Hey Nick,
Given you have performed surgery on your pair, what do you think the original uppers are made from? Are they PVC, vinyl or a combination of both? I am tempted to grey mine a bit and looking on the net, there seems to be many methods to changing the colour, but it is material dependent for a good result.
I'm no materials expert, but PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride, and in my experience is used fairly interchangeably with "vinyl," so despite there being chemical differences between the two I haven't the foggiest which was used on the shoes.
I've just been calling it vinyl but, once again, I'm no materials expert.
-Nick
Thanks Nick. I was searching for techniques to dye the vinyl and found a forum where they were dying boots and said that there was different dyes and technique to dye PVC to dying vinyl.
Looking at my own pair of K-MAGs and the top of the collar is different to that on the main body. I am curious to know if these can be painted given you showed how the tops of your own silver pair were painted.
You may want to look at vinyl automotive paints. That stuff tends to bond very well with all sorts of plastics (Flexible ones included) since they work on the chemical level.
...Just watch out, they are EXTREMELY toxic. I didn't have an inch of skin exposed when I was working with an adhesion promoter for those types of paint.
As for my build, I'm shaping my buck for heat forming the right toe today. The other thing I've been doing is refining the shape of the main two pieces on the upper since they're not actually symmetrical. Once I've done that, I'm looking at getting the templates for the rest of my uppers laser cut from acrylic so that I can consistently cut the pattern out without leaving it up to chance and my (often) stupid hands. So no matter how many times I need a new upper to skin, I can just drop the template on some EVA, cut around it, and call it a day.
It's a lot of baby steps right now. I'll report back as soon as I have something to show and I'll do my best to field any more questions on the materials or otherwise.
-Nick
Tiny update before I hit the hay.
I finally got a few test pulls done on my toe cap buck. It's not perfect, far from it, so I'll probably end up sculpting a new one. (I may actually have a way to shortcut that, but I'll cover this in a future update)
Anyhoo, enough jibber jabber, here's the current status:
Note all the duct tape revisions to the shape and size of the uppers to account for the variance between the inner and outer pieces.
Here's a quick shop removing the tape so you can actually see the shape of the shoe itself:
...and now it's time for sleep. I'm going to be out most of the weekend, so this is probably my last update until next week, when hopefully I'll have a new buck made up.
-Nick
That looks very good. Is the rubber you have used like neoprene (wet suit material)?
Wow fantastic job so far. I'm jealous my silver Mags won't look like that. LoL I'm not sure if you saw the other thread about the K-mags update but here: http://www.therpf.com/f9/nike-mag-kn...0/index10.html Apparently next month they're coming out with the 'revised' more accurate mags.
Are you going to cut the back of the sole down soon? Just like you said, it is way too high.
It's EVA foam, very similar to what most people would call "Craft Foam," often going under the brand name "foamies."cavx said:
I saw...and I'm taking it with a HUGE grain of salt at the moment. As much as I would love more accurate Mags (why I'm doing this build) I just don't see the manufacturer moving that quickly.McFly88 said:
You bet I am, if you squint you can actually see the area I've shaded in to be cut off. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it yet. I might try to cut it with a hot wire cutter. if not, it'll probably just be an exacto knife followed by heat to clean the edgeMitasTouch said:
The back of the sole will look even lower when I sculpt the heel cup, as it wil cover part of the heel of the sole as well.
I'm hoping to use the pieces I cut off the soles to test dye baths to see if I can't make the soles more accurate.
-Nick
Is it just me, or is the front of the sole too short as well? Unfortunately, that can't be fixed.
I want to say that could be because of the profile of the toe box for both Mark Poon and these K-MAG shoes. As we all know, the profile is wrong on both shoes (as it is the shape of a boot), so that could be what makes the sole profile look lower than it is.Risu said:
Real Deal
Knock Off
Looking at these two images and it the real deal shoe's sole seems to be the same thickness all the way to the toe where the K-MAG's sole does seem to get thinner towards the toe. To fix this might require a re-cast.
Last edited by cavx; Apr 15, 2012 at 2:43 AM.
Maybe he could use this to make the toe part a little thicker.
http://www.dailygrommet.com/products...-things-better There's an option to choose colors or black and white.
Just a thought though. Not an absolute solution.
Last edited by MitasTouch; Apr 15, 2012 at 12:00 PM.
I don't have a problem with the toe, in fact, my scaling says it's just about right. The main difference seems to be that the real Mags sole curves upward more (The entire thing, it's not just tapering) than the K-Mags.
The real deals have a very slender front profile.
Overall, the main differences in the two shoes are the heel of the sole, and the point at the very front of the sole. The K-Mags are a bit too rounded when viewed from above. I'm not concerned about that though because it's like the C-Scar on Vader...you'd have to be a HUGE nerd to notice it.
-Nick
TheNickFox said:
SIR!...You are talking to a HUGE nerd.......
If this helps, here is a few shots of the shoes, including some that you normally don't find on the net.
Yeah apparently the lace part is much wider on the actual movie shoes than the ones released by Nike.
The shoes Nike released are inaccurate to the movie. The lace parts are too close together and the rubber parts of the soles are a bluish clear color, while the movie shoes are just white. The tongue is also too small.
The new release MAG is nothing like the movie shoe in most respects. It is only a representation of the movie shoe. Marpoons shoes are made more like the movie prop shoe rather than the new MAG.MitasTouch said:
NIKE admitted that the 2011 release was a complete redesign based on the shoes from 1989. Maybe they changed some things because they felt it would be an improvement? Only NIKE can answer that.
The movie shoes, from everything I've seen, were much closer to socks with soles than shoes. Those pictures above are a perfect example, showing the actor/stuntman's toes bulging through the toe area.
I'm aiming more at the 2011 Nike Mag look in terms of finish and construction, if only because I feel they will last longer that way.
-Nick
If you look at the original 'sketch', the diagram shows "sock type" at the clean toe end of the shoe. If they were intended to be more like socks with soles instead of shoes, why the elaborate power laces?
Easy, because they're freakin' awesome.cavx said:
-Nick
Yes they were and still are. But on a sock with a sole?
To heat form the toe cap, do your just cut out the general shape and form it with a heat gun? I know it's not that easy, but I just asking if this is how you did it.
I've created a hardened plaster form in the shape of the toe. (The "buck") I heat the foam up for a few seconds, then pull the foam down over the buck, stretching and spreading it to ensure it lays flat and smooth along the shape.MitasTouch said:
...reheat as needed for and areas that cooled before they could be shaped.
Then I cut off the excess and bingo bango! It's done.
In reality it's not that simple, but it's definitely a fun process of trial and error.
-Nick
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