[propbeanie]

Your info jives with what I've found, and what CapnScurvy has found. I think we'll use your kana images early, and then have most of them stop by mid '42, with a few that might show up later. We'll try to simulate them having been at sea at the start of hostilities, and having the kana removed at their first re-fitting... Sounds plausible... It will not be accurate though, time-wise, because the game doesn't really allow that, unless you use a completely separate 3D model for specific ships (not very efficient). We can mitigate that somewhat using Jeff-Groves' technique, but that'll be a later mod add-in that would go on top of FotRSU (unless someone really wants to crack the whip and do it themselves for inclusion). We might even try an Easter Egg, like Jeff did for me! - I might have to grab me a screenie of that for public display. |;^)

A never-ending stream of questions - I wonder if we could find out, since the Kido Butai (and their submarine support) were a top secret hush-hush kind of mission, if they didn't blank their sides maybe before they left Yokosuka and their other respective home ports? Also, that last pic you have of the two DD stern shots, the Ayanami and the Shikinami, what is the kanji offset on their aft peaks? Did the DD have the emperor's emblem on the bowsprit support, like the Yamato and other larger ships? Did the squadron numbers on the bow "disappear" in conjunction with the side-kana? Did they ever use ship numbers, ala the USN, such as BB-63 USS Missouri? Of course though, here she is in 1944:



... no sign of a number here. Maybe it'd be too easy to identify with just a little spycraft, ruining the camouflage if you can see the "63" on its bow side? ("Ahhh, a US Iowa Class BB, going by the number! Why'd they try to camouflage it? Oh yeah, Rule 1: keep a sailor busy with a paint brush!")... Now, if I was building a diorama, I might really get into the "accuracy" end of things (I did when I did HO railroading, to the point of being anal-retentive - shah! say it isn't so! ), but with SH4 and it's little quirks, it is very difficult to do so... So we'll have to draw a line somewhere, like the Capn has for the Hatsuharu and Shiratsuyu 3D models. We can do some variations, but the game doesn't really allow getting into the weeds too much, and will lead you down an endlessly deep rabbit hole rather quickly...

Edit: Where are you getting all these nice pix?...