Leather bomber jacket painting question Jim h.

[whistlingdeath77]

Trying to paint my b-3 bomber jacket,( repro.) there was several ways to paint it as was noted before here with lots of help from other wixers. I do want the most simplistic way to do it using acrylic paints, ruffing up the surface so the paint has a better surface to stick to. Any maybe a sealant over the nose art. Jim h. Was the man referred to speak to. If the jacket starts to flake after a few years then so be it. Any help much appreciated, but the easiest way and less complicated would be best to this approach

[shrike]

I did one about 8 years ago - full back - and it has held up to seasonal wear since.
I scrubbed the area with saddlesoap and a kitchen scrub spong - the light duty Scothbrite kind, followed by a wipe with rubbing alcohol for final clean up.
I used the fabric additive sold with craft paints, but I'm not sure it was really necessary on leather. I've done patches and things without it since without any problems.
I didn't use any sealer, but I did make sure it had a chance to dry completely spread out flat for a couple of days before wearing.

[whistlingdeath77]

Good input shrike, where can I get the Saddle soap?

[shrike]

Good input shrike, where can I get the Saddle soap?

Anyplace that sells shoe polish should have it, probably your local grocery store in that catch-all aisle full of hardware and light bulbs. Kiwi is good, just be sure to get straight saddle soap with no extra 'leather conditioner' or waterproofing

[JimH]

Yeah, it's pretty easy. I drew a rough chalk outline the desired image and used rubbing alcohol to strip the leather finish. You have to remove the oils from the jacket in order for the paint to adhere. I used Cova colors from Tandy...it's been years so I don't know if they are even available anymore. Good luck

Jim

[whistlingdeath77]

So do just the parts you are painting with the saddle soap and rubbing alcohol, use regular chalk as a design reference outline then your good to go? Usually if I'm doing a squadron decal on wood I will first print it up on my computer, then use tracing paper to copy it over to the wood and that works fine for me. Can this be done to transfer to leather as well?

[shrike]

You can use whatever method works for you. I tend to use transfer paper from the art supply store. The stuff i have is chalk-based and blue. you can get other colors as well

[whistlingdeath77]

The transfer paper can be found at michaels do you know?

[tom d. friedman]

I find epoxy based enamel as most durable. mine has held up on my A-2 SINCE 1999 & I wear my jacket quite often.

[shrike]

The transfer paper can be found at michaels do you know?

Michaels might have it. Hobby Lobby has a better selection of 'real' art supplies as far as chain stores go. I don't recall where I got mine. I was doing commercial art at the time so it could have come from anywhere. You should look up a local "real" art supply store just to browse. you'd be amazed at what you may find that you didn't know you were looking for

[JimH]

Once you establish the outline (I used chalk) you can transfer the image however you want. I would free hand the image with a liner brush and white paint and go from there. For a long time I used a vertical projector to transfer the image but I found traditional freehand painting was much more fun and efficient. There are tons of ways to do it, the best way is whatever is most comfortable to you. I tried a lot of paints and Cova worked the best.

Jim

[whistlingdeath77]

Jim, will an acrylic paint from michaels work just fine? Think I paid 4 bucks a color

[JimH]

The paint sold at Michaels will crack...it dries to a really brittle state whereas the Cova paints were extremely flexible and designed specifically for leather. The Michaels paints are great for painting the squadron patches.

Jim

[whistlingdeath77]

So you recommend cova from hobby lobby?

[whistlingdeath77]

I'm not finding anything cova on the hobby lobby website. But if you think they have a good leather paint then I'll stop by and see what they have. As for michaels, they had nothing in stock or at least the lady told me she had no idea what to use