Shoulder patch/ decal options

[Greg Gale]

I'm really ,really playing with the thought of putting something on the shoulder of my A-2, but I'm a bit lost when it comes to the options.

a) AFAIK, decals were only applied to jackets that were re-dyed, never to new jackets, and mostly towards the end of the war.

b) I could have one painted directly on the jacket - how common were those?

c) I could have one painted on leather, then sew it on. How common were those?

d) I could have one painted on leather, and attach it this way:

e) I could use a felt patch - I'd prefer to have an 8th AF patch rather than the generic AAF. What is the best source? ELC just sew one of their on a Star Sportswear for the series "My mother and other strangers")

e) I could attach the felt patch the same way as in d).

See, there are so many options, and I have no clue what would be authentic.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Cocker]

I'd go for a painted leather patch, or a layered one. Those are the ones that look best, IMO.

 

[B-Man2]

I'm with Cocker on this one!

 

[Greg Gale]

They may be the best looking, but what would be the most authentic?

 

[B-Man2]

They may be the best looking, but what would be the most authentic?

Greg.
I think that depending on what period or time frame of the war your talking about they were all authentic. The layered leather patches were prominent from about 43 to 45. Early war era guys sewed patches to their jackets . Painted jackets were prominent throughout the war.
I would go back through all of the recent photos and pick a combination that was used back then for the absolute authentic set up. I know once you figure it out it will look good so don’t forget to show it to us.

 

[Greg Gale]

Thanks Burt! The concept is certainly 43-45. By layered leather patch you mean option d) ? If so, where does one get a piece of leather to attach the leather patch?

EDIT:

THIS!

 

[Cocker]

This is a painted patch, not a layered one. I think most repro makers are doing the ones with the leather border too.

Check out Miroslav Sekulic on FB, and Sean Collins.


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[Thomas Koehle]

This is a painted patch, not a layered one. I think most repro makers are doing the ones with the leather border too.

Check out Miroslav Sekulic on FB, and Sean Collins.


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I’m with Cocker: check for Miroslav on FB he did a bunch of patches and recently posted some pics of his artwork on FB

 

[Skip]

Greg I prefer the stitched layered leather patches, Sean Collins has done all my patches.

I guess it depends if you want it to wear out over time or not. Layered leather doesn’t fade or wear away but it does crease and mark just like your jacket hide will

If you like I can post some pics of mine so you see what they look like after a few years of hard wear

 

[Silver Surfer]

all kinds of shoulder patches were applied though out the war. head quarters pin wheels, 12 af, 15th af, 8th af, a plain leather meatball, tigers, you name it. whats more, a lot were non "regulation", both in size and color. look through the sites pix, books, a-2 sites, and you will see all manner of shoulder patches. ultimately, your choice.

 

[Greg Gale]

@Skip please do, I would love to see it!

 

[stanier]

I’d really check your sources Greg when making your choice. I had Sean make my a layered 8th Air Force patch a few years ago and it looked fantastic. I have a pic somewhere I’m sure. However, ultimately I understand that the layered patches were far less common in the 8th air force and we’re much more of a Far East theatre feature. Although the patch looked excellent, the lack of authenticity niggled me and I ended up moving it on with the jacket it was sewn to.

 

[Greg Gale]

Yeah, good thoughts there @stanier . As much as I would love a patched 334th jacket, I'd also love a 487th, or a 418th bomb group, the list is endless. And it's not like a tattoo - you can have one on your left arm, another one on your right forearm, another one on your chest, etc... Here you have one choice, and as Brett told me "once it's on it's on". Not that I have any problems wearing a patched jacket for fear of having to explain or looking "weird", no. I just don't want to possibly ruin a lifetime wearer.

Thank you for your inputs, BTW. So the 8th didn't really use layered patches? A painted leather one would probably be better, then.

 

[Skip]

Here ya go Greg. The chit is the only one where Sean devised a template to paint on the Burmese characters otherwise all the others are completely layered leather. The russet jacket was patched 5 years ago, the Chit'ed "Aero" about 3.5 years ago. As you can see they don't fade or rub off but develop character. Sean, as I'm sure most professional painted patches from guys/gals with the interest, usually put a top coating to help them last.

You can see a lot of artists work on this FB page, intact all the artist mentioned in this thread are there, its a cool page to look at from time to time:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/RA2JP/?multi_permalinks=1684444468331998,1683336331776145,1683257551784023&notif_id=1535306688117942&notif_t=group_activity

enjoy!!

Sean excelled in this one with the painting of the Burmese peacock, hasn't shown any signs of wearing away.

sometimes the stitching will in certain areas will go, but I like that. easily fixed though

I intentionally got the russet border to contrast with the seal - many options are available to suit your taste.

 

[Cocker]

Just saw this one from Miroslav on FB, thought you might be interested!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/205861329595061/permalink/1038420933005759/


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[Steve27752]

This was on display a couple of weeks ago at the RAF 100 show at Biggin Hill.

 

[johnwayne]

Patching a jacket has always been a dilemma for me because as much as I've always loved the real thing, patching a modern repro makes the jacket look just that, in my view. To say 'once it's on its on isn't strictly true as of course as removing a stitch on patch would simply leave stitch holes, so often found on originals and even decals can be removed. Had you thought about trying to source an original patch? I'm sure I've seen bullion ones on eBay. Some years ago I got a felt 'stubby eighth' that I sewed on to an M41 and was quite easy to age with the old tea bag trick, same as I did with the 77th FS patch on the same jacket! As many are saying though, give it some serious thought first, hence why I did a cheaper cloth jacket as I didn't have the courage to do an A2!!

 

[Smithy]

I wouldn't patch an A-2 but that's just me. I'm seriously considering painting a squadron patch on one of my B-10s though.

 

[Flightengineer]

There were huge variety. Painted directly on jacket shoulder and painted on the leather and sewn on and others.
Choose one that you like

Here 2 my A2's shoulder patches( exact copies based of WW2 photos)

 

[johnwayne]

Must admit I've always liked the 5th AF patch since seeing an original A2 at Chino a good few years ago. I've just checked on eBay and there's plenty of options, the bullion ones always look good I think and pretty authentic looking.