Portal 2 Boots

[Wicked]

I wouldn't think so, the only thing you would need to do would be to tweak the design of the front of the black "leather" portion to make it look more like a men's workboot, and maybe if you wanted to beef up the white portions to make it look a little more like a piece of Iron Man armor (probably the Extremis armor since it has a similar streamlined look).

 

[TheMalum]

What about using wreath hangers bent into shape for the heel springs? They're metal, and may not be strong enough, but they're cheap and there's a lot of varieties to try.

 

[carlylewis]

I would really recommend finding a place that does work with sheet steel nearby and bring in pictures. Somebody there should be able to tell you if it's something they can make for you that you can attach to your boot.

To chime in; i'm making the boots too and I have done as Risu has suggested. I ended up having to go to a custom trailer maker who said he'd be able to do some strong 5mmx50mm strips for me if I drew the curve to scale. They're going to cost me $40 AUD each.

 

[Risu]

To chime in; i'm making the boots too and I have done as Risu has suggested. I ended up having to go to a custom trailer maker who said he'd be able to do some strong 5mmx50mm strips for me if I drew the curve to scale. They're going to cost me $40 AUD each.

I can't WAIT to see this done! I'm glad somebody's doing it right.

 

[Yodajammies]

I don't know that I would rely on the "spring" as a structural support. It looks like an engineering nightmare. From ingame assets, it looks like the ball of the footpad is a little larger/wider than a normal shoe, with the base pushed toward the heel a bit more.

For my build I was planning on cutting a steel shank for the under foot and leaving the spring as an aesthetic piece. I'd be very interested to see if you can incorporate that spring as a functional part of the boot.

 

[carlylewis]

Got my steel....WAAAYYYY to heavy!
Tips: don't trust trailer builders. "ah it won't be too heavy"...compared to what? A whale?

Now i'm thinking i'll at least use them as a mould for some fiberglass ones; but i'm considering using a kevlar/carbon hybrid cloth for strength. Any thoughts?

 

[thepaisleyfox]

Making some decent progress... Was hoping to get fiberglass done tonight, then covering them in PVC tomorrow. Crossing my fingers, I need them done by Saturday. :x Excuse the cellphone picture. Didn't want to hunt down my nice camera. Yes, they are standing on their own.

 

[Theist17]

Looking beautiful so far! I can't wait to see the finished piece.

Something about the Portal boots has always reminded me of those ridiculous grown-up moon boots. Need to get some of those.

 

[Risu]

Got my steel....WAAAYYYY to heavy!
Tips: don't trust trailer builders. "ah it won't be too heavy"...compared to what? A whale?

Now i'm thinking i'll at least use them as a mould for some fiberglass ones; but i'm considering using a kevlar/carbon hybrid cloth for strength. Any thoughts?

Any pictures? If they made it 3/32" thick or so I don't see why it would weight more than a couple pounds. The boots I wear every day go up to about 4 pounds each.

 

[carlylewis]

Any pictures? If they made it 3/32" thick or so I don't see why it would weight more than a couple pounds. The boots I wear every day go up to about 4 pounds each.

I'll grab some pics tonight; will start my own thread.
Problem being, they made them at 8mm. (5/16" says google) So that's what I get when I say "they need to be strong". Interestingly enough, I did say no more than 5mm...but again, trailer builders not prop makers.
These heels alone would weigh 5kg (11 pound) so yeah, well disappointed.

 

[Risu]

Whoever wears them will have some killer legs. :lol

 

[carlylewis]

Whoever wears them will have some killer legs. :lol

Ohhhh yeah!
Screw the gym! I'm going to a convention!

...loving what has been done so for by thepaisleyfox!

 

[JBD]

Got my steel....WAAAYYYY to heavy!
Tips: don't trust trailer builders. "ah it won't be too heavy"...compared to what? A whale?

Now i'm thinking i'll at least use them as a mould for some fiberglass ones; but i'm considering using a kevlar/carbon hybrid cloth for strength. Any thoughts?

This has the possiblilty of creating some broken teeth, but: what about drilling out some 'speed holes?' (Then again, I guess falling back won't be breaking teeth, but bruising the rear...)

Avoiding as many holes concentrated in the tighter areas and drilling out the lower stress areas could give you a lighter result. (In this case, I'd probably like the industrial engineered look enough to go for a less true to game look and call them 'alpha prototype boots,' but if you just covered them with a layer of black CF cloth, it could look true to the game.) If you're going the full CF route, some research into the carbon running prosthetics could be useful for what sorts of sections you need Amy Mullens being the poster child for them:
`

Since weight distribution is partly on the ball of the foot, absolute perfection in the build is probably less of an issue. Still, a functional boot is something I'm looking forward to seeing. Good luck!

 

[sporgo]

I think for the boots to be "functional" (by which I mean safe to place weight upon for walking or standing) almost the entire back portion needs to be a rigid assembly strapped rather securely to you leg. Is attaching a metal spring thingy to an existing boot going to work very well or be safe to walk around in? Seems to me it might well shift unpredictably and trip you up.

 

[Shiney]

Wearing them would be the main issue, as I see that there would not be nearly enough support in the heel as it is. Having said that, as a prop, they are looking pretty good, only question I have is do you think that they should be on more of an angle, or incline?

 

[Yodajammies]

Hey lookin good! Where did you find those boots?

 

[thepaisleyfox]

The boots I found were just some wedge boots off of DSW and I slowly but surely cut off the heel.

Then I filled the heel with some of those plastic beads that scale model hobbyists use to replicate water.

Not pictured, I covered the bottom of that with a small bit of fiberglass cloth and resin and put some black plastidip on top to make it look more like the bottom of the boot.

I didn't get it done for yesterday's convention, which is fine. I went without my boots. But I plan on taking my time to spiff them up for the next convention. I had the springs already made for a quick and dirty job, but next I'm going to get some plexi to bend and help support my weight just a little bit. Honestly, it should be able to support some with the method I'll use to attach it to the boot, but obviously not practical or safe enough to just walk around on my heels.

Really as far as weight support goes, so long as you find a shoe where you are sitting more on the ball of your foot, it's not much worse than walking in regular heels. I spent an afternoon walking around in those boots, sans heels, and it wasn't hard. The spring sticking out behind might be a little awkward to get used to, but I know it'll be far easier than the first knee replacement springs from Portal. Those were a PAIN. Literally.

But here is how far I got with covering the front. I'm half tempted to rip this off and start again, it's not nearly as smooth as I would like it, and I do have plenty of pvc vinyl.

 

[Audrey2]

Holy crap it's beautiful...

But I'm not sure how smooth you'll be able to get it without making it one large moulded piece.

 

[thepaisleyfox]

Yeah, I'm not sure, either, especially since the boot is so flexible... It's mostly that HUGE wrinkle right there on the left side, I feel like I can smooth that out a bit, but the way it's glued down I'd have to start over since the PVC is essentially ruined where it was glued to the boot. Luckily it's just the front of the boot that I'll attach like this (and it will go up to the cut part, but being my first time trying to do this, I rushed and didn't make a pattern for it first, so I had to cut off the top part on the front. It'll be fine, though, there's the strap that goes across the front of the ankle that I can hide the seam with, anyway.) The parts that stick up a bit are going to be made separate from the boot and attached on top like pieces of armor.

 

[Yodajammies]

Wow! That's super helpful, and these boots are looking great so far!