Custom / DIY Corks --documented with photos

[OTG]

dope.

 

[louytromps]

My hat goes off to you bro, great job.....

 

[thattexaskid19]

Thanks again all

Off topic for now, but next I'm doing some custom (painted) Lebron 9 elites I scooped off eBay for (get this...) ....$55. They're the 'homes', so they're all white now. Not sure how to paint the foam midsoles so I'm still deciding color schemes.

Photoshopped ideas. Watch out tho --I like obnoxious colorways on my shoes.

lol and a couple tiffanys green inspired

and for when I get a black pair:

Don't mean to distract from the original thread but yeah...sorry i guess. The lebron 9 elite series had so much potential....

K back to topic. Thanks again people. And to the person above asking about what color to start with ---carbons definitely of what you've listed. Best of luck, post up if you have questions.

 

[jamievau]

I think I will do the carbons. Thanks!

 

[nikedealer]

Naa man, I'll never criticize a person for taking the time to create something special... Good work. Respect

Agreed.... 

This is why I find it hard to ever critisize a designer because what he does is something I could never do.

Also... as the Thread Starter said.. giving critique's as constructive criticism to help in future work helps him.

Great job... all the way around...

Hell I'd pay to have something like that done on a pair.. just not the Xs

 

[fahqu001]

Excellent job. Not only that, you're a brave soul. I'd be afraid I'd ruin my shoes.

 

[nmilner]

Amazing... Would like to see final touches and everything. I might try this sometime haha

 

[bucknuteagle]

thattexaskid (thread starter) you might want to watermark your photos from now on. Sneakerwatch.com just took them all and made it a slideshow for their website. Unless you run sneakerwatch then nevermind.

 

[iamdeadrock]

Dope.  I'd pay for something like that.

 

[thattexaskid19]

thattexaskid (thread starter) you might want to watermark your photos from now on. Sneakerwatch.com just took them all and made it a slideshow for their website. Unless you run sneakerwatch then nevermind.

Thanks for the tip off, they listed my name on there so I guess its fine...woulda been nice if they sent me a message or something asking first but whatever it's not like I'm making money off this

 

[dcortes213]

clean!! 

 

[defontes]

should of left it without the swooshes, looks clean

 

[timothy007elena]

well done very creative and well executed.

NIKE PLEASE TAKE NOTE - YOUR shoes are so limited and go to resellers people have to make there own!

 

[memphisboi55]

DOPE!!

Good stuff mane

 

[jamievau]

View media item 456160This is where I am now, lot of work left!

 

[mrbkkt1]

Pretty cool and creative. Air force corks next.

 

[thecoldest343]

Man you did a great job,made those plain jane kicks look a lot more interesting,just from that idea alone.

 

[rillo561]

Repp'd these came out dope.

 

[sneakerhead1999]

Those cork shoes are cool af

 

[sneakertechgeek]

Wow, dope DIY project lol

 

[biboo]

Repped and much respect! You're totally inspired me to do one now.  Thanks for very detail instruction.  How did you draw the shoe shape on that white adhesive paper? It does look a little bit challenging because with all the curvature from the shoe.  That's probably the most important procedure as well. Any recommendation? TIA

 

[thattexaskid19]

Repped and much respect! You're totally inspired me to do one now.  Thanks for very detail instruction.  How did you draw the shoe shape on that white adhesive paper? It does look a little bit challenging because with all the curvature from the shoe.  That's probably the most important procedure as well. Any recommendation? TIA

It's frustrating not gonna lie. Tape together a couple pieces of paper that will cover the whole shoe. What I did was tape the paper down on some other part of the shoe so that it doesnt move while you're tracing. I started at the base with those sharp jagged lines around the midsole, and instead of trying to trace them, I just pressed down on the paper to make creases that followed these sharp edges. Then you can trace edges around the top. Takes a fair amount of trial-error of trimming the stencil down, refitting it, cutting back down, etc.

The good thing about a stencil tho is, if you cut too much paper off in one place, you can just tape another piece of paper on and try again. Can't do that once you cut out the cork. Best of luck with this! Take your time here tho, just make sure you dont make your stencil too small. You can always cut more off, but adding more back in to fill gaps takes away from the finished look.

 

[thattexaskid19]

The 2 colorways I decided to make... just thought I'd update. When I got them they were the original 'home' and 'away' colorways and I painted them.

Got the white elites off eBay for $55 (used), but they look great now.

These guys I got for 100$ off eBay, brand new. Dipped some cheapo laces in gold paint to make them bc the original black elite laces didnt look great with them.

 

[shinylikesyeezy]

You should do this with red suede 

 

[thattexaskid19]

Some more customs I'm doing/done:

Hazelnuts -> Red suede. Crappy dye job on my part .....but there is no worse color than the brown they started as. So they're still better. More work to do.

Mostly done with my 'What the Lebron' 9 Elites. Laces (& original inspiration) courtesy of SmoothTip customs.