I chose to make the Tin Man for my 2011 costume since he is truly one of the most recognizable of characters for people of all ages. I mean, who has NOT seen the Wizard of Oz?
My Tin Man “Tinny” stands 9 feet tall, has LED lights which I later changed out for Neon strand strobe lights, has an integrated steam machine and tube to the funnel hat to make it smoke, and I wore white UV contact lenses in conjunction with 2 UV black lights that made the contacts glow in the dark and lit up my entire face!
As accessories, he has the woodsman axe, funnel hat, heart shaped clock on a chain, and of course the oil can all attached to the suit. I also carried a “choo choo” whistle to get that authentic sound effect when his hat smoked.
Tinny stands approximately 9 feet tall and is adjustable to be approximately 12 inches taller! To make him so big, I first bought a set of adjustable Drywall stilts. I then made covers for the legs out of poster board covered with stainless steel foil and metal ductwork tape. There are several other tubular sections that were made in the same manner that go over the arms and legs.
The torso was also made in this manner except I used a plastic roll-up sled to use as the backing for the stainless steel foil so that it would be more durable and keep its shape better.
Most of the suit is fastened with velcro to make it easy to put on. The torso is put on just like a jacket. and has both velcro and snaps to hold it together.
Under the suit, I wore jeans and a sweatshirt that I covered with metallic silver spandex by gluing it on with spray adhesive. I also wore some tight fitting silver lame gloves.
On my face I attached a nose and chin prosthetic that I found cheap online. Then I used silver and black face makeup and silver hairspray to blend it all in.
I had a great time wearing this Tin Man Costume out and have had hundreds of pictures taken of me in the last 2 weeks.
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Please tell me how you rigged the smoke machine in the costume. I need to do this for our production of the Wizard of oz. PLEASE HELP ME.
Thanks!!
Gina,
In regards to the smoking tin man hat, I found online a small handheld battery operated fog machine called the dragon puffer.
I attached some flexible air tubing to the top with metal tape and ran the tubing up to the hat and taped it there the same way. I also attached a small led button light inside the hat on the tubing to light up the top of the funnel. You put the vest on after the hat so that the vest hides the tube.
The machine just hangs right at the tin mans side And he actuates the machine with his hand when he wants smoke to appear. The thickness of the fog depends on the quality of the dog juice used in it. You can get thicker better quality juice online that produces a better smoke than what comes with the machine
Thank You so much!!!
Gina