Jeremy, @jmillan
It's unfortunate that this painting fiasco happened. I think it was caused by one of these two things.

1. The "Metallizer" spray can was very old. The paint was well past it's prime shelf date.
2. The red, yellow and Dark Sea Blue over spray. The pin holes appeared in the areas where the over spray was the heaviest on the model.

But things happen for a reason. Now I was able to see that had I continued with the fabric control surfaces painted in Aluminum color, it most likely would have been a wrong color. Since mine is an earlier built Shoki, it most probably would have had the fabric surfaces painted in the color it now has. The Aluminum color was phased in later on during the production run.

Also I was going to use various colors of bare metal foil on the underside surfaces. I had planned on using Matt Aluminum, Chrome, and Ultra Bright Chrome.
Now this too has changed. I will be sticking to a single shade of foil.

Here's why:

During the War, most of the Japanese planes were covered in what has been called a "Munitions Grade" Aluminum. This had the appearance of a single uniform color once installed. It was not the same type of aluminum metal that was used by the Americans on their planes. When I read this online yesterday, afterwards I talked to a good friend of mine, (and a fellow Imodeler too),
Jaime Carreon, @jetmex

Who is a certified aircraft A&P mechanic with years of service under his belt working on planes. He confirmed my suspicions... He said this is why when you look at wartime photos of Japanese aircraft in a bare metal finish, the surface all looks to be a single color. There are no tonal variations on the surfaces like what you would see on a bare metal American aircraft from the same era. Both Nation's aircraft were constructed using aluminum, it's just that a different formula was used in the metal, and this gave the difference in appearance.

This is a great picture of an "almost" new Ki-44. Look at the sheen of the aluminum panels. They look the same to me. The rudder however has a slightly different shade to it. This could be caused by the light reflecting off it had it not been centered at the time of the photograph was taken. Another possibility is the rudder was painted using the earlier Gray Green color. This is most likely and early built Shoki, as it has the telescopic gun sight. However these gun sights were interchangeable, providing the wind shield matched the sight. To be 100 % accurate to know if this is indeed an early machine, we will need the serial number ... and that's probably not going to happen.

So I will be using a single shade of Bare Metal Foil now when I cover the underside of the Ki-44 Shoki.

I think this is why the paint messed up... It was a sign that something was wrong... and it gave me a little time to do some more digging.

Thanks for the comments. Your A6M is looking spectacular, and I like how it looks even better now that you have fixed the gap under the wind screen and sanded the panels a little more. Please keep us posted with it...
Take care and stay safe.

Louis (@lgardner), one thing that stands out to me is the way the plastic does not react at all to those chemicals! I think it may have been a reaction with the first layer as you mention - the bubbles being gases that was created by the chemical reaction.
As for the aluminium being one type used all over it is very likely. My good friend Klavs was in Japan in February, and brought back some pictures of a preserved Ki-61 that had been stripped, and all the panels looked the same, the only difference was wether the paint had been stripped, leaving a smooth surface, or the paint had been sanded, leaving a scratched surface. I recall that I thought about the panels being the same all over at the time - except a few that were replaced in more recent times.

And with the pictures bringing thoughts of deja vu it is just a matter of pushin' on my friend.

Jeremy, @jmillan
I failed to completely answer you in my last posting. To be honest with you I have never tried Mr. Color products. I have sprayed lacquers before and I do like them... Thanks for the tip as I will have to find a replacement for my Model Master stuff once the well runs dry... I'm old school when it comes to painting. I like enamels, and I'm not a big fan of acrylics, although I do own some.

Erik, @airbum
Yes it is quite amazing that these products don't harm the plastic. You would think they would melt away the entire airplane, turning it into an unrecognizable blob. But for some reason this stuff works to strip off paint, and it works rather well. Just make sure you don't breathe in the fumes from the oven cleaner as it is some very nasty stuff. I'm beginning to think like you, in the original over spray caused the problems... Please stay tuned as I think you will like today's updates.

Spiros, @fiveten
Yes sir, everything indeed happened for a reason. I am so happy that I was able to find some good documentation on the aluminum alloy sheet metal that was used to skin the Japanese aircraft during the War. It also served as a time to correct a problem as I had painted my fabric control surfaces in the wrong colors for an early built Shoki. Please stay tuned as today I was pushing very hard to get some work done on the big Shoki.

Gentlemen, please stay safe and thanks for the comments. Buckle up ! Here we go for another installment...

Hi Louis @lgardner!
It is simply amazing how your Tojo went back to painting start and came out a lot better than before; with deeper research, too!
Your Aotake rendition is really great.
The same goes for the bare metal foil, too.
This is going to be super!
Hope the hurricane will be experienced only as a strong nature phenomenon, with no further consequences!
All the best!

Spiros, @fiveten
The forward speed of the hurricane has slowed down considerably, so it is taking longer to get here than originally thought. So far we have only had a few outer rain bands come through. I am hoping this one is not going to be as bad as the others have in the past. Thanks for the compliments on the Shoki.

Erik, @airbum
I used a combination of things when apply the foil. I start out using my fingers, and I use cotton swabs to get into the areas I can't reach. Then I have a wooden tooth pick that I have sanded down so that the point is rounded and not sharp. I use this to press the foil into the panel lines and rivet holes. It's like anything, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Give it a try sometime as I think you would like it.

As far as the various shades of Aotake I found these photos at Cole's Aviation website.

Take care and stay safe gentlemen... and I hope to have another update later tonight.

Well, my friend Erik was walking down memory lane and pushed on to me...not hard, just gentle

As he wrote earlier I brougth back some pictures of this preserved Ki-61 II at Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum at the beginning of this year.

Most of the panels looked very much the same and the difference might depend on the method of stripping of the paint. However a few panels differ i.e. the panel on the underside of fuselage below the insignia and the large squared panel in front of the cockpit - I guess these panels might have been replaced in more recent times.
But what about the panels around the exhaust stacks, the panels supporting the fairing of the horizontal stabalizer and the fairing at the wings? To me they seem to be of another aluminium alloy than the rest of the panels - or what do you think?

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Louis (@lgardner) - as always you produce some interesting facts - thank you!

Klavs (@klavs1972) thank you for sharing these nice pictures. The differencies in color looks to me to be accompanied in a difference in sheen, and I think it may be down to later restorations? But it could be down to another alloy used by some small parts manyfacturer. Lets hear the jury on that one 🙂