Hi all, I am doing a project that will require recreating some WWII bomber jackets (A2, B15, M-1943 and ANJ14) with
nose art and unit markings.
I've been reading up on the topic, and found a number of options. They are, basically, Painting, Printing, and decals. Given that I have most of this nose are in vector graphic format that can be perfectly reproduced over and over and over readily, without painstaking hand-painting, it seems that painting is clearly going to be the most expensive option.
That leaves printing, and decals. Regarding decals, I've found this Japanese site, which shows how to use waterslide decals. http://www.mash-japa.../index_eng.html I also understand that there are some great heat-applied decals out there. What I do not understand is how durable this form of application is.
Then, there's printing. I found this article about the exciting new techologies for printing on leather. http://sdgmag.com/ar...o-leather This process seems especially interesting, durable, and reproducable for a project like this. I may be making numerous copies of the nose art for family members of the plane my uncle flew on.
My question is this: Does anyone have any experience with the printing method, and how does it work? It appears to basically be sublimation printing, and if so--how much does the underlying color affect the process? How durable is this? Is it something you can do readily on a jacket? Is it something you'd be better off printing on a piece of leather that you later glue or sew onto the jacket (authenticity issues aside, of course)?
With decals, where does one get "Meyercord 1036-R", and "Decal Coating 1043-M" in volumes better than they sell on the mash-japan website? Is there another option? I emailed Tandy Leather without response with this question.
I've attached a copy of the nose art I'll be putting on the jackets. It can also be seen on my facebook tribute site, just look up "Waddy's Wagon" on facebook.
