This old pic shows the modded Sideshow boots on the right, and a hybrid that is HT uppers/gaiters and Sideshow lowers on the left. The Snowie on the left is the unweathered one I have so the boots don't have any added weathering. I'm planning to get around to lightly weathering the shoes/soles area only.
I do think the Sideshow boots need some modding - I tightened up/thinned the gaiters, painted the straps (as the waffle pattern sculpt is way too rough) and sliced out the laces from the boots. I also used rubbing alcohol to remove maybe 90% of that yellowy/tan paint the SSC shoes have on the soles/tip as it's way too prominent.
While the Sideshow gaiters are a superior sculpt in terms of detail (its beautifully done,) I do think the HT gaiters are probably a little more accurate - the gaiter fabric isn't as billowy as the SSC sculpt shows, and the HT straps look more accurate.
The SSC shoes are just a bit oversized/chunky to be accurate, though the HT shoes are terribly flat and feel undersized. I actually tried to find other all-weather 1/6 shoes as an alternative because I don't really love the HT or SSC shoes, but after a lot of searching couldn't find anything that was a close enough match (at least without a ton of detail work to make them accurate.)
Before I weather the soles of the hybrid boot, I'm going to sand a mm or so off the bottom of the sole because the SSC boot is mostly too high/tall, so thinning the sole will bring the hybrid boot more into correct proportion (currently the SSC boot seems a tad too big for the HT gaiter.)
I love me some troopers -- they got me into this hobby. But lately I'm finding I like 'em best displayed as a contrast to figures that have portraits. It was a few months ago I was staring down Vader, Boba Fett and Stormtroopers and thinking "Nobody's got a damn face" 
