More details on the work thus far – Boots of Stealth

This has been the most challenging piece of gear to customize for the project so far.

There are some in-game images of the “Worn Whispers” aka “Boots of Stealth” that give the wearer a boost to stealthy classes’ Hide in Shadows and Move Silently ability scores.

So what to do with all this, i.e., how to best represent these boots?

Well, first from eBay I purchased a pair of generic medieval female leather boots which happened to be brown, “Medieval Knight Boots Shoes 1/6 Model Accessory fit 1/6 Action Figure Model Doll”:

And I painted the leather black using Angelus leather paint. I applied two coats.

I also purchased from Hobby Lobby some “faux fur” with which to line the inner tops of the boots (that fold over) and some purple thread to simulate the laces.

And I trimmed the fur down to scale and glued it on to the inner top of the boot. Again, this was done in order to suggest that they are fur lined. But the main reason for adding the fur was to give the tops of the boots more bulk and “presence.” I was trying to represent the prominent folded “cuffs” of the boots at the top to better match the in-game graphics.

When I pushed the Phicen feet down into the boots the seams in the heel actually started to split. Probably due to paint drying on them. And the soul at the heel on one of the boots started to detach. I was able to use some black sewing thread to stitch the heels up. And I glued the sole back in place. It all worked out fine.

Next I added tiny “metal studs” made of chromed plastic in an assortment of several sizes and shapes that Gustavo Ponce Bautista kindly added to my order of the Shadow Armor.

And I used teeny tiny pinhead sized specs of blu tack to secure the studs to the boots. This turned out to be a very wise decision versus using craft glue. The blu tack is very forgiving. It allowed me to move the placements of the studs around to eventually achieve the geometrical design I wanted, evenly spaced. Had I attempted it with glue I would made so many mistakes that I would have ruined the boots.

Then I added the Vallejo black weathering powder, which dulled the leather to make it look more worn. Thankfully, the very slight amounts of visible blu tack that still poked from the sides of the studs, after doing my best to push it under the studs, was rendered invisible by the black powder. It all worked out perfectly.

I’m toying with the idea of attempting to use craft paint to try to simulating color streaks in the faux fur. But I’ll probably leave well enough alone!