Help from the RPF. Tinman costume building techniques, suggestions, ideas.

[Darth Mule]

So I thought I'd throw this out there to the group. I'm designing Wizard of Oz for a summer theatre in Michigan and I need to build a Tinman.

I'm doing a design of my own that is similar to the iconic look and I was at first thinking of the foam rubber method recently discussed in so many of the recent forum topics, but it seems to bulky. I thought of trash can armor as well, especially since the rivets would add to the look, but the sheer length of any chestpiece makes me wonder if I can even get trash cans that would yield enough plastic.

So that's where I'm at. Needs to be cheap because they have no money, and needs to be pretty simple as I have 60 other costumes to churn out.

Whatcha got for me RPFers?

 

[Riceball]

You could deviate from the design a little and a couple of extra pieces to the torso and articulate it if you can't find a trash can large enough to do it in one piece. Although it would be a fairly large deviation from the classic design it would have the benefit of being a little more flexible around the middle.

 

[Orz]

Whatcha got for me RPFers?

You could try 2 things:

1) Craft foam covered with vinyl. It's a very popular method for creating metallic armor.
2) Cardboard covered with foam, vinyl, bondo, etc. to cover up the corrugation. It would be very easy to manipulate cardboard to make those cylinder shaped pieces of armor the tinman wears.

 

[brimst0ne13]

actual tin sheet metal + classic iron man mk I = AWESOME

plus you could still do the whole bangin on your chest thing during his musical number!

 

[WarPig]

Unless you're outfitting a giant, you should be able to find a trashcan that will go from shoulder to hip:

Then, either thin posterboard or metal for the arms, legs and other parts, some garden or heavy rubber gloves for the hands, and an old pair of shoes for the feet. A nice big funnel for a hat, and for the "codpiece", you could probably get away using some old jeans sprayed silver (which could also serve as a base for attaching the leg pieces).

 

[Contec]

Maybe the tinman don't get a heart from the wizard but a Arc generator.

This would be a really funny Gag for the people watching it.:lol

 

[Kal]

Where in MI? My girlfriend is going to visit her sister who is in the play up near the gaylord area.

 

[Darth Mule]

Maybe the tinman don't get a heart from the wizard but a Arc generator.

This would be a really funny Gag for the people watching it.:lol

As much as I like the idea of the tinman in more Ironman like armor... He does have to sing and dance in it, so there are a few limitations.

This also eliminates poster board as a building material as it needs o be sturdy, and since its outdoor theatre, he'll sweat a good bit. Bye bye cardboard.

Where in MI? My girlfriend is going to visit her sister who is in the play up near the gaylord area.

Bayview, near (or really in) Petoskey. Gaylord is close by I believe.

 

[Contec]

Have you checked out pepakura? reinforced with resin and fiberglass it will be sturdy

 

[Darth Mule]

Problem there being the availability of a pep model. I can't 3d model.

Pep can be very time consuming too. Not something I have in spades right now. If I can avoid a lot of bondo, it would be great.

 

[padme911]

What about using mirrored posterboard and then insulating it with duct tape on the inside from sweat? A friend of mine made TCW Obi legs out of paper in a pinch and lined it with duct tape to protect it from the sweat or water and they look very good and have held up in D*C Parade heat. They also sell chrome duct tape that you could use too.

 

[brimst0ne13]

just get some tin sheet metal from your local hardware store or metal supply depot. buy some tin snips to cut them and some rivets and a riveter to rivet everything together. use this as a basis to articulate the arms and legs: Armour by Carmel Emanuel Abela

That should allow for movement as well as sturdiness. use the garbage can if you need to for the body, and just snip it and rivet it to the size of the wearer. some of the above posters are right about coloring a pair of jeans for the cod. To attach the legs, i'd make suspender type things to hold them up. also for the arms, cross the back suspender type things.

for the body, if you want some good articulation for him, again rivet sections for the waist, lower back, and obliques, and make a separate chest and upper back piece that can be hinged for easy application once the arms and abs are attached.

then just add a hollow hole for the lack of an arc rea... i mean heart. XD

 

[brimst0ne13]

like this:

 

[oblagon]

You could go to a plastics supplier like Laird platics and pick up some ABS or styrene sheets in whatever thickness or size you need. They have locations in Michigan and the sheets run 6ft by 4ft wide. You'd have plenty of material to cut out shapes for the arms, legs, chest, etc and then rivot them together.

 

[chilicheese]

you can also get aluminum sheet metal. not sure if it's cheaper than tin, but would also work. you could either rivet it, or for stage i really think duct tape could be fine.