It is one of the few items I have ever really stressed out about and only because of timeframe. Do it wrong and there isn't much time to scramble for an alternative. But slow and careful with practicing on the top inch before moving down to the real line and I should be golden.
I trimmed the height. Next step is heat adhesive to bond the inner to the outer. I am going to dremel sand the tops and then buff them to a rounded bonding edge before the final leather paint on the fresh edge. The remainder of the boot's exterior will get a full shoe shine treatment, smoothing damaged areas, staining waxing and buffing. These will be more rigid than Adam's but are worthy for pics and poses. I will darken all areas to black, including the stitching areas and lower sole plates. Here is cut down but without all the finishing:
And, I just found my dog's long lost pig squeaky chew toy...
Definitely the biggest difference I see is the stiff, rounded toe. Adam's is definitely not a supported round toe but loose and low. I don't usually use these words but this will likely be my "final selection" boots unless they categorically look terrible with the pants.
(Update 4-21-24 DO NOT USE HEAT BONDING ADHESIVE. Two layers of leather Do Not react well to heating from one side as that side shrinks due to moisture loss. ONLY use brush on adhesives).
Hoping to get completion on boots today. I have bonded the inner and outer leather of the boot shaft with flexible brush on clothing adhesive. After it dried, I applied a top coat of black acrylic leather paints to the top cut edge. Today's work is knocking down the scratches, and abrasions as this was a used boot purchase and they were well used. I will need to immerse myself in the field of boot care so, today, we go full LAWNMOWER MAN and bulk input videos until we reach pro status 99th level. I will post after stain, wax and polish.
Sorry, forgot all about this but for leather trimming, I use a carpet layer's duck billed scissors. Short stroke cutting stops large stroke mistakes. This takes some serious force which leaves too much room for runaway cuts when it finally gives in. Short blades with long handles brings it back under control. Mine also have comfort rubber grips.
Here is my cropped, glued, painted and polished boots. Not perfect, but shiny. Second picture is my "action" pose to show the appropriate wrinkles comp to Adam's.
And my lighting near the mirror sucks because we have been moving furniture around.