Type 97 Chi-Ha Medium Tank!

The Type 97 Chi-Ha was a medium tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army from the Second Sino-Japanese War until the late battles of the Pacific War. Four Type 97 tanks took part in the Nomonhan incident. In Rising Sun, the Type 97 Chi-Ha can be fielded as Platoon Command of the 3rd Shensa Rentai. Detailed info on how to assembly and paint the Type 97 tanks can be found in the previous post.

Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank.

Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank: assembly and painting!

The Type 97 Chi-Ha blister contains one Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank. Similar to the Type 95 tanks, the Type 97 is build of the following parts: hull and turret in plastic and the two tracks, two machine guns, the main gun, the turret bar and the turret hatch in metal.

Detailed assembly instructions can be found in the Type 95 assembling post. To assemble the turret bar into the turret, bend it appropriately in order to fit the bar legs in the turret holes, and adjust it after the glue is dried.

Assembled Type 97 Chi-Ha.

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.

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.

Hohei Regimental Gun Platoon!

The Hohei Regimental Gun Platoon consists on a command team, an observer team and two Type 41 75 mm gun. Used for infantry support, every regiment was equipped with four Type 41 guns, which adds up to twelve guns per division. Detailed info on how to assemble, paint and base Japanese guns can be found in older posts.

Regimental Gun Platoon Command team. 

Hohei Type 94 37mm Rapid-fire Gun Platoon!

The Hohei Rapid-fire Gun Platoon is formed by a command team and two Type 94 37mm anti-tank Gun. This is the main anti-tank gun of the Imperial Japanese Army in Rising Sun. Every infantry regiment was equipped with a battery of four Type 94 guns, so a triangular division would field twelve guns. You can find detailed info on how to assemble, paint and base the guns in older posts.

Rapid-fire platoon command team. 

Hohei Type 92 70mm Battalion Gun Platoon!

The Hohei Battalion Gun Platoon consists of a command team, an observer team and two Type 92 70mm Gun. This gun was used as infantry support, as it could be used as a mortar or in direct fire. Every infantry battalion was equipped with two Type 92 guns, so a triangular division would field eighteen guns. You can find detailed info on how to assemble, paint and base the guns in older posts.

Command team.

Japanese Guns: Basing!

After assembling and painting, it´s time to base the guns. The command and observer teams can be based exactly as infantry teams. The gun bases, however, require a little extra work. Due to the lack of holes for the men, if you glue the guns and the crew directly to the base, the own man's base will be visible. So we will need to add some plaster filler before gluing the guns.

First step is to place the guns and crew on the bases, in a position that looks cool and realistic. I tried to place the men in different positions for each base, and also switched a couple of men between types of gun. Remembering the setup, glue the crew to the base, leaving place for the gun (but don't glue the gun yet!).

Place the gun and crew in a nice position before gluing the crew to the base.

Japanese Guns: Painting!

As the assembly post, this one will describe how to paint the Type 41 75mm Regimental Gun, but the same instructions can be followed to paint the Type 92 70mm Battalion Gun and the Type 94 37mm Rapid-fire Gun. The exact color palette can be found here.

First step is to prime the gun in Black.

Gun primed with black spry. 

Japanese Guns: Assembly!

This post will describe how to assemble the Type 41 75mm Regimental Gun. The same instructions can be followed to assemble the Type 92 70mm Battalion Gun and the Type 94 37mm Rapid-fire Gun, as they all consist on the same parts.

Each gun blister contains parts to build two guns, gun crew, command team, observer team (except the Type 94) and the needed bases. The guns are divided in five parts: the main body, the cannon, the shield and two wheels.

Different parts of the Type 41 gun.

Machine Gun Platoon!

The Japanese Machine Gun platoon is made up of a command team and two or four machine gun squads. Each squad is formed by a heavy machine gun (HMG), a gunner, an ammo carrier and a rifle man. In Rising Sun, the modeled machine gun is a Type 3 HMG. For tips on painting and basing the machine gun platoon, check this older post.

Machine Gun Platoon.

Machine Gun platoon: painting and basing!

The Japanese Machine Gun platoon is by far my favorite infantry/gun Japanese platoon. It is made of a small base command team and four medium bases with a heavy machine gun (HMG), a machine gunner, an ammo guy and a rifle man each. 

For the painting, I followed my standard described in an older post. I used some new colors: for the machine gun, a base coat of Dark Gunmetal highlighted with Oily Steel; base coat of Hammered Copper highlighted with Copper for the bullets. 

It is a shame that all the Gunners and ammo carriers have the same pose, but then I tried to base them in different positions. Since the HMG's are more stationary units than the regular infantry, I decided to add to the bases some sandbags. I followed the example on how to make sandbags in this Rust and the City post. Three rows of bags is enough to give a realistic look.

Green stuff sandbags added to the base.

Hohei Chutai Company Headquarters!

The Hohei Chutai company HQ is made of a Tai-I (captain) company commander and a 2iC (second in command) carrying the regimental banner.

Tai-I company commander.

2iC with Rising Sun banner.

Hohei (infantry) platoon!

The Hohei platoons are the core of the Hohei Chutai (Infantry company). Every infantry platoon is formed by a platoon commander and two or three rifle squads, and each squad is made of three rifle teams and a light mortar team.

1st Hohei platoon.

2nd Hohei Platoon.

How to base infantry units step by step!

First step is to glue the painted soldiers to the bases with Super Glue. Some miniatures require some trimming at the bottom of their bases to make it stand better. Try to arrange the miniatures so as every base looks unique.

Miniatures glued to the base.

After gluing them, an optional step is to fill the empty space between the soldier bases and the base holes with plaster filler. Then it is better to paint the filler in any brown color. You can skip this and fill these holes with sand instead.

Materials used for the basing.

How to paint Japanese Infantry step by step!

I used the following scheme to paint all the infantry, gun and artillery men for my Japanese army, with small variations for each kind of unit. It is inspired on the Flames of War painting guide but with several differences.

My painting method consists on painting batches of 10-15 miniatures, applying the same color to all of them before moving to the next step. I reckon this method is good in painting speed and reduces wasting paint. I also paint the miniatures before gluing them to their bases so it is easier to get everywhere with the brush. The detailed coloring can be found in the previous post.

First step is to prime the miniatures with the black spray primer.

1 - Black prime coat.

Color range for my Japanese army!

In this post, I will go through the color palette I am using to paint my army. I realize that some colors would be not 100% historically accurate, but I weight more the final look of the miniatures than the historical accuracy, and also try to keep the painting economical by using the same color on several elements.

• Color range:
• Battlefront Quartermasters Paint set:
•  Army Green
• Battlefield Brown
• Black
• Dark Gunmetal
• Dry Dust
• European Skin
• Military Khaki
• Skin Shade
• Wool Brown
• Worn Canvas
  
  

  

  Quartermaster set

  
  

Rising Sun!

The first Flames of War book featuring the Japanese army was Rising Sun. The book belongs to the early war period (1939-1941), together with Blitzkrieg, Hellfire and Back, Burning Empires and Barbarossa.

Rising Sun cover page.

Rising Sun includes Japanese, Finnish and Soviet lists and focuses on the following battles:

• Nomonhan incident (May - September 1939), a succession of battles between Japanese and Soviet troops at the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.
  
  

The beginning of the journey!

About a year ago, I decided to start a Flames of War army. After doing a little bit of research about the different countries and periods available, I was quickly drawn to the Japanese. Having enjoyed films such as Letters from Iwo Jima, shows as The Pacific and games as Medal of Honor Pacific Assault, the Japanese had always roused my interest.

Hohei Chutai (infantry company) with banner, HMG and Type 41 regimental gun.