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Dune - Harkonnen Ornithopter (DS-009) 1:72 MENG via Creative Models Ltd Dune began life in the 1960s as the first book in a long-running series by Frank Herbert, and several attempts have been made to realise the initial book in movie form, with varying levels of success. David Lynch made a decent, if simplified attempt at it in the 1980s, although it was a flawed movie with irritating voice-overs (from my point of view, at least), while a three-part TV movie in 2000 was considered a reasonable adaptation, but I haven’t seen that one. This latest expedition into the deserts of Arrakis benefits from the availability of realistic Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) that can be used to enhance the scope and scale of the saga as it deserves, without looking false, for the most part. It also benefitted from a massive budget and acclaimed director, not to mention a cast of many famous actors, although David Lynch’s version also had some famous faces, including a young Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck before his Star Trek days. The new film has been split into two episodes to portray as much of the book’s content as possible in an effort to retain as much of the important plot subtleties of the original story as possible, and part 2 has been out now for several months, rounding off the original story, allegedly, with the possibility of more to come if it has made enough money for the studio, which I expect it has by now. I still haven’t seen the second part yet, so no spoilers please! The new film of course has some great new ships, which includes a less toy-like Ornithopter that is more insectoid and less clockwork bubble-bug than the 1984 edition. They are quadruped aircraft with six or eight helicopter blade-like ‘wings’ providing the lift in a dragonfly-like manner, and a pointed nose that incorporates expansive windscreens that probably don’t give as good a field of view forward as you’d think. The Kit This is a new kit that follows on the heels of the ‘vehicle scale’ mini-kits that now look more like stocking-fillers as this new tooling is in 1:72, corresponding with the dominant scale in which the Bandai Star Wars kits were released in, giving modellers the opportunity to compare their sizes, and display them together without any disparity in scale. The kit arrives in a standard MENG box with a painting of the ‘thopter on the front in desert tones, and a satin finish to the box, as usual. There are nine sprues of olive-green styrene plus a slide-moulded cockpit framing in the same colour, two sprues in sand for the base, two poly-caps in black, a small black sprue containing crew figures, a small decal sheet with two Harkonnen logos on it, and the instruction booklet printed in colour on glossy paper. Detail is excellent, and the inclusion of four crew figures in contrasting colours indicates that the designers kept a watching eye on the novice modeller that may not either want to, or be able to paint the model, whilst providing sufficient detail for the hardened Sci-Fi modeller. This kit is different from the Atreides kit in the same scale that we reviewed recently, having a more muscular, curved body, and only six blades for the wings, plus more aggressive cannons under the nose. It shares the same stand as the Atreides kit, and the landing gear legs are also replicated between the two kits. Construction begins with the cockpit and rear interior, with two step between the flat areas, the lower section for the pilot that controls the aircraft with twin sticks inserted into the deck along with a pair of rudder pedals that have an instrument binnacle installed between them, rising up near the pilot’s eyeline. Four identical crew seats are fitted with bases, building the pilot from two parts so his arms can reach out to the sticks, and three other passengers with their hands on laps, essentially in the same pose and garb, even down to their bald heads. Paint the uniforms a black or dark grey, and the visible human aspects any shade you like. The seats and pegged-in crew are inserted into holes in the cockpit floor, the pilot at the front, a row of two passengers behind him, and another row of two seats, one of which is empty, behind them on the central portion of the floor. Attention shifts to the attachment points for the six blades that sprout from both sides of the fuselage, and the first assembly creates a pair of sockets that pivot in unison with the corresponding socket on the opposite side, thanks to intermeshing quadrant gears that are moulded into the rear of each socket, requiring them to be carefully placed in the correct socket before gluing the two retaining surrounds together. Two more pairs are made, linking two together before they are trapped between the fuselage halves in the next step, with another sited behind, fitting the cockpit, a pivoting access ramp on the underside, and an insert under the aft slope of the fuselage before joining the two halves together, then adding a curved top cover to the blade area. The entire upper nose and framing for the cockpit is moulded as one part using sliding moulds, clipping four clear panes into the roof, one on each side, and another two in the nose. The clear parts have lugs on the sides that allow them to clip into position without glue, and while they may show a little through the edges of the windows, they are much tidier than the risk of glue squirting out of the sides, but if you prefer, you could always cut replacement acetate panels from your own stocks, using the clear parts as a template. The completed assembly is slotted into the fuselage horizontally, locating on three pegs that slide into corresponding holes in the fuselage halves. Another insert is placed under the nose with two poly-caps trapped in place, adding detail inserts around the sides and transition areas of the underside that include fixed barrels that are made from two halves each. The poly-cap turrets are populated by building a pair of twin weapons (or searchlights - it's a while since I watched the first film) on a central rod, which clips into a holder with another part that covers the innards, which slots into the hole under the nose, held in place by the poly-cap, making another assembly that is more obviously a double-barrelled weapon from five parts, mounting it on the second turret, and routing two three-part trunks around the edges of the underside symmetrically. Four directional exhausts are built in pairs, two under the root of the tail, the others on the sides at the root, each assembly made from three parts each. Two towel-rail assemblies are fitted into troughs under the boom, making the fish-like bifurcated tail sections from five parts that remain linked by pins through holes, and have a ‘stinger’ made from four parts that is inserted in another trough above the tail boom. Three tapering surrounds to the blade sockets were fitted into the hull sides without glue earlier, totalling six, and you can choose whether to fold the blades or deploy them as you like, installing the base of the blade on the main part without glue, ensuring that the flat recess on the peg is facing upward when you insert them into the sockets with a click, three per side. To deploy them, the blade is pivoted out straight, and then rotated 90° so that the moulded-in pivot pin ends are at the top. This will prevent them sagging in the cabinet, although the model will also take up a lot of room, as each blade measures over 28cm from the pivot-point. The craft’s landing skids can be posed up or down, pivoting around a central island fairing, which comprises seven different parts depending on your choice. The gear legs are built from a varying number of parts, each sub-assembly receiving a letter code to assist with placement later, and each of the four main legs ending in a pad, except for two seemingly vestigial legs at the rear. They are plugged into the upper assembly according to the last sub-step of each option, and this in turn is mated with the underside of the craft, posing the lower hatch in the open position with the gear down if you wish. The stand is moulded in a desert sand colour, and consists of a two-part support, with a pivot at the top that can be manipulated to various angles, and the base, which is a single gently undulating part that has a uniform sandy texture on its surface, and a circular dais where the support plugs into a large rectangular peg. Markings There are profiles printed at the rear of the instructions, with colours in MENG codes and Gunze Sangyo’s Acrysion range. The main colour is sand yellow, with the two Harkonnen decals applied one per side. The decals are both black, so there’s no registration, but sharpness and colour density are sufficient to do the job. Conclusion I’ve been waiting for larger kits of the Ornithopter, and MENG have now granted that wish, so I’m very happy. There is good detail included on a kit that is a relatively simple build, and offers plenty of scope for the modeller to practice their paint and weathering effects on the kit when it is ready. The two 1:72 kits are sufficiently different to warrant getting them both, so you may want to warn your wallet. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of