Light Sensha Platoon!

The Light Sensha platoon consists on five Type 95 Ha-Go Light Tanks. The Type 95 was the main Japanese light tank throughout the war, fighting from early battles in China and Manchuria to late battles in the Pacific war. Detailed info on how to assembly and paint the Type 95 tanks can be found in older posts.

Three Type 95 Ha-Go on the Manchurian fields.

Type 95 Ha-Go light tank: painting!

In this post I will explain step by step how I painted the Type 95 Ha-Go Japanese light tanks that form the Light Sensha Platoon. They were my first tanks ever painted but the result was quite a success for me. The exact colors can be found here. I freely followed the painting guide found in Rising Sun but with my available colors. First step is to prime the tanks with the Black spray primer.

Tank primed in black.

The Mukden Incident

The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) ended with the Treaty of Portsmouth, which gave Japan control of the Kwantung Leased Territory and the South Manchuria Railway and forced the evacuation of Russian forces from Manchuria. The Kwantung Army was then created to protect the leased territory. In 1910, Korea was annexed into the Japanese Empire. 

Map of the invasion of Manchuria, 1931 (Pinterest).

Puppet state of Manchukuo

The state of Manchukuo was established after the proclamation of independence of Manchuria from China on 18 February 1932, following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Said invasion was triggered by the Mukden Incident: Kwantung Army officers, without the approval of the Japanese government, plotted the detonation of a small bomb close to a Japanese owned railway line near Mukden. Chinese activists were blamed to have caused the explosion and in response the Kwantung Army invaded the Chinese Manchuria provinces.

Map of the invasion of Manchuria, 1931 (Pinterest).

Type 95 Ha-Go light tank: assembly!

The Light Sensha Platoon box contains five Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks. Each tank is made of the following parts: hull and turret in plastic and the two tracks, two machine guns, the main gun and the turret hatch in metal.

Type 95 tank parts.