AVI M422A Development and Improvements

[Enigma1938]

I wanted to discuss and show you my M422a from Avi leather.
I received the jacket a little over a month ago and wore it daily since. It's broken in nicely and developed great character, grain and creases. Although it was a good jacket as it was the way I received it I did some little improvements nevertheless.
First of all I changed the zipper slider / puller to a original Talon M42 and changed the zipper stops (on each top end) also.
I wasn't 100% pleased with the bi swing because it has a tendency to not fold back properly so I checked the reason why and found out that there was just 1 elastic strap in the back construction. It was placed relatively high up so I added a second one on the lower part by myself just like the originals had.
Even the color of AVI's M422a is ok I was unsatisfied with the finish because it was very dull and lacked some depth and undertones. I applied just a little bit Fiebings middle brown leather dye and finished the whole jacket with Fiebings Leather Sheen what's a kind of
acrylic based protection coating. I'm pretty happy with the result. The leather appears more "luxurious" and vintage now. I did a few pictures in the late evening but the sun was already gone and the light didn't allow the real color appear correct on the photos. Will take some more pics another day.
The jacket came without the typical USN collar stencil. AVI does them only by request but I refused because I was worried they wouldn't do it right. So I decided to do it by myself (Pictures in a later post).



There are some future changes planned:

- the correct original maker label is already on
It's way (thank you Steve)

- adding a period correct USMC Nametag from Gibson & Barnes (unfortunately they are always pretty slow in processing, but their tags have proven to be the best and I tried a lot of manufacturers before)

- adding a squadron patch from the
VMF-214



I will post informations and pictures of the progress in a while if there is interest.

It's a nice little project and I have a lot of fun with it. With a price at 327$ for the jacket you can't go wrong with experimenting and it won't hurt as patching up a 1300$ jacket for example...you know what I mean.

 

[B-Man2]

Nicely done !
Might I suggest a little trick some of the other guys have used?
If your collar is true mouton, try setting outside in the sun for a few days every week . Overtime the color of the mouton will fade much like the originals of WWII.

 

[Enigma1938]

Nicely done !
Might I suggest a little trick some of the other guys have used?
If your collar is true mouton, try setting outside in the sun for a few days every week . Overtime the color of the mouton will fade much like the originals of WWII.

That's indeed a nice suggestion, but I'm not fortunate to enjoy the Florida sun, I have to wait until winter finally moved out here in Northern west Germany before the sun is strong enough to do the trick I have planned to do the same with my blue N1 jacket this year, that's the way how originals gained their faded Patina also.

 

[Brettafett]

I have a spot on the bed that gets some good Sun (when its out) and the M-422a has it booked this summer.

btw @Enigma1938 how did you apply that Fiebings leather dye? Do you just apply it and let it dry??? Does it not rub off...?
Do you need to add the sheen coating?
I have some here and was going to try it as an over-dye project,a year ago on another jacket... but never got around to it... Curious.
I can see how it might add some depth...

 

[Enigma1938]

Yes I applied the dye with a medium paint brush and just let it dry. There are some different dye types out there, some are oil based and some are alcohol based just like mine so it dried pretty quick. Requirement is that the leather wasn't treated with a kind of leather balm / conditioner before so the dye can connect to the leather.
The leather Sheen was applied after the dye job as a protection coating and permanent fix of the leather dye and of course to get rid of the dull appearance. I used a paint brush for it and it dried quick also. As a side effect the jacket makes the well known noises now just like a leather jacket should. I can highly recommend Fiebings Leather Sheen.

Oh and I don't think you MUST apply a protection coating, the dye itself clings great to the leather and wasn't meant to rub off quickly, most of it collects and remains in the small indentations of the leather so it's naturally protected.

 

[Enigma1938]

I try a indoor pic to better show the true color:

 

[Brettafett]

Thank you!

 

[MikeyB-17]

I remember Ken Calder saying that Aero swear by Pledge (spray on furniture polish) for putting a shine on leather.
AVI need to sort out the elastic straps on the bi-swing. That’s poor that they’re leaving one out.

 

[Enigma1938]

Here a pic of a slaughtered jacket where you can clearly see the elastic strap construction (although they have lost the flex over the years here)

 

[Enigma1938]

Something arrived today

 

[johnwayne]

Just a constructive comment in that personally I think the collar could/should be a bit more pointed but poss little you can do in that respect? Thats a reason I always preferred the look of the M442/a plus, its that WWII connection when talking originals! That aside its looking pretty nice, well done!!

 

[Enigma1938]

Attached

 

[Enigma1938]

Here the post about the collar stencil. I studied pictures of original G&F M422a's to get the size, color and font right.
After drying I gave it a good aging. I think it came out nicely.
Here's my version:

And here some originals

for reference:

 

[STEVE S.]

I remember Ken Calder saying that Aero swear by Pledge (spray on furniture polish) for putting a shine on leather.
AVI need to sort out the elastic straps on the bi-swing. That’s poor that they’re leaving one out.

yes, pledge is great for routine maintenance. It has some natural oils in it that keep things soft too.

 

[B-Man2]

yes, pledge is great for routine maintenance. It has some natural oils in it that keep things soft too.

Steve
Is this true for using Pledge on originals as well?

 

[Brettafett]

Here the post about the collar stencil. I studied pictures of original G&F M422a's to get the size, color and font right.
After drying I gave it a good aging. I think it came out nicely.
Here's my version:
And here some originals for reference

What type of paint did you use?

 

[Brettafett]

Just a constructive comment in that personally I think the collar could/should be a bit more pointed but poss little you can do in that respect? Thats a reason I always preferred the look of the M442/a plus, its that WWII connection when talking originals! That aside its looking pretty nice, well done!!

I have collected tons of pics of original G&Fs and the collar varies a lot. Morten even shared a pic of his original and the collar is correct to that.
In fact, Ive not seen many pics of G&F originals with the elongated collar. There was a time I was looking specifically, when I had my ELC...
I recon AVI nailed it, wouldn't change it. Just my op

 

[Enigma1938]

What type of paint did you use?

Just flat silver model paint, I think it's based on acrylic. It clings strong to the leather.

I just applied the stencil before the dye job, so the Fiebings Leather Sheen coating protects the stencil also now.

 

[Brettafett]

Ive been experimenting with enamels, but not happy yet with outcome. Dont want to ruin my jacket

 

[Enigma1938]

Ive been experimenting with enamels, but not happy yet with outcome. Dont want to ruin my jacket

I'm pretty careful also when it comes to such projects, I always do a few test samples before I place my hands on the real thing.