A2 Jacket Art

Hi all

Having had my A2 now for some time I thought I'd try my hand at some art - will post updates through to completion. I'm trying a composition out - 'Cloud Cavalry' is a name me and a group of flying friends seem to have adopted over the last few years. I'll be writing the Cloud at the top right and the cavalry, bottom left.

This is the first time I've tried anything like this and I'm a little concerned about flaking as the paint is quite thick and the surface is very textured. I'll finish with a layer of clear Matt varnish to see if that helps.

Big thanks so far to stand by for the 'how to' articles posted elsewhere on here.

Comments welcome

Nice job.

Good day highhope,
Thanks for posting your jacket art here - and even though it's incomplete, I can see it's already looking nice and neat and is nicely done! It's a really original and cool design you've come up with and I look forward to seeing it progress - and seeing just who is on the horse with the sword …

What paint medium are you using for the art (artist oils/acrylics/enamels) and are you using any other additive mediums (Flow Enhancer etc) ?
Oil paint can go on a bit thick but I'm still amazed at how very permanent it is each time I look at my old piece of Stand By - now framed in my bathroom and it's got just a few pin-prick flakes missing after years of wear on my old A2 before it went in its frame. I would never have expected that when I first did it, but there it is. Oil paint is a bit translucent and it takes a few layers - and therefore time - but the wait is well worth it and your patience will be rewarded.
Acrylics can be layered in light coats to get the correct colour chroma (opacity) you want - and I highly recommend using Flow Enhancer or Tension Breaker to help the paint to flex along with the jacket. Selecting paint colours with full (four stars) permanence will also help.
A layer of acrylic varnish will help too - but it's like cough mixture; a little is good - more is not better. So one good coat is all you need - otherwise a couple of extra coats "for good measure" will give you a "milky" coating instead of clear and that's to be avoided! And varnishes don't need any additives like Flow Enhancer like the coloured paints do, so just one coat as-is is all you need.
So flaking may yet still happen - I think that's par for the course and it can give a nice "aged" effect in so doing - one you can either leave or correct/touch-up as you prefer. Some of my patches have worn where deep creases in the grain have occurred and I've always left them as I like the "aged" look. My ELC C-3 "Playin' Jane" took some serious and unintentional "aging" when I packed it in my flight bag and had assumed it would be okay as I'd finished it a few weeks before, but folding it against itself and it being squashed by other bags for the transatlantic flight just made it stick to itself. I nearly had a frickin' heart attack when I got to Cardiff and discovered that - my free lesson in what "shell hardness" of paint is in real terms! I was so gutted. I uber-carefully pried it apart and it had pulled some of the paint off in a random fashion - and very shortly afterwards I came to really like this unintended effect (how you look will decide what you see) - and have never repaired it. I like it just as it is!
And for the record, it was always my firm belief that the issue with the sticking-together of Playin' Jane came from the varnish - it was that final layer that required more time to achieve the full shell-hardness. Once it has fully cured, it's permanent and will protect the work and flex nicely too.
But as you are asking about varnish in particular, the moral of that story is to give it extra time - and then some. Let it dry on a hangar by itself and not in the wardrobe where it will hang against another jacket. Let it get plenty of air hanging by itself.

Oh, and thanks for the thanks! I'm glad someone found the How-To thread useful!

Thanks Standby - it was hard body acrylics I used to allow some flexibility. I did what you said and used matt varnish in a single coat and it has really given it a good, tough finish which I'm over the moon about!

Here's the finished jacket anyway - appreciate your comments! I followed your how to guide with accuracy and I have to say I'm overjoyed at the results! I really want to get hold of a G1 or another A2 now to have another crack at a new design.

Speaking of designs, thanks for your comments RE mine - cloud cavalry came from a very aged biker one night at a pub near the airfield. His 'gang' in the 50's were called the cloud cavalry and myself and the 'young crowd' at the airfield sort of adopted the term...hence the design. Clearly, your 'lucky dog' design heavily inspired the lettering too

Either way, thanks again Standby - your articles were wonderfully, patiently and clearly written...you've started something here for me!!



I painted Fifi II after my great uncles' spitfire nose art - proud of the lovely cracked look...still bonded strong though after about a year now!



The Cloud Cavalry!!



And closer...

Beautiful, highhope. Simply BEAUTIFUL! I love it! 10/10!
The art looks stunning. Simple, elegant, original and very, very well done indeed! What more is there?!

And I'm glad that my thread helped - and you are most welcome. Its job is already done as it helped someone here on TFL - it was all I ever wanted/hoped for, so if it helps anyone else, it's a bonus.
Fantastic work. Truly. BRAVO!

PS. I'm still looking and admiring your work here, highhope - and I love the design. It reminds me of the animation style first seen when Warner Bros. did the Batman series - which was very art-deco and subtly stylish (and why it totally worked then, I thought), and, to me, the horse reminds me of that and I think that's why it works so well on your A2, as 1930's era art-deco fonts and designs were used on jackets and planes of the day. I'd love to know how you came up with the actual design of the hussar and horse.
And is that an ELC "Werber" jacket (I'm going by the caramel knits - which I love btw) or an Aero? It's so nice in those tones.
And I'm afraid that I can't help you with the new burning desire to paint on more jackets - as each design requires a new purchase, and that's tricky ($$) and how many A2s can one realistically have? I mean, I'd love a really nice A2 on which to do a new version of Stand By (or one another design I'm very fond of. One or the other - I'm always musing as to which one it would be) - but I have my Aero ANJ-3 with Lucky Dog, which I love - and I don't need an A2 because of that … but still … I'd love to do it.
But you made me realize last night that I can at least partially scratch that itch by painting a new bomb on my ANJ-3 "Lucky Dog" jacket - as we rescued a tiny Chihuahua puppy from Mexico a few weeks ago from a very crowded and rustic sanctuary when we visited over Christmas and New year, and boy, she really needed out of there ASAP. She wouldn't have lasted a few days more, otherwise. So now we have her. But she's so little - and I think painting on a .22 air gun pellet might be more appropriate!

You'll have to post updates of your next works - please.
Thanks again for posting! Brilliant.

Thanks so much for your kind comments Standby - chuffed to bits that someone as skilled as yourself rates my art here, I really am! It goes almost goes without saying that your jackets are of the highest standards...which is why I trusted your tutorial to the letter

I too am into building model aeroplanes and had just finished a really detailed 1:72 scale se5a together with all the rigging on Sunday night and just wanted something else to focus on - went out and bought a load of acrylics and sat reading your threads ...

The design was just an idea...something simple but bold...needed to be a horse involved...and a cloud somewhere...I drew this sketch out onto A4 and liked it so traced it onto tracing paper and followed your guide.



The bit which sticks into my memory is the 'leap of faith' as you call it! As soon as that brush mark is done, the worst part is over. That is EXACTLY how it felt!

I do have an Aero two-tone B3 which is now begging for a paintbrush! I'm afraid I'll have to admit I don't know who the jacket maker is...I picked it up years ago on eBay for about £300 but the fact is, I've worn it for so many flying hours now...without being gross, it's formed to me...it has both my smell and the aeroplane smell haha. Oil, grease and scars to tell their own stories.

I love the idea of using personal things to create your own designs...it's the real spirit of the a2 and just why they were so popular. Lucky dog has a wonderful story behind it...as has cloud cavalry and Fifi II. It's all personal and a great conversation starter

Really love worn jackets though...hoping beyond hope that this one stays on but cracks and wears down over time . Your job on Stanby (which I've been looking at obsessively for the last few days) is just amazing, no other words for it!

And by the way, I think your rescue work is commendable - you have every right to get those brushes out again!

Thanks for the kind words, highhope - and I'm glad I got the Leap Of Faith element across sufficiently that you could make yours. It's tough - as the stark reality is that you're about to potentially ruin a perfectly good jacket. But I'm glad you made the jump - and did so with aplomb!
I look at Stand By every morning in my bathroom and still can't believe I did it - not for a first attempt with no rehearsal. But I'm glad I did as I wouldn't choose it today - I'd think that it looks a bit too much like a movie poster and not true nose art, so I'd have done something else, something more authentic. But I wouldn't change the choice I made then, even if I could.
And if you're looking at your B-3 as a potential canvas, I would respectfully suggest that you do so with caution - as only a very few B-3s had jacket art I think they look better without it. I don't think it suits them IMO. Painting on sheepskin is a mite problematic (as I demonstrated) - but you could consider getting a nice piece of leather and painting a squadron or bomb group patch and getting it sewn on. I think that's as far as I would go …
Thanks for the kinds words about the dog rescue too. One of my alternate possibilities for "Lucky Dog" was "Doghouse" - as we've rescued so many and it was the name of a B-17 too (and the name of an episode of The Wire too! One of our favourite TV dramas of all time) - but as I have Flak Magnet on my Aero C-3, I didn't want anyone thinking I was some kind of perpetually-berated Husband-like person! (which I'm not!). LOL!