VMSB-235 work in progress

[Yardstick]

I’ve been working on a few USN and USMC patches over the last week or so. I’m part way through a patch that I have been looking forward to for a while - VMSB-235. There’s still a lot of work to do but it’s coming together really well. So I thought I’d share a WIP pic.

 

[B-Man2]

Yardstick
This is beautiful needle work........you really need to consider marketing some of your work.

 

[Yardstick]

I thought it some of you may find it interesting to see one aspect of recreating patches that is not given much of an airing – namely research. Much like the research on A-2 jacket contracts that most of you will be very familiar with, exploring what is the definitive example of a particular squadron patch can be a deep rabbit hole to jump into. The current VMSB-235 patch is a very good example of some of the issues that can be encountered.

First up, this is a rare patch, issued in one batch to the air component of a relatively short lived unit. The batch of patches was made up in Australia, embroidered on felt as is so typical of much of the wartime produced patches coming out of that country. These patches are typically machine made (evidenced by the return stitching on the back) and some had hand detailing, typically the black outlining of figures etc (again evidenced by obvious signs of hand stitching on the reverse). In my ignorance I had always assumed that these patches were manufactured as they would be today - with the machine working from a template of some description. However, this appears to not be the case given the significant variations in the 4 below examples. This suggests to me that at the very least the detailing on these 4 patches was done by a human using a machine.

To illustrate my findings, I’ve highlighted 7 clear differences present in at least one of the below examples (there are many more).

1. The end of the black cane is missing in the first two patches and extends beyond the rear of the bomb fins on patch D.
2. The black outline around the knee is missing in patch B and partially missing in D.
3. The black line separating the top from the lower leg is absent from patch C.
4. The yellow stars are missing from A.
5. The ribbon (I think it may be a Medal of Honor) is lacking the white dots (stars) in A and B.
6. The spots on the wolf’s snout are missing completely from A and there are 9 spots on B, while C and D have 8.
7. The reflection on the top hat is completely different on D when compared to the others.

So, which version should I follow? Well, if I had the original artwork that would allow me to understand what the maker(s) of this particular patch was trying to recreate. That doesn’t mean, I would necessarily copy the original design but it does allow me to better replicate a patch without adding additional levels of error (you see this countless times in modern mass-produced replicas).

However, in this case there’s no artwork to reference, so I’m left with a choice. I could select one of the 4 examples and re-creating that errors and all. I could also take the best features of all 4 patches and use that as the basis of a ‘best in breed’ patch. However, what I am doing with this patch (and this is my usual approach) is to correct some of the most egregious errors and re-create what would have been an example from the better end of the production batch.

I’ll do an update on my progress in a couple of days.

 

[ausreenactor]

Yardstick
This is beautiful needle work........you really need to consider marketing some of your work.

Yes... in particular some Mareeba Butchers patches...

 

[ausreenactor]

I thought it some of you may find it interesting to see one aspect of recreating patches that is not given much of an airing – namely research. Much like the research on A-2 jacket contracts that most of you will be very familiar with, exploring what is the definitive example of a particular squadron patch can be a deep rabbit hole to jump into. The current VMSB-235 patch is a very good example of some of the issues that can be encountered.

First up, this is a rare patch, issued in one batch to the air component of a relatively short lived unit. The batch of patches was made up in Australia, embroidered on felt as is so typical of much of the wartime produced patches coming out of that country. These patches are typically machine made (evidenced by the return stitching on the back) and some had hand detailing, typically the black outlining of figures etc (again evidenced by obvious signs of hand stitching on the reverse). In my ignorance I had always assumed that these patches were manufactured as they would be today - with the machine working from a template of some description. However, this appears to not be the case given the significant variations in the 4 below examples. This suggests to me that at the very least the detailing on these 4 patches was done by a human using a machine.

To illustrate my findings, I’ve highlighted 7 clear differences present in at least one of the below examples (there are many more).

View attachment 68466

1. The end of the black cane is missing in the first two patches and extends beyond the rear of the bomb fins on patch D.
2. The black outline around the knee is missing in patch B and partially missing in D.
3. The black line separating the top from the lower leg is absent from patch C.
4. The yellow stars are missing from A.
5. The ribbon (I think it may be a Medal of Honor) is lacking the white dots (stars) in A and B.
6. The spots on the wolf’s snout are missing completely from A and there are 9 spots on B, while C and D have 8.
7. The reflection on the top hat is completely different on D when compared to the others.

So, which version should I follow? Well, if I had the original artwork that would allow me to understand what the maker(s) of this particular patch was trying to recreate. That doesn’t mean, I would necessarily copy the original design but it does allow me to better replicate a patch without adding additional levels of error (you see this countless times in modern mass-produced replicas).

However, in this case there’s no artwork to reference, so I’m left with a choice. I could select one of the 4 examples and re-creating that errors and all. I could also take the best features of all 4 patches and use that as the basis of a ‘best in breed’ patch. However, what I am doing with this patch (and this is my usual approach) is to correct some of the most egregious errors and re-create what would have been an example from the better end of the production batch.

I’ll do an update on my progress in a couple of days.

Awesome fidelity in your analysis...

Do take umbrage at 'that country' though.

'Straya' mate! Its beaut!

 

[Yardstick]

Latest update...

My template is patch B (the most detailed image I have). In terms of the design choices outlined above, I went with the following:

• Added the back half of the cane and extended it beyond the fins of the bomb.
• Added the white dots/stars to the medal ribbon.
• Added black outline to right knee.
• Made the cartoon notch / light reflection in the eyes a little more prominent.

I've now moved onto the bottom section which should only take about 3 more hours as it is largely infill with not much detailing.

Edit: Thought I was done, then spotted I’d missed the 2 yellow stars.

 

[Yardstick]

All done

 

[Otter]

Beautiful job, just amazing attention to detail !

 

[ausreenactor]

I still don't think you could do an accurate embroidered Mareeba Butchers' patch though?

(Taaaaake the bait.... taaaaake the bait)

 

[Yardstick]

I still don't think you could do an accurate embroidered Mareeba Butchers' patch though?

(Taaaaake the bait.... taaaaake the bait)

Posted in an earlier thread

 

[ausreenactor]

Posted in an earlier thread

Desist all further conversations and receive my barter!