A-2 Jackets

[Wittpilot]

As many of you know, I'm kind of an A-2 jacket freak. I have several,(putting it mildly) and now my brother is catching up to me. This is only his 4th or 5th jacket, but his talent is just unbelievable. He is really getting better and better with each jacket. And he's only a Junior in college!! He did this one for himself. My grandfather flew just one or two missions on this B-17 when he was flying out of Italy. I have a couple more ideas of a couple I want done..
You can see some of the work from my brother & father at their facebook page...

Drain Aviation Art
(http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Drain-Aviation-Art/276635135681832)
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/2928/photoqpf.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/59/photoqpf.jpg/)

[Flyboy208]

I have a few ex-girlfriends that would fit that description ! Nice looking A-2 ! Mike:wiggle:

[Bone]

That is very, very nice work. I'd like to see pics of the artwork on the other jackets you have, if you don't mind putting them up.

[Wittpilot]

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/7060/97194524.jpg

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/6536/82605299.jpg

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/2845/25141008.jpg

[Wittpilot]

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/299/51849579.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4541/74764498.jpg

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/6001/25056867.jpg

[Daveroo]

those are awesome....thanks for sharing

[Bone]

yep, awesome.

[Lenop]

Wauw, very nice! I have a G1 myself that I'd like put art on. May I ask what paints and technique you use? My father is a very good painter/artist so he might get the job done. :)

[Wittpilot]

Like I said, my dad & brother do all the painting... What I DO know is that they use a special paint. Actually, it's not really paint. It is more like a stain that is specifically made for leather. They treat the leather within the outline of the art with a type of acid that preps the leather then they paint a base layer on, and go from there. I'm not sure if they put some type of sealant over that or not. I don't think so. You can also do it with regular acrylic paints as well, but these will not last for a real long time. The first one or two we did were just simple craft store acrylics.

These are also all hand brushed paintings. No airbrushing... Airbrushing might have a neat look to it, but it is not authentic. The "Real McCoys" would have been hand painted with brush strokes and all.

Hope that helps a little,

-witt

[Bomber_12th]

These are just gorgeous, Witt, thank you for sharing your family member's artwork with us! I love when, in these types of instances, the artwork is done the old fashioned way, and executed so well - they have the proper look to them. While I like all of the artwork posted, the subject matter and execution of it on the jacket in the first photo, as mentioned, is simply excellent - I've got to get me one of those sometime!

[Wittpilot]

One of the best things about them is that most people would pay like $500 -$1000 for something like this... They do it typically for about $100, depending on the amount of work obviously. My brother also only took one day to do that first jacket I posted. Everyone that has come to us we have hooked up with a used jacket on eBay. They tell us what size they need, and we look for a few weeks and find a good one.. *usually* some sizes are hard to get... All of those jackets I posted are USED. But if you get something that is real leather, it typically lasts a long time. Most of them are Cooper jackets, but I've become pretty knowledgeable on what brands make good replicas, and which ones are just a tad on the cheap side. I personally have jackets from Cooper, Avirex, Protech, Flight Apparel, & Sporty's.

-witt

*Also, I did't have a photo of the front of my jacket, but it has a leather name strip just like the originals. These are made by a very nice gentleman right here in Ohio and he sells them on eBay. Very Very good work. I think his website is http://www.split-s.us/.

[Wittpilot]

BTW, I'm not positive, but I believe that Liberty Belle jacket was made for John Hess, the PIC that landed her safely in the cornfield in Ill last June... Tremendous feat, and a tremendous pilot....