• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

N-1 Deck Jacket Stencil

Cobblers161

Well-Known Member
I'm trying to get my hands on a stencil for 40's USN Deck Jacket.

I've done plenty of research (ok, about 30 mins on't net) but bar one Rubber Stamp on ebay have drawn a blank, even Mash came up with empty.

So does anyone know where I may find the "USN" stencil to go on the front of a Khaki Deck Jacket?

Cheers,

Steve
 

Peter Graham

Well-Known Member
Steve, you could try making one with thin card. Might be fiddly but not impossible. Use black fabric paint and practice on a piece of old cloth. I've done a few on T shirts and they turned out well, but that was using a pre cut stencil set.
 

ausreenactor

Well-Known Member
There are iron on ones. I used one and a patch from Ties for the USS Atule on a khaki deck hook.. (I know they were not real). Will bounce around. Black AND white for denim/blue stuff.
 

CBI

Well-Known Member
if you find the font you want on-line, print it out on card stock, cut out with an x-acto knife and use a make-up sponge to apply paint, make sure you have damped some of the excess paint off the sponge first. Do some practice runs. Works really well done correctly!

Oh, a disaster if you mess up on the actual jacket!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Cobblers161

Well-Known Member
Luckily the chap I sold the other RMc to has offered me the loan of a ruuber USN stamp, the one that can be found on ebay.
I have some pigment dye arriving soon so all is sweet.

Yeh CBI, plenty of practice runs..... lot's of 'em!!!
 

Thomas Koehle

Well-Known Member
I already worked with both the rubber stamp, the iron-on stencil as well as with a "real" stencil which I ordered from a shop in the US - if you wanna hear my advise keep your hands off the rubber stamp or - at least - do some testruns before you try to apply on your jacket otherwise it might get ruined

if you take too much ink you might not get sharp lines on the edges and after all you have a mess on your jacket

using "real" stencils requires some patience - instead of a sponge you might also use a brush with the "hair" cut short

my best result so far was with the iron-on letters which "ausreenactor" recommended - using "real" stencils is a bit tricky

finally having in mind that if stencils applied under "field conditions" it would have been done pretty often by GI`s (or sailors) which ain`t real "Rembrands" and would not have cared about to mark the stuff in crisp letters - on a lot of D-Day pics you see large USN - markings roughly done with a brush or something

so maybe it would be more realistic to do the prints "as good as you" can and that`s it

anyway - if you want to have your jacket nicely marked i`d go for the ironing stuff

just my 2 cents
 
Last edited:

Cobblers161

Well-Known Member
Cheers Thomas,

Funnily enough I used the rubber stamp earlier today and it's worked well.
I practiced on a tea towel and managed to get the hang of it, my wife will do me in for that.
There are a couple of very minor smudges, I mean barely noticeable but I like that, it strikes me as being more authentic, as you say field applied. I've nereded over this detail quite extensively and am pleased to find not all original applications were perfect.

One thing that does strike me however is that there tend to be more images of WW2 jackets without stencils than with.
I guess the desire for a stencil now stems more from need to set it apart from a 'fashion' jackets.
 

Thomas Koehle

Well-Known Member
so mayby it was my impatience and I didn`t practice enough - would like to see some pics of how it worked out

concerning the amount of unmarked jackets vs stenciled ones: I think as with all wartime garment produced by different manufacturers at different locations there will always be some differences - sometimes minor details - sometimes the more obvious things. As for a percentage of how many jackets have been issued with the USN print I do not have a clue but comparing pictures my gutfeeling is there have been more marked ones than unmarked and if it would have been the other way around I would not care

i`d mark my jacket with the USN anyway - like you stated just to make the difference to the civil jackets
 
Top