I posted this on VLJ - thought I would pass along:
Good Wear A-2 Aero 21996 Seal Brown Horsehide. Inspired by Tuskegee Airmen - Lt. George Hardy, 99th Fighter Squadron. His P-51 was named “Tall in the Saddle” possibly after the John Wayne Western released in 1944. Hardy flew 21 missions but I wanted a very battle worn/60 year old look. I enjoyed “working” on this jacket: painting, hot water, etc. It’s the exact jacket shown on John’s site. I went for the period "theater made/folk art look"
Added:
Gents – thanks. Just want to mention that this is new Japanese HH. This is what the exact jacket looked like new from Good Wear: http://www.goodwearleather.com/pages/gw21996_images4.html
I soaked the jacket in hot water (in the bathtub) for a few minutes, roughing it up a bit in the water until a slight clouding in the water from the dye in the leather can be seen. The jacket gets taken out, rung out VERY carefully, and then put in the dryer (with zipper zipped up) on regular heat for about 15-20 minutes. Then the jacket is removed, carefully turned inside out and placed back in the dryer. This process goes on until the jacket is about half dry. I then wore the jacket for a while (5 hours on and off) and then the jacket dried over the next few days. THIS NEW LEATHER REALLY SHRINKS SO BE CAREFUL TO NOT OVER-DRY. I did a little seam work with rubbing alcohol and a sanding block (very fine grade paper).
I painted the jacket. The paint use is enamel just like the stuff used in the 40’s (minus the lead). As most of you know, I painted about 50 leather patches for George Lucas’s new Red Tails movie so I can paint Tuskegee subjects on autopilot by now! Roberto also did lots of jacket art for the film as well as Diamond Dave (crusher caps) and of course – Good Wear Leather for the star A-2 jackets. Anyway, here are a few patches that were recently made but not for the film. Also, there has been a bit of discussion about nametags for A-2’s. The guy who makes then for Good Wear seems to make the best ones but I decided to try myself seeing as I had the correct leather. This was done with those mini screwdrivers one uses to work on models, eyeglasses, etc. tooled into/pressed into the leather.
Good Wear A-2 Aero 21996 Seal Brown Horsehide. Inspired by Tuskegee Airmen - Lt. George Hardy, 99th Fighter Squadron. His P-51 was named “Tall in the Saddle” possibly after the John Wayne Western released in 1944. Hardy flew 21 missions but I wanted a very battle worn/60 year old look. I enjoyed “working” on this jacket: painting, hot water, etc. It’s the exact jacket shown on John’s site. I went for the period "theater made/folk art look"
Added:
Gents – thanks. Just want to mention that this is new Japanese HH. This is what the exact jacket looked like new from Good Wear: http://www.goodwearleather.com/pages/gw21996_images4.html
I soaked the jacket in hot water (in the bathtub) for a few minutes, roughing it up a bit in the water until a slight clouding in the water from the dye in the leather can be seen. The jacket gets taken out, rung out VERY carefully, and then put in the dryer (with zipper zipped up) on regular heat for about 15-20 minutes. Then the jacket is removed, carefully turned inside out and placed back in the dryer. This process goes on until the jacket is about half dry. I then wore the jacket for a while (5 hours on and off) and then the jacket dried over the next few days. THIS NEW LEATHER REALLY SHRINKS SO BE CAREFUL TO NOT OVER-DRY. I did a little seam work with rubbing alcohol and a sanding block (very fine grade paper).
I painted the jacket. The paint use is enamel just like the stuff used in the 40’s (minus the lead). As most of you know, I painted about 50 leather patches for George Lucas’s new Red Tails movie so I can paint Tuskegee subjects on autopilot by now! Roberto also did lots of jacket art for the film as well as Diamond Dave (crusher caps) and of course – Good Wear Leather for the star A-2 jackets. Anyway, here are a few patches that were recently made but not for the film. Also, there has been a bit of discussion about nametags for A-2’s. The guy who makes then for Good Wear seems to make the best ones but I decided to try myself seeing as I had the correct leather. This was done with those mini screwdrivers one uses to work on models, eyeglasses, etc. tooled into/pressed into the leather.
