posted January 12, 2011 09:37 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
An unfortunate choice of examples.

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That being said, look at the Gemini X patch; it has parts of the stylized X sticking out from the round area. There's no 'rule' that says the patch HAS to be round.

Here's the bottom line - by creating a LM-4 patch with either a round or a square backing we are SPECULATING as to what it MAY have looked like (almost like speculating what an unflown Apollo mission patch may look like). We KNOW what the original shape looks like; any changes to that is PURE SPECULATION.

posted January 12, 2011 12:36 PM               

The NASA logo patches are similar again - partially embroidered onto 4" round twill then trimmed down.

All three patch designs have a main body with small sections sticking out.

The only really odd shaped vintage patch I can think of is the Snoopy patches. In this case the design was partially embroidered onto a 4" high oval of twill then in some cases trimmed by hand around the outline of Snoopy.

posted January 12, 2011 01:48 PM               

I'm not a patch collector, or at least I wasn't, until I was at the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation's show and saw Tim Gagnon's patches... WOW! Bought a few from him including the alternate Apollo designs, I got an Apollo set at KSC and a Mercury set for X-mas...

I want to buy one of each of the Grumman set patches. I am waiting for a few more to come out and get them in one or two swoops instead of ordering one at a time. I have a pretty cool picture of the LM I'd like to frame the patches around.

I personally like the cut version of the shamrock patch better.

Either way, I'm going to be buying a set, plus at least one Gemini 7 patch, I'm just waiting for a few more to go through the door before pulling the trigger.

posted January 22, 2011 01:47 PM               

Just curious, Chris... Are you close(er) to deciding on a format for the LM-4 patch?

ON EDIT: I've had an email exchange with Chris in which he mentioned that some collectors have asked to wait until the set of LM patches is complete before committing to buy them.

I'd like to emphasize that Chris is undertaking this project at his own expense and with no guaranteed profit. Whether or not this set of patches is "complete" may well depend on how many orders he gets for each patch as released.

posted January 23, 2011 09:09 AM               

Chris is providing a wonderful service for patch collectors. He must be having to fork out quite a bit of his own cash for taking this initiative. Its only fair to help him as much as we can by buying these patches as they become available. Its also an indicator to Chris that we have every faith in him going the whole way with these.

posted January 23, 2011 12:06 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by GoesTo11:
Just curious, Chris... Are you close(er) to deciding on a format for the LM-4 patch?

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posted January 23, 2011 12:12 PM               

Sales of the first patch have gone okay so I'm now committed to producing the full set in any case.

It will still be a couple of months probably before all the patches are available, most likely with a wait of one to three weeks between each release.

posted January 23, 2011 12:30 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by spaced out:
Don't worry about buying patches as they come out in order to support the project.

Sales of the first patch have gone okay so I'm now committed to producing the full set in any case.

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That's great to hear, Chris. I'd still encourage people to buy them as they're released, as I imagine it would make the project's cost to you easier to take.

With respect to the LM-4 patch, I think your instinct is probably correct. As you can see from my previous posts, I've gone back and forth on my preference re: a cut vs. "enclosed" circular design, and I don't strongly favor one over the other. But I understand the detail issue, and Randy made a very good point earlier in this thread: We know that a cut version would be as authentic as possible, while an enclosed design would be somewhat speculative. I trust your judgment, and I'm "in" for either.

posted January 23, 2011 12:59 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by GoesTo11:
We know that a cut version would be as authentic as possible

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posted February 04, 2011 12:50 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by davidcwagner:
I have seen three Grumman stickers for LM-7 each with a slightly different scene. Which version are you using as the template?

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I decided to go for the image on the right for various reasons, including the fact that the LEM looks a bit closer to the real thing and the Earth is bit easier to convert to embroidery.

This design was always going to be very difficult to execute as a patch because the artwork is painted. Converting this to a design stitched in 8 colors of thread was a real challenge for the artists.

posted February 11, 2011 01:10 PM               

LM8 evolved into the Apollo 14 Lunar Module "Antares".

I suggested to Chris that he might consider sending Dr Mitchell a complimentary LM8 insignia patch given his particular interest in that vehicle.

posted February 12, 2011 06:46 PM               

I'm looking forward to the other patches in this series, especially the 'cut' version of the LM-4 patch and my favorite LM patch, the LM-7.

posted February 18, 2011 04:58 PM               

At best I've had letters reach a buyer in the States 3 days after posting, and at worst 20 days after, which is amazingly slow.

posted February 18, 2011 05:55 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by spaced out:
At best I've had letters reach a buyer in the States 3 days after posting, and at worst 20 days after, which is amazingly slow.

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posted February 19, 2011 03:28 AM               

I suspect, severe weather in the midwest may be to blame; I'm guessing Chicago airport is a major postal hub.

posted February 19, 2011 05:13 AM               

This is Ray Eschert, the guy who designed the Grumman LM-10 insignia, holding one of my replica patches alongside one of his original decals.

posted February 26, 2011 06:50 PM               

I have had an interest in space-related memorabilia including patches for a long time now, and I ran across this site while trying to get info about a patch design I haven't seen before... related to this subject (Grumman insignias).

I followed a link to Wikipedia's Apollo listing recently and found a rundown of all manned and unmanned Apollo missions, with patch designs (emblems) included. There was one there I had never seen before: Apollo 5 (first LM test) had its own patch and it was supposedly designed by Grumman engineers. It shows a LM in orbit (without legs, like the flight configuration for that mission) at the point of staging the descent module. It's a pretty neat design and I am wondering if anyone here was familiar with it, and would it be pertinent to be included in this series as well? I know I would love to find one of those somewhere! I knew about the series that is being discussed here and the site that is referenced (by the way, that site appears to be parked at present although the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal and Apollo Archive both have it on their links pages).

I am getting very interested now in some of the "alternative" designs for patches in NASA (just got a "Beep Beep" Apollo 14 backup crew patch, which I had wanted forever) and I would consider this Grumman series too. Definitely.