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Post by Theyrenotdolls (Den Dragonson) on Jul 11, 2006 10:19:26 GMT -5
My first pair of boots were from ebay...one of those eastcoast costumes pair..vinyl, I used Nu-Life stuff to paint them medium brown. I was very happy with them for a while. They were a little hot, but tolerable. sold these some time ago to someone from this board or ASAP. I replaced them with these Museum Replicas boots. This is the pair that I wore to CIII. They were comfortable and cool. I had one issue with them, however. I found that the heel had a tendency to separate from the sole. Their life ended with other parts of this costume in the hurricane last year. I tried to save them, but once mold sets into leather...it never smells the same. A few months after I found a bootmaker on Ebay called Diaz boots. He's in Honduras, i beleive and it takes about 6-7 weeks for your boots to come in. He custom makes boots for a reasonable price. These guys are comfortable and cool. I'm very happy with them. The leather is a little traumatized right now, cuz i've been working on them a bit lately. shouldnt be too hard to fix. One tip for anyone buying custom made boots: Go to a local shoerepair shop/shoemaker and have THEM measure your feet/legs. I had to have my boots fixed locally, because i mismeasured my legs. added another 40 bucks to the price. For awhile now, i've been thinking and thinking about how to make boot spats. Justin's friend Todd helped quite a bit with various advice. After months of pondering these thigns...i decided to sit down and just try to make some. This is the design i came up with. I think it looks pretty good. Might need some work in the future, but for my first shot at them, i'm pleased. I think they may be a little too wide. I have the dye drying now. Will post more pics of the finished product later. As always critique is appreciated. Any tips...even more.
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Obi-1
Message Board Member
Posts: 215
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Post by Obi-1 on Jul 11, 2006 15:37:33 GMT -5
They might be just a little bit wide, but aside form that it looks fantastic! Can't wait to see your finished pics!
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Post by Ani-Chay Pinn on Jul 11, 2006 20:52:02 GMT -5
They look very nice. The contrasting colors make it easier to see what you have. Too wide is always better than too narrow. You can do something about too wide.
The spats bluge out a little bit on the sides in the in the middle of the leg. Have you considered putting in another strap on the leg, or adding something flat and stiff on the side edges of the spats? Unfortunately, I don't think velcro will stick to the side of the boots and then you couldn't wear them without the spats. Should the top of the spats be wider than the botton since the top of the boot is wider than the bottom of the boot?
What weight of leather were you using?
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Post by Theyrenotdolls (Den Dragonson) on Jul 11, 2006 22:20:13 GMT -5
ani..thanks for the comments....you think putting an angle on the shaft of the spats will decrease the bulge?
the leather is 4-5oz. , except for the straps which are 7-8. I used the scraps that i had left from other projects. I'm not too sure how my dye job is coming out, so i may be in a position to re-do them, using thinner leather. (2-3oz)
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Obi-1
Message Board Member
Posts: 215
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Post by Obi-1 on Jul 12, 2006 4:56:11 GMT -5
I really like the look of the boots as they are right now, they have much of a lived in look like they have been worn on many missions. If you could get the boots and spats a little darker with that same look they would great. How much were the boots? And how much would it cost to get spats done like that?
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Post by admin on Jul 12, 2006 9:25:49 GMT -5
Nice boots!!
Where do you get the Nu-Life stuff?
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Post by Theyrenotdolls (Den Dragonson) on Jul 12, 2006 10:33:59 GMT -5
tanthos....they had some at a local shoe repair shop in Lafayette, La. The same shop resized my new boots as well. Look in the phonebook and call around. Someone should have some.
Ob1....I'm not sure what the boots are going for these days....i found them on an ebay search. When i bought this pair, the auction ended about about 115.00. It cost me 40 bucks at the shoe repair shop to have them resized. (my fault, not Diaz's) For spats like these it would cost you about 20 bucks in leather and dye and about 12-15 hours of work.
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Obi-1
Message Board Member
Posts: 215
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Post by Obi-1 on Jul 12, 2006 13:49:00 GMT -5
Wow, not a bad price at all. I can't wait to see the finished product.
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Post by Starkindler (The Naked Jedi) on Jul 12, 2006 16:39:04 GMT -5
ebay seller smokesthingy (some number I don't recall). does JEdi boots also. Some here have them and seem to like them. price is similar. may be another option....
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Post by Ani-Chay Pinn on Jul 12, 2006 19:13:35 GMT -5
ani..thanks for the comments....you think putting an angle on the shaft of the spats will decrease the bulge? Hmmmmm, maybe. The biggest contributor to the bulge is when the distance between the two points when the spats are attached changes, like when you flex your leg as you walk. The more that distances changes, the more noticeable the bulge. Having something rigid under the leather that hold the edge of the spat straight will keep that distance from changing. Possibly there are points on the boots where the spats are attched that will minimize the bulge, but that might take a little experimentation to find the best attachment points.
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Post by Theyrenotdolls (Den Dragonson) on Jul 12, 2006 21:29:12 GMT -5
shoot....that's the thing, isn't it....the spats arent attached to the boots at all. I didnt want to poke holes in the boots or put velcro or glue. I was hoping to keep them "removable"
Maybe it'd be possible, like you said...to insert something rigid along the edges. any idea what this rigid item might be?
what about just using heavier leather?
i messed up the dye job, so i will have to remake them anyway. I think they definately need to be narrower, though.
Does anyone have advice?
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Post by Ani-Chay Pinn on Jul 12, 2006 23:36:46 GMT -5
I'd want them to be removable, too! That way you have the equivalent of two pairs of boots. There are lots of shoe spats that are removable. The secret to them staying in place seems to be how well they fit to the shoe/boot that they're covering. You can experiment with the ones you have if you need to remake them anyway. BTW, have you walked around much in the ones you've made? Do they move around or slide anywhere after awhile? You could use them as a guide for making new ones.
Heavier leather may cut down on the bulge, but it would be harder to work with. About something stiff to go into the boots....hanging file folders actually hang off of two thin, very strong strips of spring steel; something like that might work if you can attach it to the inside edge of the spats.
How about having two, slightly narrower straps at the top? They would go further down on the leg and help with the bulge. I think Obi-Wan has two straps on the tops of his boots anyway.
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Obi-1
Message Board Member
Posts: 215
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Post by Obi-1 on Jul 13, 2006 2:25:21 GMT -5
Actually Obi-Wan has three straps on top and one at the ankle area of his boot. These are from Obi's Ep III boots but if you look at the back of the boot you can see the stitch marks and impressions on the boots that show they are from Ep I & II as well. Hopefully that helps you see better as to how wide the spats on those were. And finally a great shot of the front of his Ep II boots.
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Post by Theyrenotdolls (Den Dragonson) on Jul 13, 2006 10:41:39 GMT -5
very nice ob1...very helpful. a few things are immediately apparent. 1) obiwan's spats are much more narrow than mine. 2) looks like a lightweight leather 3) his bunch up/bulge a bit as well. I will let the boots rest for a few days. I may or may not wear the spats to COSI this weekend. we'll see. Thanks again for the cool photos.
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Obi-1
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Posts: 215
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Post by Obi-1 on Jul 13, 2006 14:59:30 GMT -5
No problem, I have tons of random shots of the boots because I am still in the process of trying to find the most acurate set of them. Unfortunately no one seems to make a set of screen acurate ones with removable spats so I could have two different looks with one pair of boots. I think I may end up going this way to obtain the look I want.
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