Dune Ornithopter Mod

[Tom_Brick]

I have to say, the Dune Ornithopter is probably my favourite new set in many years. But of course it is a bit rough and the bright colours are as always annoying. So I sat down in Studio and tried to make the Thopter look a bit smoother. 

Regarding the following picture, my modded version does not have the spring installed, that's why you can see the large gap next to the top right wing. In the finished product, it'll be there, of course. Side by side, you can also see that my mod is about 6 studs longer. Might look a bit funky with the wings folded in, but the overall proportions do look more like the movie thopter. If anything, it probably should be even longer, but then the wingspan would be more out of whack, so I figured that this was a good compromise. I'll have to see how it works in real life though.

 

All in all still not perfect of course. It's just very hard to get a smooth surface. Plus, I wanted to keep all the functions and there was only so much one can do regarding the large gaps in the central section due to the folding mechanism. The tail construction is a bit wild, but it should be almost as sturdy as the original tail. Next step is to get the parts and try to build the thing. There might be some fine tuning needed which will only become obvious when dealing with real life bricks. 

 

Edited March 7 by Tom_Brick

[imadcobra]

Love what you've done, it looks so much better with smooth surfaces. Really great compromise. Is there any chance you can open up the tail to show us the wild construction. I havent started my build yet but would certainly like to add some of your ideas.

[Tom_Brick]

Sure. The big challenge is of course to get the tail angled downwards. In the original set, they've done it by simply using long wedge plates. I tried a different approach.

[Red Rackham]

Wow, I really, really like that. It now looks thinner, more agile and more aerodynamic. Also great is the smoother surface. You're right, it shouldn't be too long, otherwise it will look strange. I like the lights at the front much better this way. Looks more stable. I'm curious if you implemented it in real bricks. Are you planning instructions? I would be happy.
It's a fantastic set, we're going to the film on Sunday.

[Tom_Brick]

1 hour ago, Red Rackham said:

Wow, I really, really like that. It now looks thinner, more agile and more aerodynamic. Also great is the smoother surface. You're right, it shouldn't be too long, otherwise it will look strange. I like the lights at the front much better this way. Looks more stable. I'm curious if you implemented it in real bricks. Are you planning instructions? I would be happy.
It's a fantastic set, we're going to the film on Sunday.

I'll probably create instructions. Though I don't know yet for sure. Either way, it'll be a while. I've just ordered the parts. Hopefully everything works out without any major hitches. But particularly the technic stuff is always difficult to design in Studio. You have to do it in real life to be sure. 

Have fun with the movie. I've watched a double feature last weekend (the wife wasn't happy that she had to sit in the movie theatre for six hours...). I'm of course the perfect target demographic for this Ornithopter as I have loved the Dune novels since I was a kid. I actually built my own M-Tron Ornithopter back in the 1990s. It was significantly smaller than this beast of course and without any technic functions, but you could flap the wings manually. The new movies are also right up my alley. Villeneuve has done a great job in my opinion, even though, as a fan of the books, of course I do have many issues with it, but that comes with the territory. 

[Lego Carl]

My oh my! This looks so freaking awesome man!! I cant say it enough. Ive been on the edge whether or not to get the set but THIS would for sure make me wanna get it. PLEASE do the instructions! Heck Id even take a stud.io file and pay whatever, I need it! Please keep us posted on whenever you have the thing built irl! Nailed it man, nailed it...

[Red Rackham]

 

21 hours ago, Tom_Brick said:

I'll probably create instructions. Though I don't know yet for sure. Either way, it'll be a while. I've just ordered the parts. Hopefully everything works out without any major hitches. But particularly the technic stuff is always difficult to design in Studio. You have to do it in real life to be sure. 

Have fun with the movie. I've watched a double feature last weekend (the wife wasn't happy that she had to sit in the movie theatre for six hours...). I'm of course the perfect target demographic for this Ornithopter as I have loved the Dune novels since I was a kid. I actually built my own M-Tron Ornithopter back in the 1990s. It was significantly smaller than this beast of course and without any technic functions, but you could flap the wings manually. The new movies are also right up my alley. Villeneuve has done a great job in my opinion, even though, as a fan of the books, of course I do have many issues with it, but that comes with the territory. 

The first part was simply gigantic in the cinema. The big screen, the sound design was a board. The last time I felt such brutal audio-visual power was with Lord of the Rings in the cinema. This is actually cinema for all the senses. And especially with that famous sandcrawler scene, with the ornithopters landing...wow, goosebumps.
The more closed and sleek shape of your model is really successful.
I'm currently building the original set, the technology and how the mechanics behind it work and how everything comes together in the end is really great. After that I'll probably replace the colorful parts and build a stand. And then I need your model. 

I really wish for more official sets, battle packs, sandworm etc. A whole world to discover. 

[Tom_Brick]

18 hours ago, Red Rackham said:

I really wish for more official sets, battle packs, sandworm etc. A whole world to discover. 

I doubt that there will be more sets. The scale of Dune is simply too big. Other than the various Ornithopters, there isn't much that lends itself to being reproduced in Lego. I guess you could do a spice harvester using a smaller scale, but I doubt there would be a market for it. Stuff like the Sardaukar landing crafts could potentially work, but then they look too generic for a licensed Lego set. 

Battle packs would of course be really cool. Atreides vs Harkonnen soldiers, or Fremen vs. Sardaukar. But I also don't see it happening, simply because it's extremely difficult to reproduce a proper setting. The movie settings are just way too large. 

[Voltronian310]

On 3/7/2024 at 8:34 PM, Tom_Brick said:

Sure. The big challenge is of course to get the tail angled downwards. In the original set, they've done it by simply using long wedge plates. I tried a different approach.

Is there any chance you can do show us an exposed version of the main body as well? I'm trying to replicate the mod for my own ornithopter and I'd really like to see how the plating on the back half of the main body fits on

[cehnot]

Will you supply the Studio file for us to make mods to the set? Or plan to offer instructions? I was thinking of doing something similar since seeing Dune 2.

[Tom_Brick]

All right, the ordered parts have arrived and now I'm in the middle of upgrading my thopter. Unfortunately, Just when I was really close to completion, I realized that I kinda messed up the landing gear when removing the bright colours, so now I will have to completely open it up again, which will be a pain in the butt. I think I forgot to put in a single axle. On the plus side, that will give me the opportunity to remove some more of the coloured pieces which I thought wouldn't be visible in the end, but which still stick out. 

Regarding the general design, there were a few minor issues. I made some mistakes with the panels on the outside, but nothing which couldn't be fixed. Also, the connection to the flapping mechanism didn't work, but I realized, that it can be done even in a much simpler way.

The big question mark was of course the tail: will it hold up? And yes, it does. However, I was also a bit dumb. You can see the large brick on the open tail section. If you grab the tail behind that large brick, the long lever creates a lot of stress on the construction and it flexes quite a bit. I will replace that Brick with overlapping plates. That should help. Still, you probably wouldn't want to hold the tail towards its end, because that would increase the forces working upon the front of the tail quite a bit, particularly upon the six studs which connect the two rows of technic bricks. I did do an initial test holding the whole thopter relatively far back and shake it a bit and the six studs became lose. Now, that was without replacing that large brick and also before adding the outside panels which should also add some stability. I'll also add a stepped bracket which should increase stability. But I guess that even with all that, if you want to swoosh around with the thopter, you'll still have to hold it towards the beginning of the tail section.

20 hours ago, cehnot said:

Will you supply the Studio file for us to make mods to the set? Or plan to offer instructions? I was thinking of doing something similar since seeing Dune 2.

I will probably do instructions. I'm not sure yet if I'll do just the tail plus the minor changes to the plating of the main section or if I should include a full colour conversion (at least with the pieces that are visible). I'm leaning towards the latter though. 

Edited March 16 by Tom_Brick

[Red Rackham]

Thanks for the detailed Information in your process. Looking forward to your final results. 😇

[Tom_Brick]

I'm finally done with my upgrade. Unfortunately, there are still some blue and red bits that are sticking out. I messed up the part where the tail starts. I would have had the black pieces, but for some unknown reason didn't use them. Now I would have to completely take the whole thing apart again which I just don't feel like doing. Similarly, on the insede, there are still a few tan-coloured bits shining through from certain angles, but that's not as bad. You can barely see it and again, it would require me to basically take it completely apart and start from scratch. 
Anyway, in general, it looks so much better without all those red and blue and yellow bits sticking out. 

The ornithopter is now a couple of studs longer, which is closer to the proportions of the movie thopter, but now the wings look a bit short. You win some, you lose some, I guess.

When you hold by the front section of the tail, it's perfectly swooshable. The further back you go with your hand, the more precarious it gets though. But in order to push the flapping-button, you'll have to have your hand up there anyway, because there isn't the long bar to press anymore. 

Edited March 16 by Tom_Brick

[Lego Carl]

Man it looks so so good!!! Body so much cleaner and the tail is just so much better shape-wise. Please make instructions! I will pay whatever, this makes the set 100 times better!! 

Btw would also love to see a slight mod to the cockpit section to fit 3 figs instead of 2 (more accurate to the movie). I believe I've seen someone doing it so it should be do-able. 

Again, amazing job!

Edited March 18 by Lego Carl
edit