Making molds to rebuild OG's air bags?

[aleste]

Hi everyone! Does anybody ever thought of rebuilding the air units of our beloved OGs by peeling off the sole, removing the cracked TPU, making a mold of the structure supporting the inflated TPU bag and rebulding it with a heated press, sheets of correct thickness TPU and a can of nitrogen?
What material could be more suitable for the mold considering it has to be heated to print the TPU?
Can the mold be made with 3d scanning and a 3d printer?
I mean it's a bit complex but I'm wondering if someone with the skills and tools ever tried or planned to do this.

 

[nike air go lwp]

I have explored the 3D printing concept but it needed a lot more time / patience. Seems like a no-brainer, especially for those talented restoration craftsmen. I am surprised all the “fake” vendors do not sell the parts, either…have you seen all the mid soles on Alibaba? If customizers have access to NIKE AIR tabs, these should be more readily available, too

 

[aleste]

I have explored the 3D printing concept but it needed a lot more time / patience. Seems like a no-brainer, especially for those talented restoration craftsmen. I am surprised all the “fake” vendors do not sell the parts, either…have you seen all the mid soles on Alibaba? If customizers have access to NIKE AIR tabs, these should be more readily available, too

Thanks for the tips, I didn't know those mid soles were available on Alibaba, I took a quick look but couldn't spot any suitable one for a faithful restoration, even for recent shoe models...maybe trying to get infos of availability from customizers.. but the air bags of recent reissues of the models I'm interested in restoring are all smaller and look poor if compared to the OGs (Uptempos all, Pippen, Cris Webber...).
In any case the process of rebuilding the air bags requires a very skilled craftsman to remove the sole and separate the parts without destroying it all beside the mold being made with 3d printing or manually.
I first thought of using alginate or silicon for the molds... I have the skills to do it manually but I don't have all the tools and the time at the moment...

 

[rcjbbp1313]

I have a pair of Penny 2 OGs that I am going to replace the air bubble with insoles cut to size and thickness to fill the air bubble space and then paint them to hopefully get a better look. I will post pics once I do it but Im waiting for my dang glue to show up in the mail.

 

[Girl Thats Jules]

I have a pair of Penny 2 OGs that I am going to replace the air bubble with insoles cut to size and thickness to fill the air bubble space and then paint them to hopefully get a better look. I will post pics once I do it but Im waiting for my dang glue to show up in the mail.

Update?

 

[rcjbbp1313]

Update?

I need to get on this, sadly life happened but I’m going to try and get them going just to quench my curiosity

 

[rcjbbp1313]

Update?

So I’m close to having them put together minus the air bubble replacement. Once that is done I will post again, here they are now. OGs are so beautiful even in worn condition.

 

[Girl Thats Jules]

So I’m close to having them put together minus the air bubble replacement. Once that is done I will post again, here they are now. OGs are so beautiful even in worn condition.

Pefect shoe for me too, I have the OG white-Blue colorway. Keep us updated because I need mine done too.

 

[rcjbbp1313]

They are glued together on the uppers to the midsole sand I have one shoe waiting for more work on the air bubble situation. Just one picture

 

[rcjbbp1313]

They are crude, but for a first try I like them. They will look so much better once I finish the replacement “bubble”. I don’t know which way from here but I’m happy for now lol I’ll figure the next step soon and keep updating.

 

[rcjbbp1313]

Bonus

 

[s dubl]

I remember years back trydan (I think that was his username) used some clear plastic tubing on some uptempo 2s. If I remember correctly, it didn’t look half bad.

Scrolled through his IG, and can’t find the pics with the tubing, but here’s some pics of him using zoom bags that look pretty cool, and probably feel amazing.





Edit: found it. This was way earlier than the zoom bags.

 

[rcjbbp1313]

Nice on both! I was surprised the zoom worked since it’s so much thinner. Either one looks awesome!