Great fun refurbishing an old illusion!

We needed something for a "space" theme

Now that we have a warehouse/workshop space, I've been spending a lot of time there. I've done a few small projects, most of them to do with organizing the space. I'm also rebuilding my show case, I'll post about that once I'm done.

But the funnest project so far has been to refurbish an old dollhouse production illusion into a science fiction type of device, perhaps a space ship and a transporter pad combined.

Original front panel

The dollhouse illusion is typically an actual dollhouse that is shown empty, then a person appears from inside. There is also a version in the Victory Carton Illusions book, but this is not that type. As a side note, I did build a version of that illusion using heavy duty foam core. It's looks great and it still in good shape after more than 5 years of use. That book should be in every magician's library, it's a great source of low cost illusions made from cardboard.

This one was in just ok condition. It needed some hardware replaced and strengthened, especially the hinges on the front doors. The wood panels were in usable shape, no warping or breaks. The biggest problem to deal with was the design. It was pretty bad as you can see.

After a few weeks of intermittent designing (as my schedule at Circus Camp allowed), I went into full gear over this July 4th break to work on it full-time. Here's how it looks now...