Question about A2 unit patch

[theduellist]

Hello,
I have a friend whose father was a Navigator in the 94th BG. I want to help him get an A-2 to honor his father. Should the patch (attached) be felt or hand painted? Who can do this work REASONABLY?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Yardstick]

The 410th BS is not a patch you see very often. The only example of an original in my image library is this. As was common for a lot of 8th AAF patches it is embroidered on felt (probably UK made but difficult to tell from the small image).

The picture you post appears to be a reasonable repro made by 'Old Club Badges' (UK based but embroidery done in the far east or Pakistan). They are OK repros but appear to be rather crudely made and lack detail. Personally I wouldn't put that patch on a good repro jacket. An alternative would be to find someone to paint a patch for you. It's not uncommon to find an example of a theatre made painted patch even for unit where the officially produced squadron patch was embroidered. I can imagine most units got embroidered patches produced in large batches but once these had run out any replacement crew wanting one would have to make do with whatever they could find.

 

[Flightengineer]

I can paint it on leather, but to be authentic need to have original patch photo - drawn and not embroidered.

 

[theduellist]

Gents, thanks so much!!! @Yardstick your incredible knowledge is much appreciated. As I said, this is for a friend so there will be some lag time as I show him. @Flightengineer if we
have a good drawing (?) how much do you charge?

 

[Yardstick]

Just did a quick Google image search and came up with this. I can't vouch for its authenticity but it looks OK.

 

[ties70]

I can paint it on leather, but to be authentic need to have original patch photo - drawn and not embroidered.

Dmitry,

Yardstick's photo is probably all you can get re. details for this patch. I did the patch below a couple of years ago and as you can see I wasn't able to find a good detailed patch, as well.

The good things is: As a painted patch for the 410th might only be the second best option, you should not have to worry about authentic details anyway...

 

[Smithy]

If you're going to paint the patch I'd paint the bombs olive drab (or at least a dark green) because US GP bombs were coloured such. It's often an artistic groundcrew member who painted the patches for aircrew and they tend to obviously be pretty accurate with little details such as this due to them working with these sorts of things every day.

 

[shedonwanna]

here is another painted version from my files. can't verify authenticity but similar to the one above.

 

[theduellist]

We are definitely on the right track, thank you all. I have a couple talented guys who can paint it. Who could sew it on an A-2?

 

[ties70]

We are definitely on the right track, thank you all. I have a couple talented guys who can paint it. Who could sew it on an A-2?

I would go to a tailoring and clothing repair shop in your neighborhood... It's no rocket science and every repair shop I went to had a sewing machine that managed to sew leather...

 

[theduellist]

Thanks. Unfortunately I have been to plenty in the US that say they don't sew leather. Goatskin possibly. Horsehide is another matter.

 

[denny@aero]

At Aero we have both a hand painted and an embroidered version of this patch.

 

[theduellist]

FANTASTIC! Where are you located? In stock? Can you message me with prices?

 

[denny@aero]

FANTASTIC! Where are you located? In stock? Can you message me with prices?

Aero Leather in Scotland.

Drop me a mail at [email protected]

 

[shedonwanna]

We are definitely on the right track, thank you all. I have a couple talented guys who can paint it. Who could sew it on an A-2?

I use a boot maker/shoe repair shop for my sewing. Other options are local motorcycle shops that sometimes have someone that can sew patches on jackets and vests. Horse tack and saddlery shops are another option. If you live near a popular sailing community a sail repair shop has the experience needed.