Antiquing Leather Belts

[OC Richard]

I've been getting into costume making and such, and learning how to do things new to me.

One project was weathering/distressing/antiquing a pair of cheap vinyl boots.

They're made by a company called "Funtasma". They cost around $50. What makes them work for me is that they're very comfortable to wear, and they come in size 14.

But they look like what they are: cheap ugly vinyl. Here.



I watched a couple YouTube videos about how to make these look more realistic, like distressed leather. It's all done with Liquitex acrylic paint.

First I blotched on some very dark brown. Then blotched on some reddish brown, with a sea-sponge.



That just gives an underlying mottled look, to break up the ugly vinyl. Lastly I dry-brushed on the wear or dust.



Next project was an elaborate belt. To simulate the appearance the belt has in the TV show I smeared the leather with paint, then rubbed it partially off with a wet sponge. The border-lines are just drawn with a ballpoint pen.



(I can't post a photo of the original belt because there's a weapon involved.)

Here are two identical lengths of belt, before and after the treatment.



The leap was to apply this method to a quick-and-dirty belt I'd made to sort of go with my Artificer Culloden sporran.

I used a buckle I bought in Deepest Darkest West Virginia back in the 1970s, rustic hammered brass, completed with a belt blank and a couple Chicago screws.



As you can see the belt was plain and ugly and didn't go very well with the lovely antiqued-looking leather of the sporran. I added border-lines by drawing them with a ballpoint pen, then smeared on and mostly rubbed off the Liquitex paint.

Here's the result, didn't take long to do.



This enhancement shows the leather a bit better