What to use

[alabama]

I have painted a few patches and the back of my AVL A2.
I have just found a place to get leather from (as where i used to has gone) and
was wondering what you all thought was the most authentic paint use.
I have not painted for years, but i used leather dye before.
If any one wants to see my poor efforts, i will post them.
That's if i can figure out how to get photos posted.
Cheers.

 

[ButteMT61]

Add your photos to Photobucket.com or other service.
Once you do, there are ways to get the link codes from each pic. I usually create a new text document and copy/paste all the links for a given topic and save it somewhere so I can pull them up as needed - saves time if you post in multiple places or on a regular basis.
Once you do that, post the link codes as in the pic below. Note the image tags at the beginning and end. Those are what make your pics show on the forum. They are merely links to external files - you're not actually copying files to this site.

 

[alabama]

Cheers ButteMT61.
I will get that done on Thursday when i am off work again.

 

[atkins]

i think the most authentic paint would be enamel paint ( Tamiya /Testors ).

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Actually, the most accurate would be regular tube oil paints. It would be what any artist or aspiring artist would have used in the 40's, would have been available, and has been around for centuries in the same basic formula as it is today, linseed oil and pigment. Besides, when I asked the jacket art / patch painter of the 401st Bombardment Group (Harry Hall) at his home in Brewster MA about three years ago what he painted with, he said what else? All those B&W photos of the backs of A2's, he did em with a set of oils purchased in London.

 

[alabama]

I am going to have to wait awhile before i can post any photos.
My wife's camera memory is completely full from a wedding.
As soon as we have the stuff on a disk or printed i will post.
Atkins and a2jacketpatches i will try both of those and see what i find.
Cheers.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Model paints will be an easier way to go. They will dry quickly and there's many colors available. I know at some point in the 80's some kind of a formula change was ordered by the Feds that ruined some characteristics of Testors paint. Not sure what it was, but the stuff just didn't apply as well.

Trying oils may be a pain in the you know what because of the multiple additives used. There's stuff to make it dry quicker, stick better, dry slow, shine, you name it. Using the stuff straight from the tube could take three months to cure properly. You'll see many original painted patches in various degrees of condition, paint falling off, cracking, etc. This is because oils aren't really designed for the task, but in some cases, it held up very well.

Bottom line, I re-read this thread and recommend model paints along with atkins if you're just getting into it. Try vegetable tanned leather, it's light in color and should retain some pigment if it cracks or peels off. Even if it does, you'll most likely be left with a very realistic and natural wear and tear look to your patches. These model paints weren't available back then, but they are basically, a good pre-mix of semi accurate components.

You could always set to auto-pilot and use paint pens and liquitex brand acrylics, I've got a huge box full from when I used to paint. Nothing wrong with using modern technology to get the job done and it really is a hassle free way to do it. But is completely non authentic.

 

[alabama]

Hi ya a2jacketpatches.
I went to an upholsterers yesterday and asked if they had any offcuts
they were throwing away. The guy went into the workshop, when he came back
he gave me around half a cow's worth of offcuts of all shapes and sizes. All
of it black but i do not know how it was dyed. We do not seem to get Testors in
the UK. We have Humbrol that do all sorts of enamel paints. When i painted my jacket
the first time i used acrylic but did not like, it just seemed to sit on the surface and peel
off. So i will try enamel it will not cost as much as oil i guess as well.
I used leather dye after that and painted the figure straight on to the jacket. That was a pain.
What do you recommend to do the outline with. The offcut gut also gave me a wax pencil he use's
to mark his patterns with. i do not think the paint would take to that. what about tailors chalk.
Cheers.