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Yes, there are also some good color photographs of the Italian aircraft. This interesting picture presents two Macchi MC 202 Folgore, spotting two typical Italian day fighter camouflage patterns. The aircraft near the camera wears a "Continental" scheme of dark olive green Verde Scuro upper surfaces with irregular blotches of sand yellow Sabbia. The other Macchi, as well as the Savoia-Marchetti SM 81 behind it wear a "Desert" scheme in which the same colors have been reversed. The under surfaces are light grey Grigio Chiaro in both cases, and white spinners and fuselage bands are quick-recognition marking for the aircraft of the African campaign. Of interest is that the spinner of the "Desert" Macchi seems to be an off-white color, ivory rather that pure white like the fuselage band. Please note also the individual inscription on the nose of the first aircraft, and the unit markings on the fuselage of the second machine.

The aircraft seem to be in prefect condition, apart from the desert dust on the undercarriage, and the semi-gloss silky quality of the finish is clearly visible.

This bright and clear picture shows a Japanese Aichi M6A1 Seiran floatplane captured in this state of disorder by U.S. forces.

Don McIntyre was first with this comment:
I can't provide any details, but the aircraft in question appears to be an Aichi M6A1 Sieran. Tamiya just released 1/72nd and 1/48th scale kits of the M6A1. Photo is definitely postwar.

Tom Gourlie added:
The Japanese floatplane appears to be an Aichi M6A1 Seiran. This is the plane that could be partially disassembled and launched from a submarine(after re-assembly, of course).

Mark Wlodarczyk wrote (translated from Swedish by Martin Waligorski):
A truly interesting photo! Correct, this is an Aichi M6A1 Seiran. The interesting part is that the green color goes around the fuselage undersides, normally these would be painted in light grey. It can also be seen that the lower wing and float surfaces are not rusty but painted in orange. This is obvious if you look at the thin white outline of the Hinomaru on the port wing.

The machine appears to be an experimental example, which is odd, as there had been a dedicated test variant of this aircraft, M6A2 (with wheels). I have never seen this photo before... I'll send a link to it to the Japanese message board right away. I can get back with the exact color description if you want me to, but apparently the colors are standard IJNAF.

Too bad the fin with the code is gone!

Mark Wlodarczyk continued:
A friend from the Japanese forum gave me this:
The photo is also contained in Jeff Ethel's last book (Pacific War Eagles). The caption reads:
"Army Air Forces personnel inspecting the Aichi aircraft factory in Nagoya came upon a real surprise, the sleek Aichi M6A1 Seran (Mountain Haze), an IJN Special Attack Bomber fitted with the company's Atsuta 32 inverted V-12 inline 1,340 hp engine."
There is more general history of the aircraft and the photo is credited to Mark H. Brown/USAFA

Furthermore:
This aircraft is an experimental airframe and had been painted orange overall from the beginning, leter on overpainted with green on the fuselage and wing upper surfaces. The code on the fin could in this case be something like "C-A15", where a "C" should be a mirror-image an stands for a kana sign for ko.

It goes quickly on the Internet...

A poor quality color photo, however an interesting one, as it shows some unusual aircraft! The two sleek Romanian I.A.R. 80 fighters fly in formation somewhere over the Eastern Front, as indicated by their yellow cowlings and fuselage bands. Judging from the numbers on the fins, the aircraft in the back is in fact an updated I.A.R. 81, but there were very few external differences between the two types. Not much can be said about the camouflage colors, but if you look closely on the nearest aircraft you will see that it carries an irregular two-tone camouflage of dark green and brown. The fuel octane triangles of Luftwaffe variety can be seen on top of the cowling. An interesting detail is a pitot tube painted in black and white stripes. Note also a factory logo in white on top of the fin.

aero@baynet.net commented:
This I.A.R. 80 photo appears in the book Horrido and the caption indicates they are on a training flight over the Southern Carpathians in June 1943.

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