The Doctor: You don't understand, so you find excuses. Illusions, indeed? You say you can't fit an enormous building into one of your smaller sitting rooms?

Ian Chesterton: No.

The Doctor: But you've discovered television haven't you?

Ian Chesterton: Yes.

The Doctor: Then by showing an enormous building on your television screen, you can do what seemed impossible, couldn't you?

Ian Chesterton: Well, yes, but I still don't know...

The Doctor: Not quite clear, is it? I can see by your face that you're not certain. You don't understand. And I knew you wouldn't! Never mind......



A brilliant piece of transcendental engineering there Maladroit!  

T

Tony would go to a magic show and point out that there's a trap door under the Cabinet of Death of 1,000 Cuts.



It's funny, how your brain focuses on the little details, making you miss the big one.  The lamps seem like a neat little feature and it's impressive that he took the time to put them on the back wall too--but without the lamps, I suspect it wold me much easier to see how the illusion is done.  It misdirects what you're observing for. 

I'd call this "The Magician's Cabinet"! I like it verrrry much & think it's extremely clever & well thought out & put together. Again, well done! 

Chris.

P.S. Thanks to the others for their drawings of how its done. Let's see who is closest. 

Clever! I like that

I love this. It would be cool if a new Doctor Who Experience did this full-size.

Hi Maladroit Modeller,
                               Welcome aboard, I am so pleased that you decided to post this on here, I told you it would go down a storm!
I stand by my comment on YouTube, a very unique and ingenious design, superbly executed and the results speak volumes.

Now you MUST put us out of our misery and let us all in on the secret!!
Rob.

Thanks all for your kind words, that's made my day!

I've had this idea for so long, and it took so long to actually build (I've never built anything before!) I'm chuffed that it's finally done and has received nice comments. Some of my craftsmanship leaves a lot to be desired but hopefully the illusion disguises a lot of that!

T@RDISman550 - you've got it. Tony - spot on.
The only difference being that the back of the box is slightly deeper and the console room is actually ten-sided:



(Can't believe I'm revealing this - I'll be thrown out of the Gallifreyan Magic Circle!)

Quote from: robajob on Feb 03, 2018, 01:13 am
Welcome aboard, I am so pleased that you decided to post this on here, I told you it would go down a storm!

Thanks Rob! And thanks for the suggestion. I can see me spending a lot of time here!

Quote from: timewomble on Feb 03, 2018, 01:00 am
It would be cool if a new Doctor Who Experience did this full-size.

Yeah I thought exactly the same! I went to the Cardiff Experience a few times, and there were a few points in the "experience" part where something like this could have worked really well (with a bit of stage management, and some massive mirrors ).

Quote from: Volpone on Feb 02, 2018, 03:50 pm
... but without the lamps, I suspect it wold me much easier to see how the illusion is done.  It misdirects what you're observing for. 

I think you're right. There needed to be something to focus on as you move your head around the real model, to emphasise the illusion - and hopefully they also add a bit of misdirection so you focus on the lamps rather than the mirrors. They also light the scene of course!

The idea of the exterior was intended to be a Totters Yard type of place - originally I wanted there to be junk lying around, but my modelling skills aren't up to that yet! I may try making a blue 'IM Foreman' sign at least.

So this is what you've been doing with UNIT funds and equipment all this time. How's it done? Some sort of optical illusion?

That is brilliant, and the fact that you managed to get everything aligned perfectly is brilliant. I couldn't do that on a computer let alone in reality.

Hi all

I've finally got around to posting a "how it works" video of my TARDIS - with the lid off.



It's had a few knocks since the original video (we have a destructive cat) so bits are falling off, and the mirrors are starting to warp. It's a bit like a ship-in-a-bottle once it's all assembled and I've not made much effort to go back and fix everything!

Amazing craftmanship and optical work.

I guess this answers the Brigadier's question to the 2nd Doctor in "The Three Doctors":

Brigadier: "So this is what you've been doing with UNIT funds and equipment all this time. How's it done? Some sort of optical illusion?"

(The 2nd Doctor may have said "Oh no, no, no. They come like this. Really.", but now we know the truth! )

As Kingpin said, "Amazing craftmanship and optical work."

Dino.

Spectacular piece of model making and optical trickery. Ive wondered for years how one could go about making something like that! Thanks for showing us all!