Unit Patch

[virwil]

Have all these years I found my unit patch from Vietnam. I was in the First Marine Airwing as a medevac corpsman. I downloaded the patch photo and then enlarged it to fit the piece of wood I am wanting to do a releaf carving on. It will be my second attempt at relief carving. I had to put down trying to carve faces for a bit before I became too discouraged. If I can get a digital photo of the finished product and a couple of steps along the way, I'll post them. I was with Ist MAW, Mag 39 (Marine Airgroup). You would have had a chuckle at our dispensary sign. We were 4 miles south of North Vietnam as a rear area, and on our sign was the phrase---"Dept. of Aerospace Medicine." Seriously, we had a pretty good record of saving the lives of wounded Marines.

[Old Codger]

Welcome to the WCI Forum Virwil! Always have had a great deal of respect for all the Marines and especially Medivac Personnel that I had served with over the years...dedicated and hardworking servicemen and women! Will look forward to seeing some photos of your Unit Patch so be sure and keep us posted. Again welcome aboard and safe carving to you!
Kenn
CTMCS, USN (Ret.)

[brent]

Welcome to the group! Thank you for your service in helping to keep us free!

[virwil]

I feel the same way toward fellow vets and those who serve today. I feel odd of a sort when honored when too many friends have thier names on the Wall. They are the real heros.

[Timberwolf]

Welcome to the forum virwil and thank you for your service!

I would really like to see your project in process. Can't wait!

[Mark Dellinger]

Will be looking forward to seeing your progress as well as the finished carving.

Safe Carving and God Bless,

Mark

[SeaLeveler]

Thanks for your service.My uncle was a medic and he went through a badun.Be sure to post some photos of your patch.Tony

[mobjack68]

Originally Posted by virwil

I downloaded the patch photo and then enlarged it to fit the piece of wood I am wanting to do a releaf carving on. It will be my second attempt at relief carving. I had to put down trying to carve faces for a bit before I became too discouraged. .

I have done several unit crests 1/19th Inf, 80th Div- LtWpnsCmte..1st Army (below)
The 1st Army was done for purposes of making many, I made a rubber mold and was able to reproduce at will, as many as were needed. I created the wood pattern , then the mold, then the reproductions...



You express being discouraged with your results/previous efforts....My suggestion is to create the crest in layers. Background/base layer, border, eagle and globe, eggbeaters facing in opposite directions....
If you create the components separately and then add them to the background, if you mess one of them up, start over ON THAT COMPONENT rather than the whole carving!!

Your enthusiasm for creating the crest from one block is admirable, and I am not trying to discourage you from doing it that way. The background layer will be the toughest, it is hard to get a flat, smooth background while leaving enough wood to carve the rest of the elements, that is the reason I started with a smooth surface first. Mine is not flat, the 1stArmy has a curve to it (my artistic license) everything else is glued on and the sword is actually 3 pieces.
The border is 1/8" thick x 3/16" wide strips glued onto the face at the edge.

If you still have your heart set on carving the whole thing, please do it that way, at least "practice" carving the individual elements as you work thru the whole thing....good luck