Jᴀᴄᴜʀᴜᴛᴜ - Tʜᴇ Cᴀsᴛ Oᴜᴛ

http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/HARKON ... 20PAGE.htm



The ornithopters in Dune (1984) are ugly they do not look at all as they are described in the novel. The miniseries failed on their representation too. This plastic model looks like a video game controller.

"Goddamn thing's got the glide-ratio of a brick ...."

- my cousin (mama's side) on the F-100 (Century Series) fighter/inceptor, ca 1970 ...

They spent their 'thopter design budget on hats.

Just to be clear: that model is from the Lynch movie. The original post does not make that clear.

The Harkonnen thopters from the miniseries were more wasp-shaped and featured visible guns, IIRC. It's been awhile. They looked pretty sharp ... if, perhaps, not very much like what FH intended.

To be fair, people have been trying to design ornithopters for hundreds of years, De Vinci's being the first I know of. Even a believable model is a tough task.

http://www.ornithopter.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Isn't FH himself a bit vague on the actual description? I'll admit my last actual reading of Dune was a while ago — and my most recent "reading" was the new version of the audiobook — so maybe I'm mis-remembering this. Also, the DE entry might be clouding my memory.

The DE entry was ridiculous with it's clam power.

From what I remember about FH's 'thopters, they had variable length fan-metal wings with jet assistance and could transition to fixed wing flight. But you're right, not much else is said about them.

FH is quite often infuriatingly vague when it comes to nailing down actual descriptions. - He creates fantastic images, but most of the time you have no idea what he was imagining.

One reason he never gets old.

DuneFishUK wrote:FH is quite often infuriatingly vague when it comes to nailing down actual descriptions. - He creates fantastic images, but most of the time you have no idea what he was imagining.

Yeah that's why I believe he's such a good story teller, he's like peripheral vision that only gives you a shape(an outline if you may)and lets your brain fill in the gaps. Only when you try to look at it(picture it in your mind) it evades you. It's just so beautiful in its simplicity, and yet true talent lies in knowing what details should be given and which ones to imagination! (You see where this could be going)

SandChigger wrote:One reason he never gets old.

too right!

At the sci-fi model club I go to someone brought one of these in. the cockpit detail is great, he painted it up to look like a weathered bronze but couldn't find any figures to fit in there. apparently it still goes together pretty well for an old model.

I've seen all types of ornithopters on deviant art, the most beautiful one had to be the one with black raven-like wings, but that is design over function. could you imagine the g-forces involved in lifting off like a huge several ton bird? Up here in the northwest right now the dragonflies are everywhere, they make takeoff, landing, near-hovering and gliding look effortless. when they are circling each other in fights or mating displays i like to imagine ornithopter battles. i wold imagine a seaside/marsh like port townsend is full of them.

I've always pictured them as insects, like a wasp or dragonfly...


Ron Cobb, ornithopter, 1975. Concept art for Alejandro Jodorowsky's
unrealized Dune. Courtesy roncobbdesigns.com.

This one is really nice looking...

That's very cool. It looks like it's in fixed wing mode there, but the wings can be swung forward into a flapping position.

HBJ

That last one, the model, is fantastic! Wow.

He has some more pics -



And a digital one -

(Source: http://www.rorymcleish.com/3d_hardware.htm#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

I honestly hope the movie has something a shred as epic as the above photo. It just sums up the unspoken grandeur of what frank wrote.

If Cameron's team could animate those Pandoran banshees, surely with their budget Paramount can find someone to do a decent ornithopter. They just have to want to.

Freakzilla wrote:I've always pictured them as insects, like a wasp or dragonfly...

[img]....

Wow Beautiful!

The Ornithopters in David Lynch's Dune look like steam irons.

After Dark?

That brings back memories!

DuneFishUK wrote:

Identical!

cmsahe wrote:Identical!

that's what I call a 'thopter!!

It reminds me of the entrance Paul uses to his Citadel, I seem to remember a sharp descent and a really tiny platform, so hard to pull off it garanteed noone else than him would enter.
Now imagining one of those doing it is far more impressive than Lynch's just dropping slowly...