Maxsteele's Bass Amsterdam TK conversion

[maxsteele[TK]]

In the spirit of cataloging builds, I wanted to keep track of my own boot conversion.

 

Like Sheik Yerbouti, I'm converting a pair of Bass Amsterdam boots to a white TK pair of boots.  I have received base 501st approval on the design of these boots by my (soon to be) local garrison's GML.  EIB and Centurion approvals are unknown at this time.

 

My shoe size is a 9 1/2 .  I ordered the size 9 1/2 and when I tried them on after receiving them, they were 1/2 size too big.  I would suggest to buy 1/2 smaller than your shoe size.  The size 9s fit nicely, with the personal exception of the right boot fitting looser than the left.  That's because my right foot is shorter than my left (yay genetics!).

 

When I received the boots, this is what one looked like:

 

 

Note that lovely shine!

 

 

 

I took a lint-free cloth (dried baby wipes also work great!), kept it wet with acetone, and scrubbed away.  If you are doing this under a light souce, you will be able to visibly see the polish coming off, leaving the dull texture of the leather underneath.  After about 45 minutes to an hour of scrubbing every nook and cranny, this is the result:

 

 

A nice, dull black leather boot, ready for painting!

 

I purchased a 4oz bottle of white Angelus paint, and my next step is to lay down the first coat.  From my research, it takes about 6 coats to get the boot exactly where you want it.  You can use the paint on the elastic parts as well.  I have also seen the suggestion of using fabric paint.  I'm going to use the Angelus paint on the elastic.

[maxsteele[TK]]

I bought Frogtape to mask off the soles of my boots, and the adhesion is very poor.  After running over the tiny ridge over and over with my finger, it still ends up popping back up.  This damn tape wasn't cheap either!  I think I'm going to take it back and just use regular blue painter's tape.  It has much better adhesion and I think it'll work well for this.

 

 

EDIT:

 

Ugh, even the much more sticky blue painter's tape I'm using is having difficulty sticking to the little ridge where the sole meets the leather.  I'll leave it on there overnight and see what it does.

Edited September 9, 2013 by maxsteele

[SorenM[TK]]

you could just paint away as it is now, and then go over the sole with some black paint afterwards....I tried it and it Works..and actually you cannot see the white paint that are alll the way Down in the crevice between the sole and the boot leather anyway...

[maxsteele[TK]]

you could just paint away as it is now, and then go over the sole with some black paint afterwards....I tried it and it Works..and actually you cannot see the white paint that are alll the way Down in the crevice between the sole and the boot leather anyway...

 

Yeah, I think it'll be fine with the current blue tape I have on there now.  It was really cool watching the black polish flake off of the boot with the use of the acetone.  

[Sheik Yerbouti[501st]]

Nice Ron,

 

Can't wait to see the progress.

 

Odd that the tape was not sticking.  How big were the pieces you were using?  I know when I tried to use larger pieces I ran into issues but half inch or so seemed to do fine. 

[maxsteele[TK]]

Nice Ron,

 

Can't wait to see the progress.

 

Odd that the tape was not sticking.  How big were the pieces you were using?  I know when I tried to use larger pieces I ran into issues but half inch or so seemed to do fine. 

 

 

The frog tape was having a really hard time.  The normal 3M blue painter's tape is much more sticky, but was still having an issue with sticking on that tiny ridge.  I think it might be ok though.  I really went over it with my fingernails and jammed it down on the boot sole lip.  I'm going to go forward with that.

 

I didn't want to start painting until I had both boots stripped.  I only had time last night to strip one boot.  If I have time tonight, I'll get the second one stripped and masked, then I can start the painting.

[rarsenaux[TK]]

45 Minutes to an hour?  I thought my Amsterdams were fine after 2 minutes on each!  Maybe I should have scrubbed more, but the black had stopped coming off after 2 minutes.  As for the tape, I went with regular masking tape, but I jammed it far under using the flip piece on a pair of nail clippers.  When I laid each piece of tape on, I left a bit of overhang on the top to force under the leather offering a tight fit.  My finisher won't be in until tomorrow, but I plan on cutting the tape line with a razor knife.

[maxsteele[TK]]

45 Minutes to an hour?  I thought my Amsterdams were fine after 2 minutes on each!  Maybe I should have scrubbed more, but the black had stopped coming off after 2 minutes.  As for the tape, I went with regular masking tape, but I jammed it far under using the flip piece on a pair of nail clippers.  When I laid each piece of tape on, I left a bit of overhang on the top to force under the leather offering a tight fit.  My finisher won't be in until tomorrow, but I plan on cutting the tape line with a razor knife.

 

I started stripping one of my shoes around 6:45pm last night outside.  The first 10 minutes or so I wasn't sure what was supposed to happen, until I started rubbing hard enough that the black came up.  when I looked at the boot under the shine of the sun, I saw a distinct "polish" and "no polish" area.  That's when I started to really scrub on the boot until I didn't see any parts of that polish area.  I got all of the seams and in the nooks where the leather meets the sole.  I ended up using about half the quart container of acetone when I was done with the first boot.

 

It's entirely possible your boots weren't as shined up as mine were, or you were more efficient in removing the polish than I was.

 

I didn't jam my tape way under, but I did make sure it was firmly in place.  I'm just going to go for it once I get the other boot stripped.  I'm also definitely going to go around one time with a razor before removing the tape after painting.

[SorenM[TK]]

I just lightly wiped mine with paint thinner to get the wax off, and then painted them, and they are holding up fine....so far....

Edited September 10, 2013 by SorenM

[maxsteele[TK]]

I just lightly wiped mine with paint thinner to get the wax off, and then painted thm, and they are holding up fine....so far....

 

I'm going to take a pic in the middle of the removal process.  It should show the removed vs. unremoved areas.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Well, in my enthusiasm to clean off the second shoe, I forgot to take a photo in the middle of the process.

 

I can say, however, that 2 minutes is nowhere enough time to take off that polish on the Bass Amsterdam boots.  I knew what I was doing this time, used copius amounts of acetone, and it took me 45 minutes.  There are still a couple of small areas where I can see the polish, but I ran out of time for the moment.  I may be able to finish it up tonight.

[Sheik Yerbouti[501st]]

I can't remember how long it took but I went longer than 2 minutes as well.  1st boot certainly took longer since I wasn't quite sure how to go about it either.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Here are the boots after removing the black polish and masking them off with blue painter's tape.  TIme for painting!

 

 

Note:  I did not wipe or rinse them off after I was done with the acetone.  They have sat for 24 hours since I've used the acetone and they don't smell like acetone.  They just smell like leather.  I wiped the elastic a bit with a wet cloth to get some of the fibers from scrubbing the polish off, but that's it.  I'm going to apply paint directly to this surface.

Edited September 11, 2013 by maxsteele

[maxsteele[TK]]

FIrst coat!

 

 

 

I used a 1/2 inch fan brush, with nice even strokes. The paint tends to get micro bubbles, but I found brushing gently over them several times makes them go away. I had to soak the elastic to get an even coat, but even then it all but sucked right into it. That will change with more coats.

[maxsteele[TK]]

One episode of Breaking Bad later, and it's on to the second coat!

 

 

While they don't show up in the photo, I am still seeing brush strokes.  I expect those will start to disappear when I get more coats on.  They're mostly showing up because there's still some black showing through.  The bubbles still happen, but they do go away.  I may even switch to a smaller brush as I get more coats on.  We'll see how it goes.  The elastic took a more even coat this time and took longer to soak in.  Time for another episode of Breaking Bad, and then it's bed time.  I'll start coat 3 tomorrow evening after work.

Edited September 11, 2013 by maxsteele

[SorenM[TK]]

Looking good so far:-)....

[Sheik Yerbouti[501st]]

Yeah don't sweat the brush strokes too much they get less and less noticeable as the coats go on.

[Sheik Yerbouti[501st]]

Also forgot, looking much better than mine did after only 2 coats

[SorenM[TK]]

Yeah don't sweat the brush strokes too much they get less and less noticeable as the coats go on.

I can second that, and besides more than 10 inches away and you wòn`t notice those strokes

[maxsteele[TK]]

Third coat

 

[SorenM[TK]]

Getting there....:-)...

[Sheik Yerbouti[501st]]

Looking good, it looks like you might not need to go the full 6 coats

[maxsteele[TK]]

I'm at 5 coats right now and I do feel like I could stop right there.

 

However, I find that the heavy brush strokes brought on by the very cheap brush I started the project with are getting to me a bit.  I have a much higher quality brush that I used for coat 5, and I am going to apply one more coat with the same brush, hoping it will smooth out the brush strokes visible at close range.  That will be it though, and then I'll be taking a razor to my tape line and hoping that not too much paint got on the tops of my soles.

[SorenM[TK]]

Looking forward to seing the end result.....:-)

[maxsteele[TK]]

Well, good news bad news.

 

The good news is - the white covered very nicely.  Both the elastic and the boot are a great shade of white.

 

The bad news - well, I'll just show the pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suggestions and solutions are welcomed...