AMCRAFT or American Metal Crafts Co: examples and patterns

[David B]

Nice wings! They appear to be of the Amcraft pattern and correct me if I'm wrong but aren't Amcraft known for manufacturing wings from non sterling material as well as sterling?

[BROBS]

David,

Funny you should say that...

 

I was comparing these wings with my others as I put them into my display case last night, and I thought they were a match to my Amcraft set.

 

-Brian

[B-17Guy]

Wing is an honest WWII Amcraft pattern wing badge.

It is what is known as the second pattern, which was common in WWII.

It appears to be made from an Observer wing (also common), as the globe is a seperate piece attached to the center.

Amcraft wings where made from sterling and non-sterling and also have been seen with and without

the Amcraft hallmark.

 

John

[Tim B]

I think most Amcraft 2nd pattern wings have a separately applied center. One thing I was told was that Amcraft had more than one location producing their wings, so "perhaps" the differences could be attributed to different locations and the dies they utitlized?

 

On this one, I don't think its from a "observer die" per se but, more a wing planchet with a blank center where the center designed roundel (navigator in this case) was soldered on.

 

Here's an example of what I would consider an actual observer wing where it was used as the base for another center design. You can see the observer pattern on the reverse center of the wing.

 

Tim

[bschwartz]

However here's a link to an Amcraft pattern observer that is sterling marked and has a flat back. http://www.ww2wings.com/wings/usaaf/observer/steramcraftpatternobserver.shtml

[Tim B]

Hi Bob!

 

Yes, though I personally consider the 2nd pattern Amcraft one of the nicer designs, I consider them one of the cheaper made wings when compared to Bell, or even the so-called "grad" wings, because of these separately applied centers.

 

The thing that interests me on Amcraft is the variation one encounters when looking at the die characteristics and placement of the sterling mark. Excluding the pilot series (basic, senior, command), Amcraft wings appear to be carry marks in certain locations and that attribute is consistent with the various pattern wings they produced. I have only seen wings of the pilot series and the bombardier that actually carry the Amcraft hallmark, though not always.

 

On locations of markings;

 

I see those that have sterling in raised letters in the center, like the example you link and I see variations where the sterling is stamped into the right wing, either in a horizontal plane or slightly inclined, parallel to the lower wing edge. These appear to be the more commonly seen locations. Then, there are the versions where the sterling is stamped into the center. I can post examples.

 

Regarding the navigator wings, here are two examples I have. One has the center raised sterling mark identical to your example and the other has the sterling stamp along the lower right wing edge. In both cases, the center has been separately applied by soldering.

 

First example (center raised sterling):

 

* Note it does not have the observer pattern showing from the reverse but, it's two piece with a separately applied center.

[Tim B]

Here's the 2nd example, with the stamped sterling. Again, no observer pattern showing from the reverse and separately applied center.

[Tim B]

I should also point out that, of my two Amcraft observers, both with the raised center sterling mark, both have applied centers.

[Tim B]

You can see where the open gaps between the actual wing and center device are and the small arrow shows where the soldering was hand finish filed prior to the application of the surface coating.

 

Tim

[navynambu]

I agree the original wing has just been silvered by being painted or being dipped with rhodium, a common WWII technique to make it look more "silvery." Its a perfectly fine wing, a beauty in my opinion. Rhodium is apparently quite poisonous however. Many jewelers can still do it, and may charge $50 or so to do a small item now.

[David B]

Here's an Amcraft pattern Aircrew wing I own, a slightly different variation to the examples shown. It's stamped in one piece so no seperately applied centre with sterling stamp to centre of badge.

 

[David B]

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[David B]

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[David B]

....

 

[tomcatter]

WWII USAAF Navigator wings, AMCRAFT pattern, marked "Sterling"

for comparison.

[Tim B]

David,

 

That is the type I was referring to with the center stamped sterling back in post #19. Never had one in hand so did not know if those were one or two-piece construction. I have photos of another similar wing but cannot see the edges.

[Tim B]

I often see these aerial gunner wings with the observer background and thought they were converted from an observer wing but, I have not seen another version of the 2nd pattern that did not have that same background. Anyone?

 

Note the separately applied winged bullet evidenced by the gap pointed out in the second photo.

[Tim B]

I had always thought the basic observer wing on this AG example was one-piece until I picked up two observers of the same pattern and now think all of these are in fact two-piece construction, similar to the example in post #21.

 

The differences appear to be in the soldering and amount of hand finishing, as its really hard to see where the center roundel was soldered to the wing on this example but, I believe it is.

 

Note: That's not paint but gold toning on the front.

[Tim B]

I wanted to add one last point and it concerns the bombardier wings. Though many are unhallmarked and of the patterns being shown above, here's a hallmarked version and note the basic wing appears to have been recessed for the bomb specifically, not the observer.

[Patchcollector]

Happy Friday all,
I usually do most of my buying from eBay,but when trying to get an example of one of these I kept getting outbid.Recently,while looking around online I came across this Amcraft "snowflake" backed piece and I added it to my collection.
It was a bit more "pricey" than the ones I'm used to getting,but I felt it was worth it as this one would be tough to upgrade.

I'm pretty excited about this one.

Dealers pics.

[Patchcollector]

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[Patchcollector]

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[Patchcollector]

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[Patchcollector]

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[Patchcollector]

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