AMCRAFT or American Metal Crafts Co: examples and patterns

[skypilot6670]

That is one beautiful wing.I agree that would be tough to upgrade.I think that buying the very best you can find is a smart thing , even if it is pricey.The maker marked , I.D.ed , or really nice will appreciate and always have a market. Congratulations , Mike

[Sabrejet]

Classic distinctive design. A real winner...well done!

[pfrost]

Ironically, sometime in the mid 90's, some guy showed up at the Los Angeles ASMIC show with a shoe box of these wings (maybe 100-200 of them). They were apparently NOS from a uniform supply company that had been found in Hawaii or something. It was the week before one of the last Great Western Gun shows. He was selling the wings for $9.99 each! I bought as many of them as I could (to show you how poor I was at the time, I think i could only muster enough for about 6 or 7 wings). I kept one, and sold the rest over the next year or two for about $35 each! Not bad profit, I thought!!!

 

For a few months, those wings were showing up all over Los Angeles, and over time, I bought another half dozen or so (that I also sold). I even saw a few on the original card like this one.

Over the next two Great Western shows, I managed to get the command, senior pilot and aircraft observer patterns--the first "set" I managed to put together.

 

Now, I rarely see the pilot wings, and almost never the command and senior pilot versions.

 

Good deal.

[pfrost]

BTW the senior pilot and pilot wing are marked AMCRAFT, the observer and command pilot aren't marked.

[Patchcollector]

Thanks guys for all the compliments.Patrick those are some great Wings.Getting yours for 10 bucks apiece is a Blessing indeed!Who knows,maybe my carded example came from that same "hoard".

 

Here is a link to the site where I got mine.John is a nice guy who runs the site:

 

http://www.germanwarbooty.com/US%20Wings.htm

[BROBS]

Nice set! A lot nicer than the set I just got off eBay. Mine were a lot cheaper but are worn.

 

Can't upgrade your set, though.

-Brian

[Patchcollector]

Nice set! A lot nicer than the set I just got off eBay. Mine were a lot cheaper but are worn.

 

Can't upgrade your set, though.

-Brian

 

 

Thanks Brian.If I had the funds to do it,ideally I would have both a mint unworn example and a nice "salty" worn version.I just can't afford it! Prior to buying the carded version I posted here,I kept trying to get a used one on eBay,but always got outbid,so I decided to "bite the bullet,pay extra and get the one I got.

[Tim B]

Been awhile since posting any new wings and I recently added a flight surgeon to my Amcraft set. Thought I would put up some pics for review as I have read some past inconclusive threads on these and wanted others to weigh in.

 

 

[Tim B]

Appears to be a nicely die struck pin back, though the finish appears later.

[Tim B]

Nice detailing and the photos do not really give justice to the piece. The small "dots" are specs in the finish and not pits.

[Tim B]

The medical caduceus is nicely detailed, unmarked on the reverse, and nicely soldered to the wing at the contact points of attachment. You can't really make it out in these photos but the wing of the caduceus shows die striations on the lower edge and the main wing also shows striations on the upper edges.

[Tim B]

The reverse with the raised "sterling". A little different reverse from my two observer wings.

[Tim B]

I see google is already mining my images..

[pfrost]

NIce, very nice.

 

This pattern was used by AMCRAFT during the war, but also by other companies after the war, including Dondero. John Cooper (who hasn't been active on the forum for years) used to be vehement that the wings NOT marked AMCRAFT, were in fact made by Gemsco.

Basically, the pilot series (including the alphabet wings) are all usually marked AMCRAFT while most/many of the aircrew series (observer/gunner/bombardier/navigator) wings are only marked STERLING. There are also some slight variations in the feathering between the various wings if you look closely.

 

Here is an old thread: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/22267-ww2-gunner-wings/?hl=gemsco

 

MY money is still that these are all AMCRAFT made wings.

[Tim B]

Thank you Patrick!

 

Yes, I tried to compare these to the ones Cliff shows in Bob Schwartz's site on wings. I think Cliff's example is earlier, both in die and quality but long ago you showed me the details and points on that crimping process for these Amcraft wings and how it's hard to duplicate in casting. Took a chance and I think many passed on it due to the old thread where John Cooper thought his set was a good cast reproduction.

 

Thanks again!

 

Tim

[Tim B]

Here's a question; How many different manufacturing locations did Amcraft actually have? Could that account for the various die variations in some of these wings?

[rustywings]

Tim, your collection of Amcraft pattern full size wings makes for a stunning display! Thank you for posting your terrific images.

 

Here's a similar first-pattern gilt Amcraft-style Flight Surgeon badge for comparison. (These cellphone images don't accurately portray the dark gilt coloring.)

 

Although not hallmarked, of interest is the Amcraft style starburst pattern and additional sterling mark found on the back of the caduceus.

[Tim B]

Very nice Rusty!

 

Your base (observer) wing is more in line with my two observer wings, with that raised reverse center marked sterling. I see different patterns and hence my question on different manufacturing sites, as this might explain why we see slight variations in badge dies and hallmark locations. I thought there were at least two or three different manufacturing locations?

[rustywings]

Very nice Rusty!

 

Your base (observer) wing is more in line with my two observer wings, with that raised reverse center marked sterling. I see different patterns and hence my question on different manufacturing sites, as this might explain why we see slight variations in badge dies and hallmark locations. I thought there were at least two or three different manufacturing locations?

 

Different manufacturing locations? Or possibly one location using several different dies? Since Amcraft did produce large numbers of aerial badges during WWII... and dies had a propensity to wear-out or break, we might be looking at just the one shop producing these slight variations over time?

[Tim B]

Hey Rusty,

 

Could be, as I do see minor differences in the die details as Patrick mentioned earlier, just thought I remember someone saying they had multiple manufacturing locations. Maybe I got that wrong?

 

Picked up another AG and you can see some differences right away comparing the left wing areas. Both are within 1mm of each other. Still not sure why the one wing is more gilded on the front, read where someone thought it signified "instructor" but I think that was a guess only. Both nicely die struck!

[Tim B]

You can see a clear die difference in this area:

[Tim B]

The top example is, IMO, earlier with the raised "sterling" stamp centered. The bottom example is incised "sterling" and slightly different in the center area.

[INIMICUS]

sorry no pic of obverse but I make this t.b an amcraft re-strike. the 'sterling' is stamped in apparently. what do you guys say? thanks loads!

[pconrad02]

What is the problem?

[INIMICUS]

I thought snowflakes were prewar or early war and should only have PIN-backs - that made me think re-strike. so I erred - that's a relief! thanks!