Okay, so I’ve been wanting to customize a pair of Air Max for a while now, and with the football season hype, I thought, why not go with a 49ers theme? I’m no artist, but I figured I could handle a simple color swap.
First, I grabbed a pair of plain white Air Max 90s. Gotta have that classic silhouette, you know? Then, I went online and ordered some Angelus paint – red and gold, obviously. I also picked up some finisher to protect the paint job later. I’m clumsy, so I needed that extra protection!
The Painting Process
I started by cleaning the shoes really well with some soapy water. I think I used some shoe cleaner I find around, I don’t remember exactly, it works, to remove dust and factory stuff, make sure the paint will stick.
- Then, the scary part – taping! I carefully taped off all the areas I didn’t want to paint. This took forever, seriously. Gotta get those lines crisp, you know?
- Next, I mixed the red paint with a little bit of 2-Thin to make it flow better. Angelus paint can be kinda thick.
- I carefully applied thin coats of red to the parts I wanted, using a small brush. It takes a few coats to get solid coverage, so it’s important to be patient.
- I must wait some time to let each coat dry before next.
After the red, I did the same thing with the gold, taping off different sections and applying thin coats. The gold was even trickier, I feel like, because it showed every little brush stroke. I used a really soft brush for that part.
Finishing Touches
Once everything was dry (I waited like a whole day, just to be sure), I removed the tape. There were a few tiny spots where the paint bled a little, but I fixed those with a toothpick and a steady hand.
Finally, I applied a couple of coats of the matte finisher to protect the paint. I really went to town with this stuff, making sure every painted area was covered. Don’t want my hard work scuffing off on the first wear!
And that’s it! My custom 49ers Air Max! They’re not perfect, but I’m pretty proud of them. I wore them to watch the game last weekend, and got a few compliments. Pretty sweet!
