Dollstix Dredd Boots

dollstix

Member
Hi all again,
As I mentioned in my previous thread, my Dredd build is SO on a budget but I thought I would pass on my find of the month to fellow members looking for a good boot base for the Dredd 2012 boots.
I am 6ft 4 and a size 12 so the idea of getting anything close was daunting.
I lucked out and find these boots in a charity store for 7 pounds!!!
They are a UK Frank Thomas and seem to be pretty close in the areas in comparison to the film version and with the front plate removed and some of the side strapping altered could turn out pretty good with the right additions.
Just passing this info on to other members to see if they agree and at least then they have the info to track down their own.
And today's moral ......
Never underestimate the power of the charity store, car boot sale or swap meet :)
 

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Nice find!

Do you find yourself looking everywhere for things that might fit the bill for that budget build? I found myself leaning on my crutches in Tesco today, examining their packs of 3 x coloured chopping boards (flexi) trying to figure out (a) would they be big enough for the plates on the vest and (b) if so, would I have to laminate them together and buy several packs.

My wife found me there, took one look and said, "Let me guess...Dredd!" before spinning round & walking away, rolling her eyes. She has her soaps, I have my hobbies...strike that, hobby! ;)
 
Thanks, jonny. I would have known someone as experienced as I believe you are would be all over that kind of thing. Any advice then, on what to use on a budget armour build? :)
 
Awesome boot find. Will have to have a look for myself. Thanks.

Scoots, have a look at yarko's vest build video on YouTube, using a heat gun and plastic forms he's been able to make some awesome looking armor. I may look into doing similar for myself once past the hubbub of my brother's wedding.
 
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Like oldhope001's suggestion , I have used a similar approach to yarkos's using foamboard for the templates and craft foam sheets, ( because they are so easy to use) heat gun and sharp pair of scissors , I have then coated them in PVA and added some thin tissue sheets to build them up, once dry they harden off quite nicely, I used a dremmel and a fine drill to add the stitching holes and threaded waxed black thread to simulate the stitching, pva will glue then onto the vest once primed and painted. I used an old motocross chest protector set , cut out all the bits I didn't need as the basis for my vest , a scour through the old army surplus store got me knee & elbow pads adding foam pieces dressed them Dredd style again pva and tissue makes them hard, primer and a coast of paint will finish them off . I used a leather steering wheel cover and a piece of cable tidy to make the collar , I cut it in half , removed the core rubber lining close to, but leaving the stitched edge complete . I then glued the cable tidy to make it a solid tube and once dry coated the inner lining with a good strong adhesive I place the roll of cable tidy in the middle of the wheel lining and smoothed on the cover it should leave about an inch of the cable showing, lots of elastic bands to hold the cover on while it's drying - you now have a leather covered tube ! I used a heat gun to gently warm the plastic cable tidy and used my knee to bend the tube into the collar shape another pair of elastic bands held the tube ends bent into a semi circle , three small pieces of the left over cover made three straps ( one each end and one in the middle ) used to attach the collar to the vest. The LHS eagle I sketched life size and then use craft sheet foam (1 mm) pieces cut out to build up the 3D detail effect, stuck down with PVA glue , I repeated the process for the RHS cover . I will use the tissue and PVA process to thicken, and harden them off , but this time I'll fix them to the existing pads on the motocross vest first before I PVA coat them this will allow me to position them exactly where I want them to be.

The rest of the armour front and back will be built in a similar fashion , with the final pieces attached to a sheet of foam which I covered in a black mesh ( this is the mesh you often find inside sportswear trunks and shorts) easily bought off evilbay .

Painting and finishing , will be as matter of colour matching car body paint , The gold I will use will be a base coat car body spray, with an antique gold leaf frame restorer ( Homebase) , I'll weather it with a black wash and dry brushing to finish . Dredd costume in the film was weathered professionally - a cheap and cheerful method is to take a sheet of plastic , cut open rubbish bag , put your costume on ( all of it) and then lie down on the sheet , get the contents of your hoover bag and liberally cover yourself with it all , then roll about on the sheet for about 5 minutes , stand and dust off yourself , the rolling about will have scuffed all the hard parts , the dust will have gotten to all those nooks and crevase's and settled in the costume - instant weathering !!
 
Wow. I mean it. Wow! Thanks, propsjonnyb, that's more than I could have hoped for. I was telling a friend about this place today, and he was amazed that such knowledge is shared, rather than folk showing, but not telling, as we are unfortunately more used to in this day & age. It's a huge and welcome breath of fresh air, that's helping re-affirm my faith in folk, after half a lifetime of seeing and dealing with the very worst of the crap that people do and are capable of. Seriously, this place is great therapy. Problem is, I find myself lost in it, emerging to realise its 4.35am (like last night), or 5.30am (like the night before!).

I honestly love it here. All of you make it a very special place.

Enough with the schmaltz, on with the work... :)
 
I have an idea for the boots build , in production , the costume dept farrmed out making the boots to a UK theatrical boot makers , supplying the design and all the additional parts , toe cap , heel cup piece , clips , clasps and straps and a job lot of
motocross boots now the eagle-eyed members of the rfp have identified the main elements mostly SIDI parts , and after much head scratching and a root through the bathroom ( oops - sorry secondary workshop!!) I found a bottle of Parmolive Shower gel and a can of Sure Quantum anti-persperant , what you may say have these to do with Dredd boots - well if you examine the can first you'll find the three heel bumps and the Parmolive - the cap is nearly the exact shape of the heel cup a couple o screws to fix them to ahh the boot... a number on here have suggested several types of motocross boots Fox, JKST, Woulf , all have a similar shape and style to them.. to name but three , choice and cost are going to rule which way you go , but try to go for a brown or white boot as these will be the easiest to dye Green the toe caps and shin guards are going to be available soon off the Junkyard although they could both be modeled from foam or sculpted in plastercine and cast in resin or rubber , again depending on cost . The SIDI clips ,clasps and straps are very distinctive - so I think worth buying and replacing on any boot you go for, remember you only want a boot with three straps!! Faux suede pieces pva'd on to the boots should go some way once painted , & heavily dirted down, should do the job .
 
Propsjonnyb,
I wasn't claiming to have found the holy grail of Dredd boots but was just sharing what I found for those on a budget.
 
Dollstix, no offence meant , I think you've done an excellent job in finding a good base boot, I was just trying to offer an inexpensive (Cheap!) addition , since all the bits were custom additions I wish I could lay my hands on original pieces and cast up replicas that's what a lot of RFP members do , and I don't like re-inventing the wheel , and will only build what I can't buy at a reasonable cost
 
Propsjonyb,
Honestly brother, no offence taken.
Classic case of talking about the same thing at cross purposes lol!!!
I meant as a base boot not using as is :)
Will have to do the straps, toe caps, shins and heels after removing the already rivetted strap plates.
And I really like your idea of building up the chest armour with tissue and PVA as I am halfway through doing the foam and heat gun method that Yarko first suggested. I have just cut the templates in some spare MDF being the only difference.
So it's all good :)
 
I found a bottle of Parmolive Shower gel and a can of Sure Quantum anti-persperant

Man, you must have an eagle eye!
I, like scoots have found myself gawping at various things to see if I can make any part of the outfit from them, but I would of never thought of that :thumbsup
I found a pair of boots on ebay that were in my price range and they'll hopefully arrive on Monday so I can start my first ever build. I also love it on here, the budget builds especially. I look forward to sharing my build progress and hearing feedback on it :)
 
Hi,
Does anyone have a good image or has drawn the patterned leather piece on the boots? I'm sure the pieces are wet molded , but I can't get a good image or close up showing the detail , if anyone has a file or photo , I'd really be grateful for a copy !!
 
Many thanks Bowelrock, these are a great help , I think I've found a good basic boot , now all I have to do is work our how much extra work is involved in reaching a good level of screen accuracy , I'm trying for 98% , unless someone can identify the 'donor' boot from that destinctive tread pattern, at least the photo shows the 'faux suede' panel only goes half way round the boot !
 
Cheers bowelrock these pics are great. I did do a whole lot of googling to find some but came up short.
 
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