I have always liked the look of the rough/smooth low boots - a little bit different to the normal roughouts. So when Anthony got them for sale for £50 I had to have a punt, despite the obvious flaws.
So, now I have a pair what do I think?
All this has to be taken in the context that these are £50 - a third cheaper than the Sturm-type roughouts on the UK market.
1. I am a flat-footed wide size 9 - the boots that arrived were marked as UK size 10. Bugger, can't Anthony read an order? Yes he can and has clearly sussed that if you have a regular size nine shoe you need a size 10 boot. Un-broken-in there isn't going to be room for a thick inner sole - so if you fill your boots with spongy insoles as well as thick socks you may well need a larger size still.
2. The boots have sixteen eyelets - no problem with that, I have seen originals with sixteen, fourteen and twelve.
3. The nose shape is definitely not shark-nosed, more rounded and domed - much like my US buckle boots. Still, my thinking is that when dubbin soaked and soft this could be flattened out a bit.
4. The smooth leather is a curious light shade.
5. The leather is less robust than a real-deal boot - I've no problem with that as I don't have to wear then year-in year-out. My buckle boots have similar thickness and I've had them five years and they are great. My repro ammo boots are like iron in comparison.
6. Construction and stitching seems fine.
7. Sole studs are crap and the toe plate is a thin bit of tin. Why are the studs crap? They are in two parts - the stud and the nail (as opposed to the proper one piece kit). The close-ups illustrate the problem - as soon as there is a bit of wear the flattened nail nead will be lost allowing the stud to slide off leaving the nail shaft. Hell, one came off with just a bit of clip-clopping when trying them on. I have no doubt the boots will have to be renailed after little use. Heel iron looks OK, remains to be seen how hard the steel is though.
So, now to get them looking right....
I have had a pot of steel wool/vinegar brewing for a few days so I did a test on a few parts. The roughout leather showed no change, the smooth leather showed no change but a dab on the sole leather did change to a dark colour. Aha, my brew is OK!
Reasoning that the rough out leather might be coated in something I swabbed it down with alcohol. And under the eyelets I tried removing the light colouring with paint stripper. Great, it comes off!
So, the job for tomorrow is stripping the smooth upper leather of it's painted finish (much like you do with the red painted corcorans).
More pics and work-in-progress tomorrow!
Anthony has tried his best to figure out china to real uk sizes.
you will not be the first buyer of his kit thinking WTF he's over sized or undersized kit, until you try it on !!
A beautiful afternoon, just right for paint stripping outdoors!
First job - coat of nitromors in small area and scrape off paint with a blunt edge (found this in the kitchen draw 
). Wipe remains off with rough cloth.
Having scraped off bulk of goo, use toothbrush and nitromors in small areas concentrating on tricky areas such as seam edges and stitching. I found it best to coat then wipe off in one rapid motion (rather than rub as this just re-deposited the paint).
Comparison of stripped and unstripped boots
And stripped boots
Now followed a thorough cleaning all over with solvent (I had xylene to hand) to remove any greases.
At this point the boots are decidedly dry and cardboardy - no worries, I'll putting all the fats back later on.
Having examined the boots very carefully now I see the leather isn't great quality - I'm pretty sure even in late wartime the army wouldn't have accepted these from the contractors. Just comparing the plain leather Clarks I happen to be wearing now reveals how beautiful good quality, well treated leather can be. OK, as a comparison - I'm sure many of you have EM or officers belts. You know how the cheap ones look and feel? Thinnish and cardboardy compared to the nice Italian-made belt on your civvy trousers?
Next up - attempting to stain black!
I Love your marigolds 
Looks like your de-gunk worked well. I hear those US Para boots require a similar 'outing' preparation.
OK, my attempt at black staining. My vinegar/steel wool has been brewing a few days now and the boots are stripped, de-greased and dry. So time to start rubbing...
Looks OK so far...
But wait, doesn't look very black when it starts drying out...
It is darker, well grey-er, but not inky black as the test on the sole leather shows
I hadn't anticipated the steel wool disintegrating so fast when rubbing and was running out so I dashed to Asda for a bottle of vinegar (53p for distilled or 15p for malt - went with distilled as per instructions) and a big wodge of steel wool from B&Q for £3. I can't wait days for a brew to happen so reason it's just like any chemical reaction so shove the vinegar on the hob to boil and lob the steel wool in, steeping and stirring like a madman. Christ, boiling vinegar stinks the house out and I am bollocked by the Oberfuhrer twice - once for the smell and once for using the 'wrong' pan 
.
Anyhoo, a quick test on the sole showed instant blackening so, much encouraged, scour and swab the boot again. As it dries a little I can see little difference. Bugger. Andy's boots went black when he did it! Still, the instructions http://www.dererstezug.com/blackeningboots.htm do say there isn't a lot of difference and from his pics the type of leather makes a marked difference.
So, the one boot is drying overnight - I'll check it tomorrow morning and the plan is to do the other boot and just accept the darkening has just greyed the tan colour and press on with the subsequent treatment and it will darken anyway with the grease intake.
Yes, mine did go blacker and quicker than I'd expected. Maybe it's something to do with the quality of the leather? Anyway, low boots are brown or black. 
A few coats of polish, dubbin, wax, etc will darken them.
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
Exactly so Andy, I am undaunted...
Surely she's the oberfuhrerin ? intrested in seeing how the end result of all this hard graft works out
Surely she's the oberfuhrerin ?
Possibly, but it's confusing - she wears the trousers and has a moustache more impressive than the one I was sporty at Husky. 
Moving swiftly on...
Boots now dried out and the leather is as dry as a bone and look for all the world like the 70 year old unissued boots you pull out of tea chests at Militaria Fairs!
As bought for comparrison:
Grrr, look at the lovely black staining on the soles!
So, now to apply first coat of dubbin - first using toothbrush to drive deep into welt, all joins and stitching.
Damn, I'm in trouble - dyed Ober's hair ('cos the grey was showing ) and she is blaming me it has come out a dark brown. It says 'light brown' on the packet. I didn't buy it, hell, I didn't make it, but somehow it's my fault - like rubbing it too hard make it go dark brown? She is refusing to leave the house. It might be because of comments like 'stand in the sunlight and it won't look so dark' or 'bugger, that's darker than my boots and they were meant to be black'. But I digress...
Right, seam sealing excess wiped off and dubbin applied with a toothbrush all over (scouring into the nap of the roughout). Leave to soak in the sun for half an hour then wipe off. Re-apply, leave for half an hour, wipe off and buff up.
Not too shabby - long way to go yet though...
By the way, just noticed the nail head on the heel irons aren't countersunk - as soon as the nail heads wear off the iron will come off too...
Ah so thats why its not working the mrs has dubbin and wirewool vinegar stuff on her hair, and you've put the hair dye on the boots ? 
Don't look that bad, as Steiner says they didn't just come in black, and only way of really getting black is using lederfett, due to the black grease it is, rather than the clear dubbins which theoretically will only ever make it dark brown.
H chortling at the thought of CW trying to be all charles worthington or one of those other flouncy hairdressing types or is he zohan
Ah so thats why its not working the mrs has dubbin and wirewool vinegar stuff on her hair, and you've put the hair dye on the boots ?
Bugger, it is my fault after all 
Charles Worthington - who the helll...? Vidal Sasson is my middle name. Err, are my middle names.
Blackening boots was against regs later war anyway so I'm happy with brownish. Working on a patina now, then some softening up, then sole treatment, then I'll look at that rounded toe.
Heh, some folk are happy tinkering with guns - I'd rather just buy then from a shop. Boots are much more important. I remember from my acting days a good thespian friend telling me the way to get into a character was by starting with the right footwear.
You've done a very good job on those boots CW, looks very labour intensive! I think I'll just shell out the extra for the other boots that Anthony sells though!
When I want your opinion - I'll tell you what it is!
Yes, the bog standard boots are £75 - presumably everyone gets them from the same source.
Richard Underpants had the rough/smooth boots for £135 (but out of stock).
This is $250 from the states
http://www.grigsbymilitaria.com/german_footwear.htm
This is $170
http://www.civilwarboots.com/shop_new/en-us/dept_1.html
Incidentally, feeling a little less uncomfortable with the rounded toe now:
Late originals
(from the useful site http://www.dererstezug.com/lowboots.htm )
RAU's £135 boots have been out of stock for a very long time - at least a year - not sure if we'll see them again. His and Anthony's £75 boots appear identical - like the ones I bought off ebay.de before either stocked them. They do need plenty of dubbin applied regularly, especially on the soles, or else a day in the wet and the water soaks through the sole. Sunday is often dubbin-day for me - Frau Steiner is at work and I'm stuck indoors caring for my daughter - so I've been in the garden doing my boots. 
I've used mine a lot, and although they're showing signs of wear, they are still in pretty good shape. Here's what a good few months of dirt and dubbin does for the colour....
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
looking good dave, makes me wish i had done a review of my new dms boots, seeing as i have just spent a lovely sunny afternoon hot spooning the dimples out of the toes and heels.
I use the same boots as Steiner - made by Sturm if i remember correctly. Gave 'em a once over with some dark brown polish, then a tin of dubbin, and they're come out exactly as I want them. So far, i've only lost one hobnail, so not too bad considering the abuse i've given them.
After each outing, i've left them to dry, then re-dubbined them (including the soles) and so far, they're still in pretty good shape - only lost one hobnail
The only problem (if you consider it to be a problem) is that the gaiters tend to ride over the top of them (not a problem with the ones with the hooks at the top, as they're about 2" taller), still, bollocks to gaiters, just wear them with rolled down german "ringed" socks, and they're extremely comfortable!
When we were a Kingdom it was run by a King
When we were an Empire it was run by an Empress
Now we're a country we're run by a..........
Love the work you've put into those boots. Great improvment. I don't think RAU will be re-stocking the boots again but i have started getting them in in small numbers. Only problem is orders are a long time coming.....I mean months rather than weeks which is why Richard maybe gave up. I think the Sturm ones that Anthony sells are spot on and for £50 these new ones seem to do the job as well. Here are the ones I've started to get but the price is a whopping £135.00.
Nice boots - round toes too! I've now scrubbed 'toe treatment' from my list of things to do as I'm happy it's authentic. (Note: curious nail arrangement - right into the instep, is this right?)
Anyhoo, started on the next phase as postie turned up with some goodies today.
Remember how I turned the boots dry as a bone? Time to moisturise!
Using Neatsfoot oil and a sponge I liberally swabbed all areas inside the boot with oil, making sure it was fully coated and absorbed. This re-swells the leather, making is soft and pliable again. Also swabbed the outside of the boots and the sole.
I won't be putting any other coats of Neatsfoot on the outside or inside of the boots - if any isn't absorbed it will be wiped off. However, the soles will get repeated coats.
Neatsfoot is a natural organic leather treatment used for centuries (it's extracted from cows hooves - dead cows I presume, not some bizarre milking-type process) and won't rot stitching (a myth often perpetrated). However, I have found it is prone to going milky and I'm pretty sure it would be a good nutrient for mould so boots need to be looked after - don't chuck wet boots into a carrier bag and lob into the back of the garage. Still, if you do that you deserve mouldy boots!
