Modelling ornithopter from Dune 2021 - build log

[soswow]

Hey, gang!
I am slowly preparing to start modelling Ornithopter from Dune 2021. Yes, there are some models on the market already, but they all of crappy quality and pretty pricy for the quality they are.
So far, collected all the good shots from the movie including pics I could find from the set. Did you know there were 3 distinct ornithopters? (I kinda didn't pay attention while watching it first time) There is one with 8 wings (Atreides'), with 6 (harkonnen) and 4 (with yellow-ish windows).
I've compiled PureRef board:

And did some scale/measurement:

My estimation is - full length (nose to end of fuselage) is 23.2m, wingspan (from the fuselage center) is 26.4m, Height is around 4.7m
I am going to be modelling in 72:1 scale with the goal of 3D printing the physical model.
Wish me luck. And make your bets on how far I will go before switching to a different project, ha ha )

 

[Chaank]

Nice

 

[modelerdave]

I adore the ornithopters! The design and sound effects were terrific. I hope you make it work!

 

[soswow]

Day #3​

I am getting closer to start modelling.
Some more cross referenced measurements. Just to make sure. Used ladder in one of the shots, as well as height of Jason Momoa.

Placed canvases for overall reference:

https://imgur.com/a/Y2zt6xB

 

[soswow]

Day #4​

Starting Blocking out main shape of front part of the fuselage.

https://imgur.com/a/QIoE3qy

 

[Kobeque]

Looking great man! any plan for articulation for the wings? And if not are you going folded or unfolded?

 

[soswow]

Looking great man! any plan for articulation for the wings? And if not are you going folded or unfolded?

well. I am ambitious. Will see what I can do. I was thinking of some type of internal magnets structure so you can articulate them and magnets would hold the position. Same fo legs. I wonder if I can landing legs move. Will see. Too early.

 

[soswow]

Day #5​

Still working on the main shape. Added some more planes here and there.

https://imgur.com/a/OakEUB5

Silly render

 

[Jediguy]

This is looking amazing. I love the designs from the film. Wish we could have seen more vehicles.

 

[soswow]

Day #6​

Didn't do that much more modelling today. Added more planes, some details:

But! What I did is I wrote a bash script that would turn list of time stamp pairs from the movie into a cut version of this movie with those ranges:

#!/bin/bash

echo "" > files.txt
i=1
cat times.txt | while read line || [[ -n $line ]];
do
   [[ ${line//[[:space:]]/} =~ ^#.* || -z "$line" ]] && continue
   echo $line | tr "-" "\n" | while read -r var1; do
   read -r var2
    echo "stat: ${var1}, end: ${var2}, line: ${i}";
    ffmpeg -y -ss $var1 -i <INPUT-FILE> -to $var2 -c copy -copyts "<DESTINATION>/cut${i}.mp4"   
    echo "file cut${i}.mp4" >> files.txt
   done
   ((i++))
done

ffmpeg -y -f concat -safe 0 -i files.txt -c copy output.mp4

`times.txt` file looks like this:

00:36:39.000-00:37:03.000
00:37:17.000-00:37:42.000
00:38:22.000-00:38:41.000
00:38:47.000-00:38:54.000
00:51:10.000-00:51:48.000
00:56:52.000-00:56:56.000
00:56:58.000-00:57:14.000
00:57:16.000-00:58:25.000
00:58:51.000-00:59:00.000
00:59:11.000-00:59:18.000
00:59:20.000-00:59:24.000
00:59:33.000-00:59:36.000
00:59:40.000-00:59:44.000

^ these are the times for Dune 2021 ornithopter scenes. I haven't filled it in yet fully. Need to go to sleep.
You can use this to make supercut of scenes of interets.

Oh! And one more thing. I think I found a VFX compositing error they made.

This blackness that arrows shows is where physical model ends. I've seen physical model, and it matches exactly and there is nothing on actual model (3D) that is rendered in other shots that would explain this blackness.

 

[Bauble]

Wow! You are amazing with the level of details you are paying attention to. Watching this thread with eagerness.

 

[Searun]

Good luck with your ”dragonfly” model. The new Dune movie use of insect wings for this helicopter space ship design seems unique to me. Can not think of a science fiction movie that has used that concept.

 

[Bauble]

Its kinda interesting that LEXX used almost all parts of an insect, except the wings… I guess cos it flies in space… I really like the new ornithopter concept.

 

[Searun]

Its kinda interesting that LEXX used almost all parts of an insect, except the wings… I guess cos it flies in space… I really like the new ornithopter concept.

Thanks Bauble. Looked up LEXX on the web and like the plot. I missed this particular insect alien space ship series.

 

[vectorzero]

Really interested in the technique you used to calculate sizes and project the 2d images into 3d space. Can you elaborate?

 

[soswow]

Day 7​

I've finished extracting all the scenes from the movie into supercut.
Worked on more surfaces around window and happy with general shape of a tail.

vectorzero It was easier to record a video where I explain how I do that.

 

[soswow]

Day 8​

The day has come that I was afraid of and was trying to push back as much as I could from the start. But no more I can.
I've committed and from now on I won't be able (easily at least) modify main structure of the fuselage.
This evening I've moved on placing and sizing wing's ball sockets. I think I am very close to what they are in original.

 

[Searun]

soswow,
It appears you have taken the deep dive on an excellent model subject using state of the art computer software. Growing up with the need for drawings and being old school, I am jealous of you guys that have have leaned this technology to obtain such accuracy.

Since the movie made full scale replicas, there must be drawings but I suppose it is guarded intellectual property.

 

[soswow]

soswow,
It appears you have taken the deep dive on an excellent model subject using state of the art computer software. Growing up with the need for drawings and being old school, I am jealous of you guys that have have leaned this technology to obtain such accuracy.

I had a technical drawing class (on A3 paper with pencil and rulers) at uni as well ;-)

Since the movie made full scale replicas, there must be drawings but I suppose it is guarded intellectual property.

yea, I am sure they exist, and yes, I will not get my hands on it AND even if I do - somehow this will make it so less interesting what I Am doing =)
Even without tech. drawings guarded IP can still be a problem for me in the future. But this is not problem for today to worry about.

 

[soswow]

Day 9​

Started working on details around wing sockets.
Here is what I have in terms of ref. material:

And here is what I have so far with one side: