Painted Flight Jackets - Planes, Names, and Dames

[P5640blouson]

This is an awesome thread!

This is an awesome thread! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Thanks for posting pics of your jacket, great looking paint job. Matter of fact I recently purchased a Real McCoys, "Memphis Belle" painted tribute jacket very much like yours and when it gets here, I'll post pics of it. Did you start out with artistic talents or were you like me, learning to paint, just to be able to paint patches and flight jackets ? (Now that I can afford to buy painted jackets, I don't paint much anymore)

Thanks, glad you like them.
I really paint most anything from portraits to landscapes, and everything in between. Oils mostly. I was always into WW2 history and so of course I had to branch out into the nose art as a sideline. I've kept a few, sold a few over the last 10 years or so that I have been doing jacket art. I will do another here soon I think,..

 

[Silver Dollar]

Wow!! Worrth Fighting For is gorgeous. That's the kind I like to paint also. With a little wear on that jacket, you won't be able to tell it from a real period piece. I'm really inspired by that one and that's no baloney. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Wow!! Worrth Fighting For is gorgeous. That's the kind I like to paint also. With a little wear on that jacket, you won't be able to tell it from a real period piece. I'm really inspired by that one and that's no baloney. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Glad I could be of service.

 

[Speedbird]

.....per your request. From several years ago, the second jacket I painted.

[/IMG]

Wow Nick ... that's brilliant! I could paint cartoons sort of, and figurative representations - but to get detail like a portrait, I need the camera!

The great thing about this particular interest, most of the original jackets painters didn't have talent either - not everyone was as gifted as Elvgren or Vargas, so someone like me without artistic talent can still enjoy copying the originals!!!

I think that there is a lot of talent on show in this thread!

 

[Silver Dollar]

Hey Speedbird. I visit the Air Force Museum regularly. They have a big collection of painted a2 jackets from all the theaters. Your style and my style are pretty much the same. If you take a good look at those jackets in the museum, maybe there is one that is really incredible. The rest are just as you said. Good enough to be cool and convey the message but no where near Elvgren or Vargas. You're in great company. If you want me to post a few of those pics from the museum, I'd be happy to.

 

[442RCT]

This thread sure is inspirational.... I haven't patched or painted anything in more than 15 years ..... and I was never an artist or close to being as good as you guys .... but these last few days I have got out my old tracings and transparencies, and have been digging in the attic for my acrylic and enamel paints..... now if only people would stop outbidding me on basic, cheap orphan A-2's....... lol

Speedy, you don't need a jacket to paint on. In some WW2 theatres, local craftsmen made a business of selling 'pre-painted' jacket art to flight crews. I've seen flight jacket books with examples of this form of jacket art. These panels were sewn on the A-2.

This panel was listed on eBay recently.

 

[Speedbird]

I know .... I was always a bit shy and wary of painted jackets and/or painting my jacket ... like I said, I wish I had aquired a collection of the early Avirex paints back in the day .... but I should remember back then a new jacket was 2 or 3 weeks wages - they are in real terms cheaper now!

What I did paint nose art on was things like my crash helmets, fuel tanks, bedroom walls etc .... lol lol lol

 

[Leamas]

New to the board

I recently purchased a US Authentic A2 (horsehide seal brown) and was considering nose art. US A charges upwards of $600 for hand painted nose art, so I thought maybe I'd try an imprint.

According to their website, an imprint utilizes "advance printing technology and heat press application", but that doesn't tell me much. And looking at their examples doesn't help much either as the resolution isn't high enough.

Does anyone have any experience with imprints? Do they look like decals, or do they have the effect of looking painted? Do they age with the jacket, or do they stay crisp and new looking while the leather ages around it?

A little about me...I wore an Avirex Memphis Belle in college (about thirteen years ago). I don't know why I waited so long to get another A2...but I did. [huh] I enjoy WWII aircraft, especially the nose art, old movies, and WWII history.

Thanks for any help you folks can provide. Who knows, maybe this A2 will wind up being a plain Jane.

 

[Silver Dollar]

Hey Leamus. I'm not sure if an imprint is like an iron on that you put on a T shirt,, but if it is, then you might not like the way it looks. I used to have an old Avirex/ Cockpit jacket that was made of dark seal cowhide. A number of years later, they started to sell jackets with nose art on the back but they looked like they were silk screened on. They looked terrible, like a big washed out rubber patch. I think nowadays the process is better but if you want something that looks just like paint on the back, then real paint it should be. Can you do any artwork yourself? If you can, I can give you a few pointers on how to do a nose art painting from jacket preparation to completion. Don't forget that the great majority of original painted jackets weren't really as good as some of the repro work you see here. A number of guys that paint on this site are fantastic but if you can't afford that type of work, the more period type of piece is what you really want. It's not really that difficult depending on what you like on the jacket. That's how I got into jacket painting in the first place. I couldn't even remotely afford the cost of a real painting. I figured if I could do it myself, I could spend more on the jacket and get a better one. If you want, I also have a good collection of pictures of the painted jackets in the Air Force Museum. I could post them and you'll see what I mean. I hope this helps.

 

[Leamas]

I'm afraid that I possesses little to no artistic talents, and I wouldn't dare take paint to my new A2! I would, however, love to see the pictures of the A2's from the USAF museum. I'm contemplating purchasing a book on the history of A2's. I hear there are some good ones out there that have some great color photos of original nose art. Also, if you could post the directions, that would be great too. I'm thinking about searching for some local artists that may be able to paint my jacket, yet they might not know the correct steps for painting leather.

Thanks for the response!

 

[Phantomfixer]

Art of the Flight Jacket and Ready for Duty are two of the finest(and readily available on Amazon) books out there. There are scores of others out there. Good luck, oh yeah let your local artist study a few of these books to get a feel for nose art and what the guys were trying to say with it.

 

[442RCT]

Linkes Pour L' Artistes du Jacquet d'Avion

Just my 2 cents, $600+ is a lot to charge for a decent paint job. I have a local professional artist who charges $ 400 for a jacket paint job, he's doing a tribute jacket for a friend right now. I've posted his prelim sketch for the project.

On the left is a Jerome Urbaniak 8th AF paint job.
On the right is the prelim sketch w/ changes for my friend's 15 AF paint job.

If you go to this link: http://www.acmedepot.com/a2jacket/jacket_links.html

They have links for jacket artists, one of them only charges $ 208.00 for his work. He has examples of his work posted and they look pretty decent to me, especially for what he's asking. :whistling

http://www.artbysky.org/html/jacketartprices.html

 

[Silver Dollar]

I'm afraid that I possesses little to no artistic talents, and I wouldn't dare take paint to my new A2! I would, however, love to see the pictures of the A2's from the USAF museum. I'm contemplating purchasing a book on the history of A2's. I hear there are some good ones out there that have some great color photos of original nose art. Also, if you could post the directions, that would be great too. I'm thinking about searching for some local artists that may be able to paint my jacket, yet they might not know the correct steps for painting leather.

Thanks for the response!

Give me a couple of days and I'll get those pictures of the jackets posted in a separate thread. From time to time, they put some different ones in the display. The Art of the Flight Jacket and it's companion book which name I can't seem to remember today are written by the same guys: Jon MacGuire is one of the authors. They're fantastic.

 

[Leamas]

442RCT and Silver Dollar,

Thanks for the responses.

442RCT,

I did a lot of Googling prior to joining the Fedora Lounge and stumbled across the artbysky fella. I was a bit wary b/c he only charged $200 per jacket for a pinup, name of plane, and up to 30 bombs (something to that effect). Check out page 3, the Memphis Belle jacket. It's spot on with respect to the nose art found on the actual plane and not the Hollywood version of the nose art, which has the girl's left arm extended instead of bent and uses script instead of block lettering.

I hate to be suspicious, but do you know whether that guy is legit? Of course I'm a bit wary b/c he's an unknown commodity found on the 'net, but also b/c he looks to do exceptional work for little money.

Silver Dollar,

No rush with the pics. or instructions. We're having a warm spring and at this rate I'm not going to get much wear out of my A2 until fall/autumn. Should have bought it sooner! :eusa_doh:

 

[442RCT]

Check out page 3, the Memphis Belle jacket. It's spot on with respect to the nose art found on the actual plane and not the Hollywood version of the nose art, which has the girl's left arm extended instead of bent and uses script instead of block lettering.

I hate to be suspicious, but do you know whether that guy is legit? Of course I'm a bit wary b/c he's an unknown commodity found on the 'net, but also b/c he looks to do exceptional work for little money.

We're having a warm spring and at this rate I'm not going to get much wear out of my A2 until fall/autumn. Should have bought it sooner! :eusa_doh:

Sorry, i don't know if he's legit or not since I don't know anyone who's personally had a jacket painted by him. I do know that last X-mas 3 or 4 of his painted jackets shown on his website were sold on eBay. I don't know if a customer sold them or he sold them. they were pretty much all the same size. I think they each sold in the range of $ 300-350.

The Memphis Belle has been interpreted on so many jackets, that I've never noticed the details for the 'Memphis Belle' jacket art vs. the nose art on the original plane. [huh] Thanks for pointing those details out. I just looked at the pics of my recently purchased MB painted jacket and it's got the block lettering, but the girl is wearing neither the red or the blue swimsuit, she's wearing a black outfit. :eusa_doh:

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

442RCT and Silver Dollar,

Thanks for the responses.

442RCT,

I did a lot of Googling prior to joining the Fedora Lounge and stumbled across the artbysky fella. I was a bit wary b/c he only charged $200 per jacket for a pinup, name of plane, and up to 30 bombs (something to that effect). Check out page 3, the Memphis Belle jacket. It's spot on with respect to the nose art found on the actual plane and not the Hollywood version of the nose art, which has the girl's left arm extended instead of bent and uses script instead of block lettering.

I hate to be suspicious, but do you know whether that guy is legit? Of course I'm a bit wary b/c he's an unknown commodity found on the 'net, but also b/c he looks to do exceptional work for little money.

Silver Dollar,

No rush with the pics. or instructions. We're having a warm spring and at this rate I'm not going to get much wear out of my A2 until fall/autumn. Should have bought it sooner! :eusa_doh:

Too bad you didn't find me a few years back when I lived in Ohio. I was trying to get a deal going with U.S. Wings, and did paint one for a customer there. The retail climate there prevented the owner from following through.

[/IMG]
I charge 300 BTW)

 

[Silver Dollar]

Hey Maj. Nick, that's one beautiful jacket painting. 300 is a really good price for that kind of artwork. You could have been a reincarnated squadron artist.

 

[scotrace]

Major Nick Danger - no longer in Ohio? How did I miss that?
The Major does VERY fine work. I've seen jackets he has done and they're excellent.

 

[Creeping Past]

up to 30 bombs

The bombs are his loss-leader