It's a shame Norshor Leathers aren't making the leather M-1940 jacket a couple of lucky forum members own - that would have been a better platform for your dad's tribute jacket IMVHO (army-appropriate and just a better-looking jacket) - but I'm sure he'll love - and be very moved - by whatever you do!
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Leather Jacket - Cloth Patches?
- Thread starter TXFlyGuy
- Start date
I recall seeing it in the other thread. I thought it looked fine and no more ornamented than a standard Army field blouse, especially with the medal patches sewn inside.
Personally I think the cloth division insignia and the leather name tag with the CIB embossed plus the US Army patch in leather in the standard (modern) squadron patch location, is perfectly classy.
It would be cool to have a historic 40s era field coat. But leather is just nicer and this is a tribute jacket rather than a repro piece.
Overall, I'm personally very conscious of even wearing my old flight jacket with my few squadron patches on it, lest I get the Top Gun stink on me (I hate to admit it, but I'd still watch it, just for the aerial photography).
But nothing I've seen so far from your jacket plans comes across to me as being cheesy or "Hollywood" and is certainly more classy IMHO than those horrifying shiny satin tribute jackets that they sell in the exchange...the ones that make you look like a pimp on Starsky and Hutch.
JMHO...
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US Army round patch is too small for a WW2 chest patch.
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Forgot to mention the Army patch will be 5 1/2".
Here is a previous photo with a 5" plate...(G&B)
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Looks great Tex! I think pretty classy and not overdone.
The Corporal's chevrons on the shoulders look weird to me, but that's probably just because I'm a Marine and we've never worn our enlisted ranks out there. I don't think it's historical as such, but perhaps the fact that the Army and Air Force did/do wear epaulette rank on certain more modern uniforms, makes this less odd to an soldier's or Airman's eye.
One other question, and this might have been answered on the other thread, but is there a preference on which patch goes on which shoulder and do you have them that way? I'm thinking of Combat Division on the right shoulder or last division on the left or whatever.
Not a big deal, but an old soldier takes pride in wearing his uniform properly where such detail applies.
Coming along nicely!
Deacon
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The Corporal's chevrons on the shoulders look weird to me, but that's probably just because I'm a Marine and we've never worn our enlisted ranks out there. I don't think it's historical as such, but perhaps the fact that the Army and Air Force did/do wear epaulette rank on certain more modern uniforms, makes this less odd to an soldier's or Airman's eye.
One other question, and this might have been answered on the other thread, but is there a preference on which patch goes on which shoulder and do you have them that way? I'm thinking of Combat Division on the right shoulder or last division on the left or whatever.
Not a big deal, but an old soldier takes pride in wearing his uniform properly where such detail applies.
Coming along nicely!
Deacon
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Looks great Tex! I think pretty classy and not overdone.
The Corporal's chevrons on the shoulders look weird to me, but that's probably just because I'm a Marine and we've never worn our enlisted ranks out there. I don't think it's historical as such, but perhaps the fact that the Army and Air Force did/do wear epaulette rank on certain more modern uniforms, makes this less odd to an soldier's or Airman's eye.
One other question, and this might have been answered on the other thread, but is there a preference on which patch goes on which shoulder and do you have them that way? I'm thinking of Combat Division on the right shoulder or last division on the left or whatever.
Not a big deal, but an old soldier takes pride in wearing his uniform properly where such detail applies.
Coming along nicely!
Deacon
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The 24th ID patch goes on the left sleeve for sure. The Tech 5th Grade rank insignia will be gold on a dark brown/black leather patch. I think they will look appropriate on the epaulets, even though from a purely technical standpoint they will not be totally correct.
I was not sure about the theater patch, so it is on the right sleeve.
I actually like the black cloth name tag better than the leather one. Am I the Lone Ranger on this? The jacket is so dark that the leather tag looked a bit odd...maybe it was the camera flash.
Well, my personal favorite is still the embossed leather and that can come in a dark brown as well if the black is too black. But I still think leather looks better than cloth since it captures that old timey flavor. Even on modern jackets, I still think leather looks best.
But that's purely personal opinion and I don't think the cloth would look bad by any means.
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But that's purely personal opinion and I don't think the cloth would look bad by any means.
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Well, perhaps we'll order one in black leather. I think it would look better as the jacket is so dark.
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Never saw a WW2 A2 with a black leather name tag. Much later Navy G1s yes....But A2s...nope.
HD
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Hmmm. Purely in the spirit of being constructive and honest, I have to say that, to my eye, I think there's a bit too much going on - the name tag is very USN, the other patches are US Army and the jacket is USAAF ... and to add to that, I think the sleeve patches are too bright - meaning they're not complimentary colours against the dark shade of leather, so they stand out too much and they look like they don't quite belong ...
A remedy would be to exchange the jacket for an army "tankers jacket" ... but as you have a jacket already (and one that's more sturdy to take the medals in the lining), my vote would be to get the patches made in leather and "aged" a little - to tone them down a shade and lend the jacket a more "vintage" edge, and then things would blend more ...
My suggestion would be that you look up Roberto Bandecca at www.italianapatchmaker.it as he did my patches and name tag for my ANJ-3 - and he did patches for Red Tails too - to see what you think. He's a really nice guy and can do whatever patch you want, the way you want it ... of course, there are others who can also provide this service - I merely know of my experience with Roberto.
But that's me and my 2 cents CDN (worth even less at about 1.7 US cents!). It's a tribute jacket at the end of the day - and I'm sure your grandfather will LOVE it and be thrilled. True veterans don't over-think these things as we do around here ....!
A remedy would be to exchange the jacket for an army "tankers jacket" ... but as you have a jacket already (and one that's more sturdy to take the medals in the lining), my vote would be to get the patches made in leather and "aged" a little - to tone them down a shade and lend the jacket a more "vintage" edge, and then things would blend more ...
My suggestion would be that you look up Roberto Bandecca at www.italianapatchmaker.it as he did my patches and name tag for my ANJ-3 - and he did patches for Red Tails too - to see what you think. He's a really nice guy and can do whatever patch you want, the way you want it ... of course, there are others who can also provide this service - I merely know of my experience with Roberto.
But that's me and my 2 cents CDN (worth even less at about 1.7 US cents!). It's a tribute jacket at the end of the day - and I'm sure your grandfather will LOVE it and be thrilled. True veterans don't over-think these things as we do around here ....!
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Hmmm. Purely in the spirit of being constructive and honest, I have to say that, to my eye, I think there's a bit too much going on - the name tag is very USN, the other patches are US Army and the jacket is USAAF ... and to add to that, I think the sleeve patches are too bright - meaning they're not complimentary colours against the dark shade of leather, so they stand out too much and they look like they don't quite belong ...
A remedy would be to exchange the jacket for an army "tankers jacket" ... but as you have a jacket already (and one that's more sturdy to take the medals in the lining), my vote would be to get the patches made in leather and "aged" a little - to tone them down a shade and lend the jacket a more "vintage" edge, and then things would blend more ...
My suggestion would be that you look up Roberto Bandecca at www.italianapatchmaker.it as he did my patches and name tag for my ANJ-3 - and he did patches for Red Tails too - to see what you think. He's a really nice guy and can do whatever patch you want, the way you want it ... of course, there are others who can also provide this service - I merely know of my experience with Roberto.
But that's me and my 2 cents CDN (worth even less at about 1.7 US cents!). It's a tribute jacket at the end of the day - and I'm sure your grandfather will LOVE it and be thrilled. True veterans don't over-think these things as we do around here ....!
Excellent ideas from both you guys! Keep in mind we are seeking leather patches for this. The cloth ones are bright, for sure. And I'll save $20 and not order the black name tag!
As already stated, the jacket is not meant to be a 100% correct period repro, just a "Tribute" jacket that will reflect my Dad's contribution during 1944 - 1945. At the same time, our goal is for it to look the part as much as possible.
I definitely agree that aged leather across the board would look best but, while not period correct, modern A-2s have both cloth patches and the now standard leather name tag.
It does bring up a good point though and a suggestion. Since you already have your dad's rank on the epaulettes, you could just go with a more period correct leather name strip. The only downside is that you would lose the CIB.
On the other hand, you could get a CIB painted patch, which would also preserve its blue color, or go with one of he guys who stamp the CIB into a leather patch and just ask them to make the patch instead of a full sized name tag.
So many options....
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It does bring up a good point though and a suggestion. Since you already have your dad's rank on the epaulettes, you could just go with a more period correct leather name strip. The only downside is that you would lose the CIB.
On the other hand, you could get a CIB painted patch, which would also preserve its blue color, or go with one of he guys who stamp the CIB into a leather patch and just ask them to make the patch instead of a full sized name tag.
So many options....
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