Unfortunately, I cannot find any of the MW threads to act as a quick reference guide. I'll do my best here -
There are 4 "official" IJN greys, each denoted by a primary IJN construction and repair facility (Kure, Yokosuka, Maizuru, and Sasebo). There were several private constructors and yards (ex. Mitsubishi,Kawasaki, Uraga yard, etc.) whose gray colors tended to match one of the primary yards.
IJN greys have some blue in them; Yokosuka has a greenish tinge to it as well. Sasebo is the darkest, Maizuru the lightest, Kure tends to be the generic, ubiquious choice. I am personally guilty of using Kure Gray to the exclusion of everything else.
Several paint manufacturers obtained color samples of the actual colors in order to mix their paints. Gunze is one, Tamiya another. Snyder & Short have a IJN color chip sheet (also based on actual samples) available for sale; worth obtaining to get a true picture of the variances (which are on the subtle side, IMHO, and scale effect diminishes it even further). see:
http://www.shipcamouflage.com/paint_chips.htmIn addition to Gunze Sangyo & Tamiya, there are several paint mfgs. who offer IJN paints matched to these chips, in both acrylic and enamel/lacquer. WEM, Vallejo, Testors, MM, etc. Here is a link to Tamiya's choices, which are great for airbrushing (and my personal preference):
http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/ ... hip_color/The TS designation means it's a spray bottle (lacquer, I think). There is a flat acrylic XF equivalent for all those IJN colors, scroll thru all 3 pages:
http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/ ... t81702.htmThe flats are what I use & prefer. Note that Tamiya does not produce a version for Yokosuka or Maizuru NY. Personally, I think the Neutral Gray XF-53 comes close to Maizuru. HTH.