WIP Dredd Boots and helmet

Ray48

Well-Known Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Well, my first build thread.....big challenge is getting photos up. Thanks to ljsm for tips....going to give it a go. I bought the world's cheapest moto boots and modded them with shin guards, and toe and heel caps. I also changed the look of the buckles to simulate the Sidi buckles. I know they are not SA but I think they look passable. I also have started a helmet.
 
Hooray, I have no Idea why I succeeded...couldn' have done it without the help! Thanks! More pics when I have time.
 
welll that just looks awesome! and as for screen accurate it's as near as dammit! not many folks are gonna be on thier hands and knees to admonish you about the incorrect buckling system and if they are you could just give 'em a judicial kick while they're down there ;)

What did you make the shin from/how?

again top work sir!
 
Tell you what, you've made a fantastic job on those boots. They look the part. Can't wait to see what you decide to work on next.
 
The boots look fantastic!

I too would love to hear more about how you put these together, especially the shin guard and rear heel guard!

I've got my base boots (which incidentally are too tight at the moment :( ), but haven't given any thought to where I'm going with them.
 
Mate those look awesome. I'm just about to embark on my first ever build and thought i'd start from the floor up, I'm just waiting for my boots to be delivered. I'd be gratefull of any info/tips ou would like to share on how you made these. cheers.
 
I've always said ( well for about the last 40 years!) a costume begins if you get the boots and/or shoes right , I've had the prevlidge to meet a few actors in my time and most say they begin to feel and get in to 'character' when they put the boots on - so for me the main work begings in finding or making the boots as accurate as possible the rest follows on as budget allows.
 
That is gorgeous work sir!!!
And you have also supplied some lovely photos that will aid me in my quest for Dredd bootage:)
Good job
 
Thanks to all for the nice words. First......I hate this laptop!!!!! I had answered most questions about my mods when I accidentally hit the scroll pad and my message went away!!! Enough ranting...I used $107 Answer Fazer boots. They are poor quality for racing purposes....some places they overstitched the sole up the side of the boot! some thread was coming loose..nuff said? They are fine for costuming. I removed a strap and buckle as it had four, not three. I modded the toe and heel caps with ABS and styrene plastic and epoxy putty. (for those in the UK, I use 20 minute cure plumbing putty which is cheaper than Milliputt.) The shin guards are cut and glue ABS and styrene plastic. Some rudimentary bending also. If you really want to make them I can get into the long boring details ad nauseum. ( glad to if you need same.) They are actually epoxied to the boots with faux attachments to the straps. I painted the boot sole stitching, which was white thread. Had to paint clear plastic buckles black and add strips of aluminum tape to simulate the right look. Dyed the suede boot shaft patches black. The last pictures also show the leather gaiter fronts with rivet that I added....got to finish that by adding a piece above that to shin guard bottom. That and I want to build out the boot sole at the front slightly...it's a little short. That's about all. ;)
 
By the way.... I ran out of MB room for the helmet pics....maybe later, though most everyone has seen too many already...so, the only difference with mine is I didn't use any pep files...just the eyeballs! :lol
 
ljsm, I looked at your questions again, sorry sir I don't think my answer was informative enough to assist you and I am indebted to you for your excellent instruction on adding pics. So, the shin guards were made after using a cardboard template to determine the size/shape. I cut and bent the corners and sides, then flattened it out on a piece of 1/16" black ABS plastic. (sorry, I don't do metric equivalents!) Cut out the shape and cut a 45 degree slit at all four corners. Make that a pie shaped wedge. Then, with a butane torch (not the see in the dark kind we call a flashlight, the heat it very hot kind!) Small burner used for cooking like browning the custard or creme Brulee, a big propane burner heats too wide an area. cigarette lighter will work in a pinch. Heat a straight line top to bottom along one side margin about 1" in. Pass the torch back and forth, alternating top and bottom sides. When the plastic softens, bend it along a straight line (use an unheated piece of plastic or a short ruler to keep it bending evenly, but when it starts to bend, pick up the ruler to avoid to crisp a bend...you don't want it super sharp.) Stop the bend at about 45 degrees, not 90. Do the same along all four sides except the top margin should be about 1 & 1/4" to 2" wide, with the uncertainty tied to the radius of the bend area itself. If your fingers aren't too thick, about two fingers wide is about right, including the bend radius. Hold it at about 45 degrees till it is cool enough to hold it's shape. I heated the pie shaped corner cuts and brought them to meet, then reinforced the back of the cuts with a wedge of ABS. If yo can get a can of ABS pipe cement at a plumbing supply or hardware store...that stuff is little more than dissolved ABS plastic in solvent. you can reinforce the corners with this on front and back. After an hour dry time, then sand the front of the corner joint...Bingo, the joint has disappeared. Now cut a trapezoidal shape of thicker ABS ,about 1/8" or as I did, use styrene. It glues fine with methylene chloride /styrene monomer glue or the plumbing cement. After rounding the edges it should fit nicely inside the bended area. You can see where I clamped it in the pic. I did also give it a slight curve as I perceived it needed, by heating on a kitchen pot first. I then drilled four holes,top and bottom to indicate the ends of the grooves in the plate's surface, cut slots between holes vertically, about 1/8'' wide for each. After you glue the face plate into place, fill the slot with modelling putty or Body filler...doesn't matter which and run a finger down the slot. That will leave a rounded contour to the groove. If you are well equipped you could do this whole step with the proper router bit. I just find this easier. Now you need some 1/8" half round styrene for the outside edge of the guards and the strap fastening areas. I just glue down the straight portions using thin model cement then using the torch ,I hit it enough to soften it for bending at a corner and glue it again, and so on. On my boots the straps are not quite in the right spot, but close enough. I obviously had pre-marked where the spots were for the existing straps...an advantage over screen used castings, since those wouldn't match most boots. I drilled a hole and glued a rivet (which doesn't do a thing except look SA) By the way, if you don't think you have the right glue for the half round trim...CA glue will work too. Last, prime, paint weather and epoxy the whole shebang to the face of the boot. I held it in place with foot long rubber bands until dry. These should be durable since the ABS is almost bullet proof. Heels may not be as accurate but they were made by cutting out a pattern of cardboard then trasferring that to 1/8" ABS and heating with a heat gun till it was limp in the center, bending it (use heavy gloves!) and hold in place around each boot heel, until cool. The other pieces are cut out of different thicknesses of ABS and glued in place on the base plate. Fill contours with whatever you use, Milliputt ,polyester body filler, modelling putty, sand prime and paint. I added 4 screws like the screen version, for each boot, two on each side. Couldn't find a lot of decent reference pics for the heel mod so ,for me, close enough....If I can't, probably neither can anyone else, so who cares?!! I hope this is complete enough to be helpful. Good luck. :D
 
I forgot to add, for those wanting to follow my tutorial...if you don't have a table saw or bandsaw , I generally cut most of my ABS of 1/16" with scissors for curves and a regular paper cutter (guillotine type) for straight cuts. I usually score and snap the 1/8" styrene and dremel cut the curves or use a jig saw. I use to be a plastic fabricator and have a lot of power tools but seldom use most because simple is still the best, when possible.:)
 
Im loving this thread...nice work on the boots as well! Working on a Judge suit as well so I guess the hard parts are the way to go!
 
I've always said ( well for about the last 40 years!) a costume begins if you get the boots and/or shoes right , I've had the prevlidge to meet a few actors in my time and most say they begin to feel and get in to 'character' when they put the boots on - so for me the main work begings in finding or making the boots as accurate as possible the rest follows on as budget allows.

Can I just say that as a professional actor, I totally agree with this. Different shoes give a totally different feel to your normal everyday comfortable footwear. Most of us have only got a few pairs of shoes that we regularly use and so putting on an unfamiliar pair really helps me 'get into character.'

Back on topic though, any idea what the base boots are please, Ray48?

I've found some cheap four buckle boots which look OK but obviously aren't ideal.
 
I scoured evil bay looking for motor cross boots , they are your best bet, The originals were supplied to the UK bootmakers in a job lot with all the accessories straps, clips , buckles toe caps, shin plates etc with a production design and told to build them - all they did was strip the boot down , add faux suede pieces, plus a wet-molded leather piece , the toe guard, the heel protector then re-placed all the straps buckles and clips with new SIDI parts they were then dyed/painted green , and shipped to South Africa for filming. Go for a boot with three straps it just makes it easier. Myself I went with a brown pair as for me it's much easier to dye it green , I've stripped it back , made templates for each and every piece , then created a mold from each template where needed, cut template from craft foam which I'll back with green faux suede , Just working on the Shin guards and toe caps , I have a master made for the guards , need to cast that, and just making the masters for the heel pieces and toe caps , then cast those and then cast the final pieces.
 
I scoured evil bay looking for motor cross boots , they are your best bet, The originals were supplied to the UK bootmakers in a job lot with all the accessories straps, clips , buckles toe caps, shin plates etc with a production design and told to build them - all they did was strip the boot down , add faux suede pieces, plus a wet-molded leather piece , the toe guard, the heel protector then re-placed all the straps buckles and clips with new SIDI parts they were then dyed/painted green , and shipped to South Africa for filming. Go for a boot with three straps it just makes it easier. Myself I went with a brown pair as for me it's much easier to dye it green , I've stripped it back , made templates for each and every piece , then created a mold from each template where needed, cut template from craft foam which I'll back with green faux suede , Just working on the Shin guards and toe caps , I have a master made for the guards , need to cast that, and just making the masters for the heel pieces and toe caps , then cast those and then cast the final pieces.

ooh nice! any pics?
 
To answer the question on the base boots. They are made by Answer Racing @ answerracing.com . I bought mine at @ partsbandit.com.They are widely available under motocross racing boots world wide. Many houses carry them. They are the Fazer model, selling for a cheap $107 US. Don't expect high quality for that price and they run a little small. You can check customer comments on some sites. First a rundown on the boots. You will find minor things like sole edges not fully trimmed smooth. They used a white nylon thread which must be painted black where the sole meets the upper. You will have to remove the metal toe guards on the sole. Those are attached with tiny phillips head screws; takes about ten minutes with a screw driver. The back upper shaft has a white logo which must be painted black or covered in leather. One set of buckles should be removed to make it look closer to the prop boots. The spacing of the two top buckles will be off, but only noticeable to the picky. The buckles themselves are clear polycarbonate plastic. Very tough (think space suit grade) but you will have to paint them black. I then took some chrome/aluminum tape used for sealing sheet metal joints, and cut strips to apply length wise to make them look like the Sidi buckles. You will fin that the inner boot shaft is brown suede and also needs painting.....used a vinyl/leather spray. Then, added all mods and the short gaiters at the ankle/instep. The buckle straps have short brass rivets near the shin guards to simulate the look. they don't hold anything in place, just cosmetic. Apologies to those that inquired about the mods I made being available; I just never felt that they would fit every style and size boot out there. The shin guards are an example. When I found that someone was planning to cast screen used pieces I was intrigued but felt that the pre-molded spots for the buckles would not match my strap location. The toe caps sounded interesting but I still haven't seen them offered, same fit issue may exist, and I felt I could make them myself. Most of you could pull these boots off easily with a couple weeks work, on and off. Biggest advantage is price. I know I didn't spend more than $150 over all. Not bad for Judge boots. If anyone seriously undertakes this build, I'm more than happy to give advice, where requested. Sorry for the delay in my answer, still busy with my Dredd Build. By the way, I finally determined I painted the center portion of the shin guard the wrong color. I painted it a military green but it looks like they should be a light gray with steel chipping and weathering. I'll be fixing that.:D
 
This thread is more than 10 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top