Aichi M6A1 "Seiran"

A color (not colorized) photo of an Aichi M6A1 "Seiran" found at the end of the war by U.S. forces. It has been circulating on the net for quite some time but without any further information. 

If you have the publication "Toraware no Nihongunki Hiroku," I believe it's the same "Seiran" featured on p. 167. That seaplane was found at Aichi's Eitoku factory in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. It was damaged by an air raid and, until the end of the war, it was undergoing repairs. 

As you can see in the photo, it was in overall experimental orange, and then it had green applied as camouflage on the top surfaces. Note that the ID plate near the tail still has its orange background. 

The orange paint can be seen best on the underside of the floats. Personally, if I want to go straight out of the bottle, I prefer Tamiya's X-6 orange. No muss, no fuss. 

I also use AMMO's "orange," "light rust," and "candy red" in the "Shader" series to break the uniformity of the overall orange. 

Note also the presence of IFF stripes at the wing's edge. They are very similar to the underside orange but not exactly the same. My favorite, again out-of-the-bottle, paint is Mr. Color #58 "orange yellow," or Acrysion #24 "orange yellow," or Mr. Color #109 "character yellow." They are all a bit bright, and if I want to be more accurate, I airbrush a coat of Tamiya X-26 "clear orange" to darken them.

Note that the propeller blades are "brown." Tamiya says XF-9 "Hull Red"; okay, why not? Tamiya's XF-64 "red brown" is also good. XF-9 is darker but also a bit red for my taste; XF-64 is too light but could work if I didn't have any other paint around. Personally, I prefer Mr. Color's #131 "propeller color." One coat and you're done.

As for the top color... well, Tamiya says AS-1 "Dark Green (IJN)," but based on the photo, I don't see anything wrong with XF-70 "Dark Green 2 (IJN)." 

Note that the spinner is the same color with the green of the top surfaces; not brown. 

Last but not least, note the exhausts. XF-9 or rust? The rusty pipe in the foreground is a good reference, right?

And also, let's not forget, having a quick look at the wheel cover, the "Zero?" behind the "Seiran" with the weird, at least to me, top color. Is it green? Is it gray-green? Who can tell? 

Wait, does it have a solid rear canopy? Could it actually be a Yokosuka D4Y "Suisei" (Judy)? What do you think?