MONARCH Size 46 AN - J-3A Restoration

[Maverickson]

Hi All,

I wanted to share my latest restoration with the members. In this case a fine Large size mid War AN-J-3A Monarch and from my most favorite jacket maker.

When I received this jacket it was in dire need of repair. It was board line wearable and had lost all of it's original integrity. Between this Monarch's poor or just plain sloppy War time factory and subsequent workmanship this AN-J-3A project represents the most trying restoration I've done to date.










Prior to what is seen above, besides normal wear from age it had it's fair share of cockpit damage , multiple different sizes of panels that created a lopsided collar, worn out & poorly aligned collar and zip replacement.

I'm proud to say that I brought this one back.

Cheers, Dave

 

[Smithy]

Mate, that's absolutely awesome. My hat is well and truly off to you, seriously great work.

 

[Maverickson]

Hi Smithy,

I appreciate it! This jacket had some serious issues before I got my hands on it. There were almost too many repairs done to list.

To name the obvious & as far as I can tell this is the third zipper, third mouton & third set of knits. All prior workmanship was poor at best. It took many hours of fitting, realigning and diminishing empty stitches to get what is now seen.

The real crime is the patches that were once attached to this jacket have all gone missing. No less than four WW-2 & Korean War type squadron patches were once attached to the jacket's front panels. While the back panel at one time held a huge Air Wing patch. All removed long ago.

Cheers, Dave

 

[daw]

Beautiful work! Obviously a labor of love, and what a result!

 

[CBI]

looks great!!!!!

 

[MikeyB-17]

Hell of a job! Love those knits.

 

[Dave]

Dave, another Dave here, I contacted you on the 'bay about possible restoration to an Arnoff AN-J-3A I have. Can you email me please at dcnanners @ gmail? I don't think I have PM funcionality yet. Thanks!

 

[Maverickson]

Hi,
Yes, I can. Some time back I restored one.
[email protected]

Cheers, Dave

 

[Maverickson]

Hi All,

That jacket is currently used by an active duty USN aviator. He said that he did not like the new issue G-1 and preferred a vintage jacket. In doing I replaced the knits, mouton, lining and zipper.

See a few more.

note the single stitch track on the replacement zip. Also replaced the zip with the correct War era Conmar.

Again, no extra holes front and back.

I did my max effort on that size 42 Arnoff jacket and reused all the original stitch holes.

Cheers, Dave

 

[Dany McDonald]

Hi Dave,

Fantastic work and amazing attention to details...

May I ask a technical question, did you use a machine or go by hand when reusing the original holes?

Thank you,

Dany

 

[Maverickson]

HI Danny,
I use both hand and machine.
Cheers, Dave

 

[SuinBruin]

Hi All,

That jacket is currently used by an active duty USN aviator. He said that he did not like the new issue G-1 and preferred a vintage jacket. In doing I replaced the knits, mouton, lining and zipper.

See a few more

That's very cool. I want a cockpit shot of the jacket in use!

 

[Grant]

Dave, Incredible work as always. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Brylcreemer]

Looks fantastic. Well done! Can I ask where you get your twill rayon for the ANJ-3-A from? I'm after some for an old Star 55j14 and can't find any suitable anywhere. Thanks

 

[Maverickson]

Looks fantastic. Well done! Can I ask where you get your twill rayon for the ANJ-3-A from? I'm after some for an old Star 55j14 and can't find any suitable anywhere. Thanks

Since 2008 and up until just recently it has been a firm out of the UK. Their products were superior. However, they notified me this past January that they would no longer be handling rayon fabric. The good thing is I purchased enough to last me a good 6 months. As a result I am also looking for a new supplier.

I believe it was a COVID thing.

To that end, please let me know if you find one!

Cheers, Dave

 

[johnwayne]

I’m joining Smithy in ‘doffing’ my hat to you, great job/s, love those purple knits especially.

 

[Maverickson]

Hi All,

Currently working on my second Monarch AN-J-3A restoration from their 20570 contract. A jacket that I lucked up on some three years ago. In this case, a same size 46 which appears to be an even more challenging restoration project than that first. That initial size 46 I completed back in 2017. Both my restored (to right) and non restored & much larger size 46 (to left) two AN-J-3A Monarchs can seen below.

According to the information I've gleaned while researching this particular contract I surmise that close to 350 size 46 jackets or 2% of that particular contract were built for this 1943 model. Thus making this jacket a somewhat rare survivor. Most notably this 20570 AN-J-3A model (earliest of their true War contracts) and closest in design to their pre War M-422. Yet there are many differences between Monarch's AN-J-3A & M-422 model jackets. Above all not interchangeable with one another.

Note the hour glass or curved shape of the leading edge on the pleated back and side panels. Thus equating to less straight lines as utilized by most other makers.

Narrow wind flap and hold out from the earlier model M-422. Along with the leather zip tab extensions, changed up and made wider on all Monarch's later AN-J-3A and AN-6552 contracts

This latest size 46 jacket is proportionally much larger than the other same size labeled jacket. In addition, not nearly as well kept as the restored jacket seen early in this thread. However, the hide on the non restored jacket exhibits far greater character and a wonderful patina. Problem being, there is some irreversible damage to the hide on this non restored jacket's top coat along it's shoulder seam. Rather than reassembling this jacket using all it's original and in some cases deteriorating hides I thought it best to source donor hides. As a result ensuring increased longevity and better facilitating the overall restoration process by recreating those problem panels. Up and until now having prevented me from moving it's restoration forward.

This project has turned out to be a process and I only just recently I made a second attempt to match that needed base color on my donor hides to achieve a decent match. My first order turned out unacceptable. Both made through a minimum order with an Italian tannery. Finally seized upon after trial and error with the second order. That correct base color might surprise you as there is a marked change when the dye is applied. Furthermore & to even better the match I have been using the Sun to help age and fade them. My chosen donor hides for the panel replacements are seen below.

Once correctly faded those donor hides will allow me to fully restore that jacket. All the while maintaining that same well worn look and great overall patina. Not to mention, since purchasing all those donor hides at a minimum order will ultimately allow me to duplicate this same look on many future AN-J-3A Monarch reproduction jackets.

This second and larger size 46 AN-J-3A Monarch has already been broken down into it's individual panels. Patterned complete for future reproductions & now awaiting restoration. See an example of the match I can create for the donor hides needed to facilitate the restoration.

Monarch's sleeve have a nice slight curve to their sleeves by design. Like all the jacket's panels 100% unique to the Monarch design.

Most notably and since this War era Monarch was originally stitched using cotton thread I have broken down this jacket in it's entirety. Now awaiting to be restitched to regain much of it's original integrity. Ultimately to be restitched using a like cotton burgundy colored (same as original) thread.

Please look forward to progress work in the near future.

Cheers, Dave

 

[B-Man2]

Outstanding Dave !
All of it … outstanding .

 

[Chandler]

@Maverickson -- love to see the component pieces.

 

[Lord Flashheart]

Impressive Dave - thank you for sharing another diligent restoration with us.