Welcome To My Boots Changes Page.

This page is about the changes that I have carried out on the boots for my figures, I have combined the two pages that I did have into this one to save space.

DML Boot Removal    Ricky Foster Boots   Charles Winstone Boots    Corbin Black Boots  Polished Boots   

Repainting DiD Corrocan Boots    Blousing Trousers

DML Boot Removal

One of the things that I have had to do with some of the DML boxed figures I have bought, is remove the plastic boots from a figure. And this used to be a real pain doing this, because I was always worrying in case I snapped a foot joint while I tried to get the boot off. So I have made this page up about how to remove the plastic boots from figures, these are not my original ideas. But some that I have come across during my travels through the forums. So that fellow modellers can read of the various tips that have been used to get the boots off. An alternative idea of using a hairdryer comes from the Sixth Army forum - boot removal

The one that I personally use to get the boots off, is with the hot water. As I have found this to work very well when I have used it. Of course care must be taken with the water, especially if you have children in the house.

Important Note: As the children only have to see you do this once, and if they collect figures as well, they may try this trick if you are not looking. So please be careful about doing this with the little one's about.

Removing boots from the figure

For the hot water trick, I just boiled a kettle and then poured some water into a cup, rolled up the trouser leg of the figure and ducked the boot into the water. I made sure that a little of the water got inside the boot, as I think it helps to speed up the softening process.

I left the boot in the water for about 30 seconds and then removed it to check if it had softened up. What did surprise me was how quickly the heat disappeared from the boot. So I only had a short time to try to remove the boot, and rather try to get this boot off in one go. I got it about halfway off as shown below left, I put it back into the hot water for another 30 seconds, took it out and then removed it fully.

I found this technique quite easy to do with these DML US boots, as they are made of quite soft rubber. But some of the others are made of a harder type, and may take more than one or two soakings in the water to get them off. The important thing I have found to remember is to take your time, as you don't want to end up breaking the foot off.

Fitting Boots to the figure

For this I have read of many different tips that figure modellers use to sort of 'Grease' the inside of the boot, before it is fitted to the foot of the figure. I have heard of washing up liquid being spread around the inside, talcum powder or a thin oil. But with the oil, there is a problem that it might react with the plastic or rubber over time.

So the easiest way I have found is to do the reverse of the boot removal with the hot water. Remembering to bend the toes upwards slightly before you insert the foot, as this makes it easier to slide the foot into the boot.

DiD Boots Changes

Boot Comparisons

These pictures show the comparisons between a pair of Newline corrocan boots with a DiD pair.

Ricky Foster Boots Repaint

These boots are the ones that came with the DiD Ricky Foster figure, and although they are very nice boots I felt that they could be improved on. Because after thinking about it something had to be done about the colour of them. Plus the buckles and straps could have done with being tighter as they just do not seem to look right when they are fastened up.

With the colour of the boots I used some brown acrylic paint to re-colour them, this was first painted on neat to colour the stitching and then with just water and a wet paintbrush they were scrubbed to rub the colour into the material.

In the picture below left I have re-painted the right hand boot but not the left one, so that I can show the comparison between the two. In the next picture below I have re-painted both boots and then gone over them again with some neat brown paint to further add the colour to them, and while this was drying off I then used the wet paintbrush again to scrub them to mix the colour up a bit more. In the final picture below right, I have used some grout and pastels to add a dusty effect to the boots.

This to me has improved on the look of the boots, but I do recommend painting them with some Model Colour No 540 Matt Medium first, because I found that even after adding the brown paint the grout had a hard job to stick to the smooth surface of the boots because of the type of material used.

Tighter Boot Buckles

These boots with the way that they stay loose at the buckles, even after trying to fasten the straps as far I can have annoyed me a little in the past. And these changes are something that I have thought about doing before, but I kept putting it off. So after seeing the improvement that a little paint can make to the boots, I decided to see if I can make the buckles tighter. The first thing I did was to cut off the buckles themselves as shown above right, these were then moved backwards and sewn back onto the boot with the plastic buckles above where they were originally sewn in place.

Once the straps are fastened together as shown above left, you can see nothing of the changes that have been made but the boot is a lot tighter. Compare this to the original buckle positions in the picture above right on the other boot. With the repositioning of the buckles I moved them so the boot would be very tight on the leg as shown, but for blousing the trousers over the boots I would loosen the buckles a bit. Note: Be careful with tightening the straps as the thin vinyl can break easily.

Charles Winstone Boots Repaint

The short boots I have used in another kitbash are again from DiD, these were first roughed up with some fine sandpaper to make them look older. A benefit of using the sandpaper is that it helps the acrylic paint to adhere better to the type of vinyl that these boots are made from. I then repainted them black and gave them a drybrushing with some Mud weathering powders; they were then given a grout treatment to make them look old.

Ageing the Corbin Black Boots

Here I am applying the grout to the boots of my figure, and when compared to the first picture above left. To me it has added a dusty appearance to them and brought out the detail. Another tip I found out by accident is with Dullcote, and if you want to add scuff marks to the boots. The picture above right, shows a pair of the Corbin Black boots and the toe cap was painted with Dullcote. Once dry it was dusted with the grout to make it look dusty, which helped to make the scuff mark stand out.

This was a big experiment that I have done recently with a pair of boots from the Albert Ross figure, because to me the grout technique above made the boots look old and dusty. But I wanted to see if I could age them any better than this, so I painted the pair below with some Dullcote. Note: Makes sure the bottle has been shaken properly to mix the contents.

I then just painted the boots with enough Dullcote to cover them, this was then left aside to dry fully. Once fully dry I 'scrunched' the boots slightly to add the creases into the vinyl material. The boots in the pictures below are the one's I did this treatment too and I am very happy with the old look that they now have.

Polishing the Albert Ross Boots

The boots for my Class A figure did not look the part to me, so I tried to see what they would look like if I used some dark brown shoe polish on them. This has added a flat even overall colour to the boots covering both the stitching and the laces, the boots were then polished to get a shine with my Dremel drill with a polishing cloth attachment.

To show a comparison between the newly polished type of boots and the Dullcote painted pair, I have taken the picture on the right of the boots I used on my Military Policeman figure, alongside a pair that would give a Sergeant a heart attack.

So with a little work I can get three different stages of wear shown on the DiD corrocan boots.

Repainting DiD Corrocan Boots

In the picture on the right it shows a pair of the DiD boots I have repainted straight from the box, a brand new boot is between them for comparison.

I did this as an experiment and gave the boots a wash of thinned Matt Brown acrylic paint which I scrubbed in and left to dry. This first coat gave the subsequent one's a key to stick to the vinyl. I did this second and a third time with slightly more paint each time, letting it dry in between each coat and the paint has taken to the boots well.

I then gave them a drybrush of some brown pastel chalk to add some more colour to them. Since the pastel chalk will stick to the boots better now because of the paint.

Blousing Trousers

With the blousing of trousers on my figures, this is another idea that I use that I sort of found out about by accident. Because my son was being treated by an orthodontist and he had to use some braces on his teeth, and in the course of this treatment he had to use some tiny rubber rings to hold the brace in place. And it was only when I found yet another one of the rings on the floor whilst I was kitbashing, did the thought occur to me about a use for them.

Note: The order in which I do this is the rings go on the leg first, the trousers as normal over them and then the boots are put on. The pictures above are the rings as they came from the packet; the middle picture shows them for a size comparison with my tweezers. With these rings I put three of them on the leg in case one breaks.            

In the picture above I have pulled the trouser leg down so it is inside out on the leg, I then put two of the rings over the trouser and then pull the trousers back up as normal. Once that is done the trousers now look like the middle picture, the final picture above shows the trousers bloused out over the boot top.