I didn't have any version of Ed Massey's brilliant invention "Ribbon Fantastique", and as you all know, there are loads of versions based on this principle. I particularly liked Alan Warner's "Thru-N-Thru", and I also liked Victor Superanto's version of Tenyo's Sutekina where he made it into a prison.

This inspiration resulted in what I have called "Ribbon Prison", where the ribbon is used to imprison two villains, represented by the two plates with holes in them. The prison itself is made to look like a brick wall with a gaping hole in it. Here are some pictures:

Many versions of this trick are said to be examinable, but I have it on good authority that they really are not. Spectators might not immediately know the method, but they will discover suspicious things. If you have a version that you really think is examinable, I'd like to know which version it is.

My version is examinable. The spectator can insert one or both plates, and they will just slide down and into the apparatus without any other movement being possible. There's also nothing to be seen, at least not under normal lighting conditions. The interior is black (so I had to swap colors when printing for some of the parts), and even with a flashlight it would be very hard to discover anything.

I created a short video as well. Nothing exciting, just shows the props in use with a mediocre storyline:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnCZK6B7vAE

More stunning work mroek! I'm continually amazed by how wonderfully designed your props are. One can tell you put just as much time into the physical appearance of your work as you do with the engineering.

Ok, so I suddenly remembered that I once bought some transparent self-adhesive vinyl for inkjet printing, which I actually have never even tried. I figured this could be an opportunity to try something new...

I found a graphic online, and worked on it in Photoshop to make it the correct size, and to add some alignment marks and whatnot. Then I printed the image on the vinyl, but since it is transparent once the white backing is removed, it needs a white background. So I went to town and redesigned the plate to have a precise outline of the chosen graphic, and then printed new plates. The technique is the same as before, just that in the first version I had golden inlays (outline and center section) where I now have white. I could have printed the outline in golden as before, but that meant one more color swap, so I just went with white instead.

Then I added the graphics so that it fits exactly over the white outline, and hey presto:

I will admit that the graphic is perhaps a bit childish, but somehow I found it quite fitting for this trick. I cut the holes in the vinyl for the slots in the plate after I had added the vinyl, because then I could use the holes as guides for the knife.

Pretty happy with how this turned out, and it is clearly a technique that has great potential.

You made your prop 100% better with the graphics!!

I agree completely. It really does make the trick much better, and with the storyline I used, the graphics is a welcome improvement.

I disagree. I prefer the simple elegance of the first design... leaves more to the imagination and sort of resembles a straight jacket binding.

But, to each his or her own. That's the beauty of creating art!

I will of course keep both sets of plates, so I can choose which set to use.

Looks great.