mulceber
Moderator
Introduction and preliminary photos
Jan
Hi all, it’s been about a year since I did a jacket comparison review with Burt, and we felt like it was time for another one. In November of 2020, my new BK Star arrived in the mail, and we decided to do another comparison thread. At about the same time, Phil (@Lord Flashheart) proposed comparing my BK Star to his Eastman version, so we decided to combine the two project ideas. Our aim is to take a nice long look at one of the most stylish A-2 designs and explore how different makers reproduce those details. No repro is perfect, and if it was, this project would be pointless. As before, if anyone has an original or a repro they’d like to share, please chime in!
First, some history: AC 28557 42-18245-P, an order for 30,000 jackets, was the only A-2 contract issued to Star Sportswear Manufacturing Company of Lynn, Massachusetts. It was issued on the 18th of May of 1942, on the same day as the contracts for Knopf, Poughkeepsie, Spiewak, United Sheeplined, and the first Bronco contract. In sum, contracts were let for 199,000 A-2 jackets that day, roughly a quarter of all A-2s made in the 12 years that the jacket was produced.
None of these companies had ever made an A-2 jacket before, so the materiel division was going with unknown commodities here, and it isn’t hard to see why: in the previous two months, large A-2 contracts had been given to most of the usual suspects: Aero, Dubow, Rough Wear, and Cable. Some of these (and other) companies were also working on contracts for other types of flight gear. The usual suppliers were busy and the AAF opted for some new faces here.
Burt
Nice lead in Jan!
The Star A2 has always been one of my favorite contracts. At 30,000 jackets, the Star may not have been one of the largest jacket contracts issued, but it was a substantial contract for a first time manufacturer. Each jacket was produced at a cost of $8.10 US, according to Gary Eastman’s A2 Manual. Additionally, the tannery that supplied the leather to Star substituted a bunch of cowhide for Horsehide on this contract. So, if you’ve recently purchased a repro of a Star A2, either Horsehide or Cowhide would be correct for this contract. The original jacket sports an M-42 Talon No.5 auto lock zip, made in dull nickel and the small type United Carr Ball type Snaps (according to Eastman’s A2 Manual). I’ll bow out at this point and let Phil round out this introduction.
Phil
Having seen a few Stars on the Forum the collar and detailing always looked sharp. The ELC repro has proved very wearable by design as hopefully this review will demonstrate. There are two variants of the spec label found on original Stars W535 AC-28557 and 42-18245-P and that’s not the only difference you’ll find.
Collars
Burt
The Star was made without a collar stand. Collar stands were a strip of leather about ½ inch wide that were originally designed to give the collar a “ rolled” bend crease, rather than a sharp crease at the point where the collar meets the neckline. They made the collar sit up higher and made the jacket look a little more formal. Collar stands took additional time to make and attach to the collar and the jacket. They also required additional materials. Around 1942, manufacturers began to drop the collar stand and simply attach the collar directly to the neckline of the jacket. This saved time and increased jacket production to a small degree. My personal opinion is that the Star collar is one of the nicer looking collars of all of the A2 jackets . It sits nicely on the wearer's shoulders and back of the wearer's neck, and the Star collar, unlike the large collar of a Rough Wear, is proportional to the jacket . Back to you guys.
Phil
The ELC Star collar is a clear point of difference and, for me, makes it stand out from the crowd (apologies for the pun) in a positive way. The production costs of a collar stand in time, labour and materials are obvious. Star were making an A-2 for the first time and presumably weren’t saddled with the thinking of a previous design. They produced an A-2 that’s very practical in my opinion. The collar stays clear of your chin when seated allowing easy head movements all round which has to be a plus point when strapped in a cockpit.
Jan
I’ll echo the praise for the Star collar and add that successfully replicating it has been elusive. To my eye, no Star repro quite nails the distinctive curve of the collar, although I'm pretty pleased with mine. They all look nice, but for stitch counting accuracy, they should probably all be just a little bit rounder.
Before moving on, I’d like to discuss collar hooks. BK asserts that originals had their collar hooks attached with gold-finished brass eyelets, and that’s what you’ll see in Eastman’s guide. Burt’s original, however, has double-barrel eyelets, which were used on a whole bunch of other contracts, including the five other contracts issued on 18 May ‘42. Photos from John Chapman’s CD seem to have the double-barrel eyelets as well, although it’s hard to tell.
BK (and, to my knowledge, GW) reproduce the brass eyelets, while Eastman has regular nickel eyelets (which may even be accurate to some of the originals, I don't know and I wouldn't want to rule it out).
Jan
Hi all, it’s been about a year since I did a jacket comparison review with Burt, and we felt like it was time for another one. In November of 2020, my new BK Star arrived in the mail, and we decided to do another comparison thread. At about the same time, Phil (@Lord Flashheart) proposed comparing my BK Star to his Eastman version, so we decided to combine the two project ideas. Our aim is to take a nice long look at one of the most stylish A-2 designs and explore how different makers reproduce those details. No repro is perfect, and if it was, this project would be pointless. As before, if anyone has an original or a repro they’d like to share, please chime in!
First, some history: AC 28557 42-18245-P, an order for 30,000 jackets, was the only A-2 contract issued to Star Sportswear Manufacturing Company of Lynn, Massachusetts. It was issued on the 18th of May of 1942, on the same day as the contracts for Knopf, Poughkeepsie, Spiewak, United Sheeplined, and the first Bronco contract. In sum, contracts were let for 199,000 A-2 jackets that day, roughly a quarter of all A-2s made in the 12 years that the jacket was produced.
None of these companies had ever made an A-2 jacket before, so the materiel division was going with unknown commodities here, and it isn’t hard to see why: in the previous two months, large A-2 contracts had been given to most of the usual suspects: Aero, Dubow, Rough Wear, and Cable. Some of these (and other) companies were also working on contracts for other types of flight gear. The usual suppliers were busy and the AAF opted for some new faces here.
Burt
Nice lead in Jan!
The Star A2 has always been one of my favorite contracts. At 30,000 jackets, the Star may not have been one of the largest jacket contracts issued, but it was a substantial contract for a first time manufacturer. Each jacket was produced at a cost of $8.10 US, according to Gary Eastman’s A2 Manual. Additionally, the tannery that supplied the leather to Star substituted a bunch of cowhide for Horsehide on this contract. So, if you’ve recently purchased a repro of a Star A2, either Horsehide or Cowhide would be correct for this contract. The original jacket sports an M-42 Talon No.5 auto lock zip, made in dull nickel and the small type United Carr Ball type Snaps (according to Eastman’s A2 Manual). I’ll bow out at this point and let Phil round out this introduction.
Phil
Having seen a few Stars on the Forum the collar and detailing always looked sharp. The ELC repro has proved very wearable by design as hopefully this review will demonstrate. There are two variants of the spec label found on original Stars W535 AC-28557 and 42-18245-P and that’s not the only difference you’ll find.
Collars
Burt
The Star was made without a collar stand. Collar stands were a strip of leather about ½ inch wide that were originally designed to give the collar a “ rolled” bend crease, rather than a sharp crease at the point where the collar meets the neckline. They made the collar sit up higher and made the jacket look a little more formal. Collar stands took additional time to make and attach to the collar and the jacket. They also required additional materials. Around 1942, manufacturers began to drop the collar stand and simply attach the collar directly to the neckline of the jacket. This saved time and increased jacket production to a small degree. My personal opinion is that the Star collar is one of the nicer looking collars of all of the A2 jackets . It sits nicely on the wearer's shoulders and back of the wearer's neck, and the Star collar, unlike the large collar of a Rough Wear, is proportional to the jacket . Back to you guys.
Phil
The ELC Star collar is a clear point of difference and, for me, makes it stand out from the crowd (apologies for the pun) in a positive way. The production costs of a collar stand in time, labour and materials are obvious. Star were making an A-2 for the first time and presumably weren’t saddled with the thinking of a previous design. They produced an A-2 that’s very practical in my opinion. The collar stays clear of your chin when seated allowing easy head movements all round which has to be a plus point when strapped in a cockpit.
Jan
I’ll echo the praise for the Star collar and add that successfully replicating it has been elusive. To my eye, no Star repro quite nails the distinctive curve of the collar, although I'm pretty pleased with mine. They all look nice, but for stitch counting accuracy, they should probably all be just a little bit rounder.
Before moving on, I’d like to discuss collar hooks. BK asserts that originals had their collar hooks attached with gold-finished brass eyelets, and that’s what you’ll see in Eastman’s guide. Burt’s original, however, has double-barrel eyelets, which were used on a whole bunch of other contracts, including the five other contracts issued on 18 May ‘42. Photos from John Chapman’s CD seem to have the double-barrel eyelets as well, although it’s hard to tell.
BK (and, to my knowledge, GW) reproduce the brass eyelets, while Eastman has regular nickel eyelets (which may even be accurate to some of the originals, I don't know and I wouldn't want to rule it out).
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