The genius of the 9th Bomb Squadron patch

[deand]

I have always loved the art deco 9th Bomb Squadron patch, especially as seen in the Muroc photos posted in the photo gallery forum. Learning here that the colors of the patch were supposed to be silver, light grey and black, not white on charcoal grrey on black, I used my fabric paints to render the patch on my less than high end A-2, in the Silver/Lt. Grey/Black scheme. I understand now why the designer would specify silver on grey. As you shift the light on the patch, the silver searchlight beams actually flash like they would if they were swinging across the sky. I love it! What a terrific way to capture the roman numeral, the WWI history, and the practically animated aspect of the silver on grey. I didn't put it on crooked, the floor shot was taken without the jacket being zipped up, and I didn't bother to make sure it was arranged perfectly. You can see the brightness shift in the searchlight beams due to the fold in the leather I left to illustrate the effect.

dean

 

[better duck]

Nice one Dean!
It sure stands out among the huge number of more colourful, cartoonlike designs. Neat trick with the silver paint for the searchlightbeams!

 

[EMBLEMHUNTER]

Dean,nice patch work dude ! I have seen a 9th on the side of an early biplane,possibly a DH,anyway the emblem has the searchlight beams and about half way down between the IX there is a side view of a biplane and the ground line has what appears to be buildings and possibly a train sideview w/smoke from it's stack. it is a small photo or I should say the image on the plane is small and just a little fuzzy,but nonetheless interesting variation of the 9th design.
Johnny

 

[deand]

Thanks! I have since tweaked the search lights a bit, widening them near the edges of the circle, trying to replicate the patches in the photos in the gallery and on-line I've seen. I might teak it again, giving the grey a more khaki tint, considering the coloring apparent in the photo of the original patch below my repro. I'm just not sure enough yet since I haven't seen too many color photos of a thirities original. It would be an easy fix, though. I'll post any changes I make.The the light glinting of the silver caused them to appear slightly wider in the photo than they actually are. The 9th BS patch has had quite a bit of variation to its basic design over the years.

dean






dean

 

[deand]

Re-touched with Khaki:

dean

 

[Yogie]

I made a leather patch for my B3 jacket just for fun.
I love the style of the 9th Bomb Squad patch.
I think it was a great idea that the designer uses the cones of light to recreate the roman number nine.