Specie harvesters traversing the vast deserts of Arrakis. Disputes between the different Houses. Huge, terrifying sandworms. Welcome to the Dune universe.
For the Atreides royal family, there is only one means of transportation to soar above the planet: the Ornithopter. With the LEGO® Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter set you can now fly this legendary aircraft yourself.
We've created a beautiful LEGO set of the iconic Atreides Royal Ornithopter, created by author Frank Herbert and brought to life by the production team behind the 2021 film adaptation.
But before you find it on shelves, we had a chat with LEGO designer Michael Psiaki, who worked closely with the studio responsible for the film. Michael is thrilled to share the completed model with you.
"I'm a fan of Dune. I've read the book five times and was very impressed with Denis Villeneuve's 2021 film. It's a sublime story set in a fantastic universe with great characters," said Michael.
But it is the Ornithopters that have always fascinated him most.
"The way Frank Herbert describes them leaves room for interpretation. Is it a bird? An insect? Some kind of jet plane? I've often imagined what this aircraft might look like. I saw film stills of the Ornithopter props for the movie and thought 'wow, super cool'. They were much bigger than I imagined.
The next day, Michael's imagination was running at full speed.
“I started figuring out how to build one with LEGO bricks. We spent a year developing it and then contacted the studio.”
Michael worked closely with Patrice Vermette, who worked as a production designer on the film adaptation.
“Patrice provided me with digital versions of the Ornithopter,” says Michael. "How the loading ramp extends, the landing gear lowers or the front doors open. Everything was incredibly detailed."
What did he think of converting those film plans into a LEGO set?
"I found it a bit overwhelming. I wasn't convinced it was possible at all. I mainly wanted to be able to simulate how the wings unfold and flutter. That was really quite a job."
He started figuring out how the mechanism could work, but he immediately knew it would be one of the biggest challenges in his eleven years as a LEGO designer.
"Every time you make a new version, you have to rebuild it several times to find out if everything works properly. It was a real team effort."
After much trial and error, Michael and his team of course succeeded. With a wingspan of approximately 79 cm, folding landing gear and an opening cockpit, the LEGO Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter is a unique asset for any builder.
Apart from the wings – no LEGO set has bigger ones – the cockpit was also a real challenge. Not only did it have to be faithful, it also had to fit two minifigures.
For this, Michael and his team returned to the drawing board.
"At first I had no idea how we would make the cockpit, because it looks incredibly angular in the film. It took a lot of effort, but I'm very happy with the end result."
When the cockpit was ready, Michael was already faced with a new challenge: who would get to sit in it?
The Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter set includes no fewer than eight minifigures, including Paul Atreides, Chani, Lady Jessica and more. But given the many characters available, it wasn't easy to come up with this shortlist.
"We thought about the obvious and talked to Legendary (the production company) about who they wanted. We had to keep in mind that this the LEGO Dune set is. This was our only chance. Who should definitely be there? Seven of the characters belong to the aircraft, but technically that is not the case for the Baron. However, when we talked about it, everyone agreed that the Baron should not be missing! And so we ended up with these eight characters."
Not only did Michael want to create a faithful representation of the epic aircraft, it also had to be an intricate and satisfying building process. In short, it had to be fun!
“I think the only way you can understand how it works is by building it,” says Michael. “People will love building the different levers and connections hidden in the frame!”
With the sequel to the first film on the way, it's the perfect time for Michael and his teammates to share their version of the legendary Ornithopter with you.
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