B-3 project

[fishmeok]

Taking a sanity break from other jackets I decided to try fixing up an old pseudo B-3 that was passed down to me by another forum member. It's essentially a sheepskin jacket based loosely on a B-3 but with hand warmer pockets, no horsehide, etc. Pretty nice jacket really, but I wanted to experiment with a few things and this was the perfect candidate. I added an original Talon zip (repurposed from a B-4 bag, had to turn it into an open zipper- one of the things I wanted to try), horsehide on the arms, and a horsehide pocket. I had to run the tape up over the chest to cover up where the hand pockets were, and added the reinforcement tabs at the top and bottom of the zipper. The buckles and straps had already been added, and I spent some time experimenting with the finish. I dyed it a dark seal brown and then tried out some different topcoat ideas. The results are completely unexpected, but pretty cool. Broken grain! I still have to add the tapes the cover the arm to shoulder seams, but since I need to sew those on by hand it's going to be a while. Will also probably darken and weather the horsehide some, but I'm going to walk away from it for a while and see what I think. Stay tuned, I traded for a US Authentic B-6, will be tearing into that in a few months. I've got a thing for these shearling project jackets....
Cheers
Mark

 

[oldskoolonly]

Dont ya just hate hand warmer pockets!! Grrrrrr.... Very creative what you have done, I like it and like you say, just some distressing and stuff on the HH and that would be a great every day wearer.

 

[CHECK6]

Very very nice jacket!!!!!!!

FAB

 

[John Lever]

I like the sheepskin, it reminds me of that on a Cirrus I once owned many years ago.
You have don a very good job, buy what about the cuff seams ? They are not usually taped.

 

[fishmeok]

Good catch John, I forgot about that. I KNEW there was something about the arms that did not quite look right. I'll have to re-do the cuffs so they are lapped properly. Eventually.

Would a B-3 ever have had russet horse with seal tape? I'm thinking I should dye the horse to match the tape. The sheep really is nice, it was a pretty good civi jacket, originally.

Cheers
Mark

 

[John Lever]

What no repro maker has dared to do yet is to have the tapeless diagonal joints seen on some originals.

 

[fishmeok]

Do you have any pics of that? I had not heard of tapeless seams before.
Cheers
Mrk

 

[John Lever]

Have a look at George's M445 auction photos of the shoulder section -
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

 

[navvet]

Am I not seeing something? Where are the hand warmer pockets that you refer to? If they exist they are hidden and therefore expertly added. Fabulous work(again).

 

[fishmeok]

They WERE there, you just have to look under the tape.....
Cheers
Mark

 

[greyhound52]

Very good looks nice

 

[dmar836]

Mark,

Here is one of the seams on a pair of A-3 trousers. Someone needs to clean his collection.

Up close it looks almost like a serger stitch.

Dave
Kansas City, USA

 

[asiamiles]

My Aero B-3 had such a seam across the back.

 

[John Lever]

My Aero B-3 had such a seam across the back.

Aero Scotland ?

 

[asiamiles]

My Aero B-3 had such a seam across the back.

Aero Scotland ?

No, it was an original.

 

[fishmeok]

Here's the finished product- I know the cuffs are wrong, but I'm not going to spend any more time on it...

 

[deand]

Another fine example of your work!



dean

 

[oldskoolonly]

Very well done!! I like it!!

 

[dujardin]

great work again, you really have talent

where will you stop :?: