Hi All
The following is to try and bring together all the different opinions I have found on various sites on the web about the Japanese internal protective coating called Aotake and the many reports of Japanese aircraft losing their paint very quickly [chipping and fading] which has given rise to the opinion that Japanese paint of the period was in some way inferior in quality. Please remember I am not claiming to be an expert in anyway and don't always get it right, this is a guide to help people in there choices of finish. Also this is quite long so may take up several posts to compleat.
To begin with there were two arms of the Japanese military that flew the Zero namely the Army and the Navy, both having completely different standards of finish to delivered aircraft to each service. The Navy wanted maximum protection for all there aircraft so they could survive the weather/ environment of shipboard carrier operations, the Army on the other hand were less stringent in there requirements. This also throws up the debate about where and what coverage of Aotake was used on the Zero, I have found out early models were basicly covered in the stuff and as the war progressed and raw materials began to run out less and less Aotake was used.
Another point to add is there are pictures available of various zero's some are from wreaks others from survivors, the wreaks can be hard to identify and may be Army or Navy in origin. This I think is where some confusion has entered the debate as each arm had different finish requirements and if the pictures from unidentified aircraft are to be compared try to make sure they are all either Army or Naval versions as I think they may have been unintentionaly mixed up in the past as very few pictures were available at the time and has added to the confusion of actual Aotake application.

An interesting read Andy

Hi Jase
Thanks for looking in and your comments
Andy

Hi Kev
I totally agree much debated and the different opinions are still raging out there
Andy