[Andrew]

Did japan have any concrete airbases overseas or in new guinea that also based Ki-84's?

[Andrew]

Or even Burma?

If not, does anyone know roughly what colour the ground was for the airbases in Burma? I'm trying to find a right colour for a small diorama of a Ki-84 with the 22nd Flight Regiment

[hworth18]

I don't recall ever seeing a pic of a Japanese airbase made with concrete, I believe most airstrips were probably made with compacted rock/gravel.. If you want to know the soil color, you could probably google the Burmese countryside to get a good view of what the soil looks like.

[skysurfer808]

Not too sure about what the runways were made of there, but I do know that the Japanese did base aircraft at Clark Field in the Philippines, which was probably the best equipped air base complex outside Japan, aside from Rabaul. Considering that B-17s were stationed there at the beginning of the war, to find out more, go see if you can find any photos of Prewar Clark. The aircraft abandoned there by the Japanese were a treasure trove of captured equipment when the Allies moved in.

Skysurfer808

[1250ships]

I would say it is very unlikely the Ki-84 made it to New Guinea at all given that it wasn't operational until August 1944 and the first units went to China. They did operate in the Philippines as well.

Also seems unlikely it used a concrete runway as one source said:

...the only complaint Allied test pilots could come up with once they got their hands on the airplane was that the brakes were poor, fading under hot conditions and requiring that the airplane be flown off grass strips for maximum safety in landing.

[Andrew]

Thanks for all your info guys

[flyXwire]

As far as I know pre-war Clark Field airbase in Pampanga, The Philippines weren't concrete based.

Pictorial History of Clark Field: History 80-169, An Annotated Pictorial History of Clark Air Base: 1899-1986 - by David L. Rosmer



CLARK FIELD and the U.S. Air Corps in the Philippines, 1919-1942
by Richard B. Miexsel.
A well-documented history of Clarkfield that traces the development of the military camp from 1919 up to the outbreak of the Pacific War.
2002. 188 pages.
ISBN 971-10-1078-X (Paperback)

[conemaugh]

Obviously the soil coloration will be dependent on the chemistry of the parent rock from which the soil is derived as well as climatic influences. Soils dervied from volcanic sources will have different priofiles from soils derived from sandstone. Tropical areas are n-known for lateritic soils which display a high degree of weathering and iron oxide (read: red soils).

Here a couple of soil descriptions for areas in Burma.

Samut Prakan Series (Sm)

These soils are formed from brackish water sediment on former tidal flat physiography with 0-1% slope.
The soils are deep, poorly drained, slowly permeability and slowly run off.
Normally, the ground water level is lower than I m. during the dry season.
The topsoil and subsoil textures are clay to loamy clay and clay to loamy clay texture in subsoil.
The surface soil color is olive gray and dark brown mottles and subsoil color is dark gray to olive gray and dark brown mottles.
Soil reaction is slightly acid (pH 6.1-6.8) at the surface layer and moderate to alkaline (pH 7.0-8.5) at subsoil layer.
These soils have high base saturation, high cation exchange capacity, high potassium content. They are high fertility soils under upland crops.


Tha Chin Series (Tc
The Tha Chin series are mixed with Bang Prakong series.
These soils are formed from recent marine clay on active tidal flat with less than 1%. slope.
The soils are deep, very poorly drained, moderate permeability and slowly run off.
Usually, the ground water level closes to the soil surface in the whole year.
The topsoil texture is slity clay and the subsoil texture is clay.
The surface soil color is brown with very dark gray mottles along root holes and the subsoil color is dark greenish gray and very dark gray

[Andrew]

This is great info guys. Though it seems pretty hard to find those colours for those fake grass/sand used for model rails....or is it? My local hobby store only stores green and dark brown