Definition of a good quality A-2 repro

[2jakes]

Platon:
For someone like me who has a token understanding of leather,
this was very interesting & informative .
Like a good book…left me wanting for more.
When possible , would like to see images of what you call "patina".
Thanks,
J

 

[drew parker]

A good quailty a-2 is like others have said the one that you like. There are alot of co. out there that will give you a great jacket. The question is how much do you want to pay & how much do you want to risk. Eastman will give you a stock jacket and it will go from there. Areo will remake your jacket if it dosent fit. JC will make you a great jacket but if it doesnt fit , tough luck. Gibson & barnes will also make sure you have a jacket that will fit and there quailty is awesome. They also warrant the jacket for life. Dover of flight jackets .com makes a good a-2 also. Bill Kelslo is making a great jacket from what I understand.Just remember this it is a very simple jacket to make. Some on this forum will put the a-2 on this great throne that that has got to cost a small fortune to be athentic. I love the a-2 and I have a few and I like them all. Just don't get caught up in it has to be this jacket or it's garbage.

 

[Jeff M]

As this is a repro A2 jacket and its not really a collector's item original....

Without it fitting correctly all the best leather, details and craftmanship are neither here nor there.
If its a unsatisfactory fit then it will be traded soon into ownership.

So for me the defination of a good quality A2 repro must have fit as its prime factor.
Then leather quality and colour with details (contract specs etc) go hand in hand as a percentage and lower down the art of craftmanship.
....

Fit is # 1 for a repro for me also.
As was said, no mater how "accurate" the details, wonderful the leather...if it doesn't fit, it won't get worn.

One problem is that some makers seem to have a hard time making "regular sizes" that comfortably fit body types that are even the tiniest bit "off" from what they consider to be "standard fit". With a model like the A2, that can be the kiss of death for any hope of a comfortable fit.
Even well designed "standard fit" A2's can be a bit uncomfortable to wear across the back and shoulders/arm pits if you don't have that slim WW2 body type...which so few people have these days.
I have what I think many wold consider a "standard" middle aged relatively in shape body ....size 44 regular jacket. I often have to size up to a 46 when it comes to "repro" A2's for comfort across the back/shoulders/arm pits, and then I have to worry about the sleeves and body length being too long if it is not a jacket custom made for me.

Leather is # 2 for me. More like 1 "B".
A stiff leather that doesn't break in is not something I'll want to wear much.

Spot on period details are least important for me.

 

[2jakes]

I may not know much about leather jackets , specifically the A-2.
But this much I now know….& that is …

There is no one "Definition of a Good Quality A-2 repro".

There are many interpretations on this from everyone & no one agrees !

That much I know !

 

[Jeff M]

I may not know much about leather jackets , specifically the A-2.
But this much I now know….& that is …

There is no one "Definition of a Good Quality A-2 repro".

There are many interpretations on this from everyone & no one agrees !

That much I know !

I suspect most folks here who have had some experience with the A2 repro market would come to a consensus about which jackets are a "good" repro vs a not so good one.

 

[herk115]

Even well designed "standard fit" A2's can be a bit uncomfortable to wear across the back and shoulders/arm pits if you don't have that slim WW2 body type...which so few people have these days.

And there you just hit the nail on the head. Military personnel, especially pilots and flight crew, have to adhere to strict height and weight standards. The A-2 was designed and manufactured for them, not us middle aged guys, and that's why it isn't easily adaptable to us. I think we all in this category, whether in shape or not, have to accept that in wearing A-2s and insisting on proper look and fit, that we are a bunch of fifty-somethings trying to look twenty years old, and it just isn't easy to do. If an A-2 is designed to fit a guy fifty pounds overweight with most of it in the belly, then the jacket ceases to be "accurate" and we start the accuracy discussion all over again.

But in that vain, remember that if you look at any number of historical A-2 photos, you will see plenty of jackets that didn't fit guys who were within the physical standards required.

 

[Anonymous]

it's not a matter of age, but shape.

This veteran still has it

 

[herk115]

it's not a matter of age, but shape.

This veteran still has it

But I think they did a little too much acid when they built that B-24 model. :lol:

 

[herk115]

it's not a matter of age, but shape.

This veteran still has it

Well, I didn't say it couldn't be done...just that it isn't easy. I hope (wish?) I'll look like that when I'm his age. But as long as this substance known as "beer" exists, A-2 fit is going to be a problem with me. :mrgreen:

 

[dmar836]

To say an A-2 is simple to make is a little short-sighted IMO. Especially to the standards we have.
Sure, to make a jacket may not be the most difficult of tasks relatively speaking but to replicate something is much harder as form is now considered as much as function.
JMO
Dave

 

[Anonymous]

But I think they did a little too much acid when they built that B-24 model.

ha ha ha, true!

To say an A-2 is simple to make is a little short-sighted IMO.

Agree, it's anything BUT simple/easy to make a correct A-2.

 

[Anonymous]

I 'd like to add that the fit is achievable as it is something you can work with, with the maker (at least with those who do custom). Now, it is the customer's duty to give the correct measurements to the maker so a jacket of the correct size be made. Otherwise,....

 

[tater]

it's not a matter of age, but shape.

This veteran still has it

But I think they did a little too much acid when they built that B-24 model. :lol:

I have a book that has loads of images of the battle weary bombers turned into "assembly ships" for formation assembly over the UK. Awesome paint jobs.

 

[Andreart]

But as long as this substance known as "beer" exists, A-2 fit is going to be a problem with me.

AMEN Brother!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol:

 

[dmar836]

Assembly ships? How would one ever tell them apart? :lol:

 

[Skip]

it's not a matter of age, but shape.

This veteran still has it

Is this what you call post war B24 Liberation ? "...she wore an itsy bitsy, teeny wheeny, yellow pockadot bikini...."

 

[tater]

A friend's dad flew a B-24 in the 93d BG later in the war. While not an assembly ship, she had a very similar tiger face to the one above covering the entire nose. Apparently they were applied at the factory on some. I was looking at a book on bombers I have, and stumbled upon a color image of his ship pushing up the grass after the war here in Albuquerque out at Kirtland AFB (where Dr. Arthur ended up living after dental school after the war). I'll have to get out the scanner and post some of his pictures that I have.