or early 1970s with the same difference in cowling, tail, and fuselage underside colors. The second picture of the (presumably) same lineup is probably closer to the true appearance of these aircraft.

Shacklady says the factory production of Spitfires with the 3-bladed 2-speed DH began with K9961 (8-5-39), and it's likely that conversion of in-service aircraft would have been put in hand at about the same time if not sooner. So the time window for its wearing of a two-blade prop was likely very short.

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Correct. The trailing edge of the mast near the tip would have a slightly "toothy" appearance in that case. That was the leftover mounting bracket for the triangular piece.

The P-51D is another alternative in that time frame, with a number of different kits available.

He did produce an Erla conversion that I had forgotten about. But I do have in my possession the update set I mentioned, featuring among other things a nose replacement from the firewall forward. It's probably immaterial since neither is in his current list of in-production items. Shipping charges (and customs fees) would definitely be an issue for those of you in Blighty.

Eagle Editions does several G-10 decal sheets in various scales. Wilde Sau Resin (Kevin Martin) did/does an update set in resin for your Revell kit. It's quite comprehensive, but may entail more surgery than you're looking for. He has a presence on Facebook, and also is on the forum @Troy Smith linked to.