Kenneth Atkins has very kindly shared these images of his 1/48 scale Mitsubishi A6M3 Model 22 of Iwakuni Ku made from the Tamiya kit, especially welcome as this variant seems rarely modelled in the overall grey, uncamouflaged scheme. Kenneth used an 'ame-iro' formula for Tamiya paints to create a weathered and chalked aircraft, mixing it with IJA Gray to create that appearance.
The Iwakuni Ku Zero 'Iha-138' (イハ-138) is one of the 2010 Tamiya kit markings options. and is based on a photograph of a line-up of Model 22 Zeros. Iwakuni Ku was a large training group operating a variety of aircraft types, including A6M2, A6M3 22 and 32, A5M (Claude), K5Y trainers, G3M (Nell) and B5N (Kate), but little is known about its operations.
The Iwakuni base also included seaplane hangars and a ramp. It was established in April 1928 and was designated as a training group in July 1930. Post war Iwakuni continued to be used, at first by many different Commonwealth units of the RAF, including a detachment of Sunderland flying boats from Kai Tak, Hong Kong from June 1950 to June 1951, and from Seletar, Singapore from June 1952 to August 1958, RAAF, RIAF and RNZAF, (more information about this and a photo gallery can be found here) and subsequently by the US Marines and JMSDF. In more recent years the base was known for the operations of the majestic JMSDF Shin Meiwa US-1A flying boats.
With special thanks to Kenneth for sharing these images of his model. Also thanks to Keishiro Nagao of Lifelike Decals for additional information and photos of Iwakuni Ku aircraft.
Image credit: All model photos © 2025 Kenneth Atkins; Iwakuni plan via RN research Archive
