Official Homemade Boots Thread

Tabomabi

Active Hunter
Does anyone have an easy way to make cheap, yet good looking boots? I don't want them to look like shoes covered with cloth though. Also, has anyone ever tried using converse all-stars to make em? I was looking at one of my pair the other day and noticed how much the back resembles the boots back. I was thinking of taking them apart and using them as a pattern. What do you think?
 
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I found a boot that works really well... cheap too. It looks alot like the base other prop builders are using. I bought them at Wal Mart for $17. They are by a company called George. I havent gotten as far as to sew anything on, I painted mine so I can wear them for Halloween. They look good though. I plan on building off of them for Mardi Gras. Sorry... no pix, hope this helps though.
 
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Made mine out of converse. I got them stiched together and a zipper put in. I squared off the toe with epoxy putty, and used fabric glue to cover them with fabric (the only part that was sewed wad the 3 paneled spat with black piping). I painted on the elastic tear drops and center stripe with fabric paint, made a smooth sole with some spray painted rubber stripping, and used bent polystyrene and some nylon bolts sharpened with a pencil sharpener to make the toe spikes. They look great and cost just over $100 to make ($80 of that was the stiching and zipper). I've had them mistaken for Cheng boots.

The only cost problem was having to shell out $80 to have a shoe repair guy put in a zipper and sew up the tounge of the shoe. Still, they cost less than a pair of Cheng boots. I dremeled off the excess rubber around the soul, and used epoxy putty to square off the toe. My mother helped out by sewing the three part boot spat with some left over vest fabric. You can find a basic pattern for this at http://www.bradleyfett.com/boots.htm I used fabric glue to attach the fabric to the shoe, and some rubber stipping painted off-white to finish off the soul. For the toe spikes, I used some extra ABS plastic and nylon bolts I made pointy with a hand pencil sharpener. I painted on the the "teardrop" on the sides, and used acrylic paint to get the color right. A little work, but they look great!

BOOTS.jpg

Here you can see the zipper.
ZIPPER.jpg
 
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I made my boots a long time before I even knew something like this place existed. You will laugh when I tell you what they are made of. They are made from leather, suade, cloth, aluminum, screws, and a tire! I started with a mold of my foot, then I covered the mold in clay and made the boot shape, then I cast that in plaster. I took scrap leather and covered the boot in the shapes I needed. Then I took the scraps off and made some templates cut out the pieces and stiched the parts together. I reinforced the toe, lined the inside and attached the sole, which is made from some heavy leather layered and stiched to a tire bottom sole. They are a bit tight but I can still get them on. Here is a pic
boots.jpg
 
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I've seen his boots in person, and they are pretty impressive, although they account for about ten of the seventy pounds that his suit weighs. Five minutes in those boots is like thirty minutes on a stair-stepper. :lol:
 
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LOL! Thanks, but I just a 10 1/2. That's a small table, and I always get real close when I'm taking a picture. It's ALL about the details, man!
 
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homemade boots

alas, my budget won't allow me to buy the MC boots, so i've been tryin' to find something suitable for conversion. I've found some Skechers boots that seem perfect except for the sole. Boba has the solid white sole and these have the regular sole with a heel on them....aside from this problem they'd be great in my humble opinion...can anyone offer any solutions or should i keep searching
 
Can you cut the heel of the boot off??? so that the rest of the sole is flush with the heel???
 
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Take the boots to a shoe repair shop. They should be able to install a new sole that's pretty darn close.

btw, nice find! Now, how about some pics?!

:D
 
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Build up off of a pair of Vans sneakers. They aren't high topped but they've got the perfect, flat, white sole. I used them before I got my Cheng boots.

You'll take them and create the high-top area out of that stiff material you can buy at a fabric store. On top of that, you'll glue the alternating dark and light gray cloth strips. Also, you could use an old pair of Converse All Stars.
 
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That's close to what I did for mine. I'll post a picture later. It was very simple to do.
 
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The expansion joint looks good, but if you are going for accuracy, I'd recommend a few things:

<UL>
<LI> try and square off the front toe, at least the tip of the sole
<LI> try and remove the heel
<LI> paint the sole off-white
[/list]
Those look more like stormtrooper boots, but if you follow some of the conversion tips listed above, you'll do fine.
 
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kewl...thanks for the pic fix and the tips....i'm not sure what it was that i saw in these, but for some reason they jumped right off the shelf at me....i think with a little elbow grease i might make something of 'em.......
 
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Any UK fetts looking for a good Sole to start with could do worse than check out Clark's shoe shops. They do a line of shoes called "San Diego". They're in the sale at the moment and you can pick up a pair for £15. They also do a line called Wallabee, but they're not in the sale. The sole is exactly the same though (see link below).

The shoes will need a whole new upper, but the sole looks to be spot on to me.

Here's a link to the Clarks website showing the shoes.- http://www.clarks.co.uk
 
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OK so I got me some Clarks' "san diego" shoes with the good soles.

I spent about 4 hours taking them to pieces yesterday with a seam ripper and an Exacto knife. I've done it carefully so I still have the insole to use and I have made up a template from the leather.

My fingers hurt!

I'm left with a sole all on it's own (a sole sole, if you will ). Will post pics as soon as I can, along with further info.

These had better look good, or I'm gonna scream!

Si
 
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I will be working on these boots soon, they are new and cost me $19.00 Canadian.


fabboots.jpg




I will be using D peg for my boot darts.....will sharpen end
a little :)


fabdarts.jpg
 
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Here is the latest on my boots.

I covered the leather boots with material using goop!!

myboots.JPG
 
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Nice looking boots! (y) I'll suggest to paint the sole and add the boot spikes and metal part on front, and you'll be good to go.

Robert
 
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