Dyeing Black Boots White

[usaeatt2]

Really nice work, Brandon!

 

I'd be afraid to let the lower leg armor slide down over those for the first time...maybe you could glue the soft side of some white velcro at the bottom around the inside of that leg armor to help prevent the edges from digging into your boots?  Or maybe it won't matter since you've got what, 8 coats on them?

[Palpatine1977]

Thanks very much yea that's a very good idea! I will certainly do something like that, yup 8 coats haha... all the more reason not to risk it! Can't wait to finish tomorrow!!

[Palpatine1977]

Oh and to clarify, for the elastic I used a very heavy coat of the fabric dye so it soaks it up nicely, overnight it was like I hardly painted them haha, and then for this second, and the third coat which I will be doing tomorrow, I used the same leather paint and same type of sponge paintbrush

[Palpatine1977]

Okay pictures of the boots fully finished! I unbelievably had to do a third coat on the elastics because the absorbed a lot of the second coat xD if you look close, the jagged appearance of where the sole is (especially near the front) is the camera playing a trick, its because the stitching on the sole is obviously black, and when you turn it on its side the stitching makes it look like its jagged along the bottom, only looks that way if you were to lay your head on the ground and look at them straight on haha

 

 

 

 

[Palpatine1977]

Now I just need to borrow someone with small feet to wear these around and break them in lol, I much prefer that look rather than factory fresh, I did try vigorously bending them in different spots to test the dye, and it didn't crack, split, or tear AT ALL to my pleasant surprise lol.. I love this stuff. You can actually see all of the nice wrinkles and fine lines/folds in the leather after... but need to walk a few km's in these to really break them in!

[Grimez]

Nice! Feel free to follow my thread and give input, i'll be painting today.

[usaeatt2]

EXCELLENT WORK!!!  OUTSTANDING!!!

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Uh... they're so white! That's freaky 

A good way to scuff them IMO, is to hit them with the soles. It usually makes some very nice scuffs and it's easily wipeable if you don't like it:

[Palpatine1977]

Nice! Feel free to follow my thread and give input, i'll be painting today.

 

Okay awesome, will do!

 

 

EXCELLENT WORK!!!  OUTSTANDING!!!

 

Thanks so much

 

 

Uh... they're so white! That's freaky 

A good way to scuff them IMO, is to hit them with the soles. It usually makes some very nice scuffs and it's easily wipeable if you don't like it:

 

Haha, okay sweet thanks for the tip good idea

[Fumanchewie[TK]]

They turned out awesome!

Thanks for sharing your progress. 

[SorenM[TK]]

Nice!...the scuffing will come automatically when you start trooping

[Grimez]

How long did it take the dye to dry?

[Palpatine1977]

How long did it take the dye to dry?

 

Oh sry haven't been checking this xD Overnight.

[baldrickmccoy]

I love the finished boots, you did a really good transformation on them.

 

I bought myself some black Chelsea boots for my suit and decided to dye them white with a TRG leather dye kit shade 101. I used the old blue masking tape route for protecting the soles and heels.

 

When I used the kits sponge applicator I was glad I put vinyl gloves on because that stuff dries like rubber on the tips.

 

I wish my elastic sides covered as nicely as yours did, mine had a rougher material, yours are awesome.

 

As the boots get more wear the black may show through from underneath...I put 6-8 layers of white boot polish over mine and the shins still sliced the dye layers off.

 

One of the guys who troops a lot locally told me he sprays his boots with Plasti-kote to give them some protection .

 

I carry a small bottle of white correction fluid in my armour bag for emergency touch ups if needed.

[servocicero]

I found that #0000 grade steel wool + deglazer + lightly rubbed on the shoes = 1/4 of the time it would take with a towel. 

[87ninefiveone]

OP, any word on how well your paint/dye job held up?

 

I bought myself the same deglazer and paint and I'm waiting on boots to show up tomorrow. Hopefully they'll turn out half as well as yours did.

[trooper96[501st]]

For my black boots, I had trouble locally sourcing any kind of leather dye, so I opted to try this product. So far, the results have been promising.



First, I stripped the boots with acetone. Turns out the boot uppers were a mixture of real leather and synthetic. The acetone quickly removed the shiny coating from the leather, but I had to be careful not to let a heavy coating get on the synthetic leather. A light coating that evaporated and was wiped away quickly removed the gloss without eating it. Here are the boots with two coats of the above paint (the soles are still taped off here).



As you can see, it may take a couple of more coats, and I will have to find a fabric paint to cover the black elastic. After fully curing, the boots can be flexed without cracking or wrinkling. Adhesion seems to be good at this point.

[ARC[TK]]

Oh and to clarify, for the elastic I used a very heavy coat of the fabric dye so it soaks it up nicely, overnight it was like I hardly painted them haha, and then for this second, and the third coat which I will be doing tomorrow, I used the same leather paint and same type of sponge paintbrush

Where do you get white fabric dye from?

I can't seem to find it anywhere

[SorenM[TK]]

For my black boots, I had trouble locally sourcing any kind of leather dye, so I opted to try this product. So far, the results have been promising.

First, I stripped the boots with acetone. Turns out the boot uppers were a mixture of real leather and synthetic. The acetone quickly removed the shiny coating from the leather, but I had to be careful not to let a heavy coating get on the synthetic leather. A light coating that evaporated and was wiped away quickly removed the gloss without eating it. Here are the boots with two coats of the above paint (the soles are still taped off here).

As you can see, it may take a couple of more coats, and I will have to find a fabric paint to cover the black elastic. After fully curing, the boots can be flexed without cracking or wrinkling. Adhesion seems to be good at this point.

The paint job looks good, but the sticthings on the front, will prevent you from going beyond initial approval.....

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

The paint job looks good, but the sticthings on the front, will prevent you from going beyond initial approval.....

My thoughts on that, exactly.

 

Brandon, this is a great job, and an excellent and insightful presentation. Eventually, I'd like to dye a pair just for familiarization and experience with the process. I'll be sure to check here (and with Soren's read, naturally) if I get to that point.

[87ninefiveone]

Finished up painting my deer stags tonight. For those interested, using angelus paint it took 8 medium to light coats and 1-2 oz of paint to get them looking good. The elastic took four coats to cover. They seem pretty scratch resistant but I suppose time will tell.

Edited October 14, 2014 by 87ninefiveone

[trooper96[501st]]

The paint job looks good, but the sticthings on the front, will prevent you from going beyond initial approval.....

 

Understood. I got these just to complete my build quickly. I will upgrade when I'm ready to take the next step. Here are the boots after a couple more coats and application of fabric paint to the elastic. I also used fabric paint to cover the stitching on the seams. The tape is still on the soles waiting for everything to dry.

 

[trooper96[501st]]

EPIC BOOT PAINT FAIL...

The Dupli-Color Vinyl and Fabric Paint looked GREAT until I actually put the boots on and started walking around. Then they cracked like egg shells. Maybe I did something wrong. Too many coats? Just the wrong paint for the application? I don't know, but they look BAD!



Oh well, I will be experimenting with another product soon...

[87ninefiveone]

I've.gpt a discount code for angelus direct if.you want to try their paint. No cracking yet on mine after a few brief trial fittings. PM me if interested.

[syllander]

How is this paint holding up? Have you had a chance to troop in them yet? I have some CABoots, but not totally stoked with how they look, especially with that odd seam thing on them.