That Kate is older than many realize - it was one of the first Mania kits, from the early 70s, that revolutionized plastic kits with more detailed cockpits and such. When Mania went out of business in 1976, Hasegawa bought them and hired the designers, which is how Hasegawa kits began their "revolutionary changes" starting in the early 80s.

What a wonderful kit, Keith @greenterrorz
Three amazing aircraft and lots of extras in one go, what more to wish.
Looking forward to them.

Thank you all for showing interest. I am excited to get started on the build.

Right now I am in the research phase and having a difficult time finding a reference to the B11-322. I know that the B11-322 was launched during the first wave from the carrier Hiryu, but cannot confirm if Hasegawa has the correct color recommendations.

I have browsed J-aircraft.com as others seem to recommend being a good source. Unfortunetly though, There is no mention of the B11-322.

From J-Aircraft.com, it appears the colors of these planes have been a debate for a long time. I primarily use Tamiya paint and have located the following statement from their site submitted by one of their members -

"Hello All,
This is my installment to the never-ending debate on early war Japanese Overall Finishes. I'm planning to do (and hopefully soon) a Tora Tora Tora trio, now that Hasegawa's new Kate is out.
If I were to start this today, I believe I would use Tamiya IJN Grey with German 02 and Light Grey added. Some are saying more 02, as IJN Tamiya would be too green. I want to depict a slighty weathered, faded finish as well. But I think the Light Gray I have so often seen is not correct- for those carrier based a/c with white fuselage and tail stripes, the gray is too close to the white. Anyway, I've heard a lot of things and have some idea of what I'd like to do, but I'd like some input."

I am curious if any of you have any input in regards to the color of the plane?

Great find Spiros @fiveten. Thanks for the assistance!

That article mentions using Aeromaster IJN green to paint the top portion of the plane. I was able to find this article on J-airplane.com {https://j-aircraft.com/research/amacryl.htm} which compares various paints to the AM IJN Green. It appears that Tamiya XF-11 was a pretty close match according to this persons analysis.

As it stands:

Cockpit will be XF-71 - IJN Cockpit green

Top of the aircraft and a portion of the under side wings will be XF-11 - JN Green with XF-52 - flat earth camo/mottles.

bottom of the aircraft will be the mixture XF-14 JA Grey and XF-52 flat earth.

Engine cowl a mixture of XF-17 sea blue,XF-24 dark grey, and maybe a touch of XF-1 black

Hasegawa recommends "silver" for both the prop and torpedo, but I was thinking of going with Alclad aluminum or another more dull metal.

Some great information, Keith @greenterrorz
Bookmarked the mentioned website, very helpful for Japanese aircraft modelling.
I do agree with Spiros @fiveten about the dull metal color instead of silver.

Great suggestion Erik @airbum. I need to invest in some good reference materials.

I got some parts ready for paint. Awaiting on a bottle of XF-71 IJN Cockpit green to arrive.

So far the build is seeming straight forward. Not to much removal was required to make way for the Eduard PE parts. Since the PE parts are colored, I am going to paint the whole cockpit assembly first and then install the PE.

Good preperation and wise decision to paint everything prior to the PE installment, Keith @greenterrorz