The Tin Woodman

First off I want to mention that tin actually does NOT rust... Most tin cans are actually made of steel or iron and "galvanized" with tin in order to prevent rusting. That said, my version of the Tin Woodman is made out of steel though plated with tin. However, being stuck out in the elements for a year, he was significantly rusted by thawing snow and little rivers of rain water that ran down his body and wore down the plating; seeping in to the steel. Besides that, his ball and socket joints are more than likely steel machined ball bearings which would definitely be vulnerable to rust. In the book he is one of the most tragic and tender characters; always crying if he accidentally kills a bug or something small and vulnerable. For this reason I added the tear streams that go from his eyes to the jaw joint which is constantly rusting shut.

My Tin Woodman is not a mechanical man like Tik Tok. His body was gradually replaced from one of flesh to one of metal, though his soul remains within the caverns of his shell. You will also notice that his scarf is not metal. This decision I made based on a bit of artistic license. I imagined that his true love (whom he forgot once he lost his heart) gave him the scarf as a keepsake and that it was really the only thing that reminded him of her after his complete transformation. His axe is likewise a reminder of his old self in keeping the wood handle and the grip wrapping. I made the blade bigger than I originally designed it since I figured he does some pretty heavy chopping throughout the book.

I always thought it was somewhat ironic that Baum made the Tin-Woodman's origin so gruesome. Even in his intro to the book, he wrote that he wanted to keep the wonders but get rid of the horrors of fairy tales. His unconscious surely played a trick on him with this character. While he is very tender, he is also the most brutally violent of the four.

Psychologically speaking he is by far the most interesting character in the OZ Universe.

Anyway, thanks for looking and enjoy!