Frank Herbert’s Dune has captured the imaginations of readers since its first appearance in serialized form in Analog magazine starting in 1963. Since its debut, it has spawned multiple sequels, films, comic books, and a television miniseries. It’s even spawned an infamous popcorn bucket – and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, Google it at your own peril!
And now, for the first time ever, there’s a Dune LEGO set.
What Is the LEGO Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter?
The LEGO Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter, set #10327, is a 1.369-piece set that includes 8 minifigures. When completed, it measures 9 in. high, 22 in. long, and 31 in. wide with the wings extended. It is modeled after the ornithopters that appears in the 2021 Dune film and its 2024 sequel. The LEGO Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter retails for $164.99, and is available at the LEGO store on Amazon, or directly from LEGO.
Unpacking the LEGO Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter
The LEGO Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter set has 10 bags to assemble. Also included in the set are instructions, some clear canopy pieces, fabric for the Liet Kynes and Baron Harkonnen minifigures, and a box containing the 8 wings for the ornithopter.
As is often the case with licensed Icons kits like the Ornithopter, the instruction book also includes photos and information on both the movie itself, and insight into the design of the LEGO set. However, the bulk of the 229-page book is devoted to the building of the set.
LEGO Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter – The Build
Instruction for how to build the LEGO Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter can be found here.
As previously mentioned, the Ornithopter set comes with 7 minifigures. These are paced out through the 10 brick bags, so you’ll be putting them together throughout the build.
All of the characters are easily identifiable from their minifigures, and are filled with details evocative of the film. A clear plastic stand even transforms Baron Harkonnen into arguably the tallest LEGO minifigure ever!
While most of the heads for the minifigures provide alternate expressions when rotated, a few have radically different looks. With Lady Jessica, you can turn her head and replace her hair with a hood to show the veiled look that she wears upon her arrival to Arrakis.
You can rotate the heads of both Chani and Dr. Kynes to show them wearing the rebreather masks for their stillsuits:
It would have been nice to have had a stillsuit option for Paul Atreides as well, but perhaps we’ll get one with a Dune 2 sandworm LEGO set. And before you get too excited, I should be clear that LEGO has not announced a sandworm LEGO set, nor am I privy to any insider information…but a LEGO sandworm would be pretty cool!
The build of the Ornithopter is actually fairly challenging. There are working mechanisms to deploy the wings and landing gear, making this set a bit more like a Technics set than one might guess at first glance. Here’s a glance at the instructions for the lever that will deploy the wings:
And here is the completed lever. Keep in mind that this is just the lever itself; it works in conjunction with other segments of the build to pull off the extension and retraction of the wings.
Here’s a look at all the stages of the full build:
And here’s the end result!
Pulling the lever on the back of the Ornithopter retracts the wings. Turning a rocket element on the side of the Ornithopter will deploy or retract the landing ramp and landing feet at the same time. Both sides of the cockpit also open and close, much like the gull wing doors of a DeLorean.
The mechanisms for the Ornithopter work very smoothly, providing multiple looks for staging your Dune scenes.
LEGO Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter – Final Thoughts
While not a particularly long build with its 1,369 pieces, this was one of the more challenging LEGO builds I’ve had in awhile. There’s a lot going on in the build, and you have to pay close attention to the illustrations to make sure that you’re producing an identical result to the pictures. At one point, I realized that I’d made a mistake in my assembly, and had to take the tailpiece partially apart to correct it.
Thankfully I’d realized that error fairly early on, so correcting it didn’t take a lot of effort. But I’m ashamed to admit that, during that build of the second bag, I had actually made two mistakes, not just one. There was a brick with studs on one side, which should have been facing outwards, and instead I accidentally placed the studs facing inside. By the time I realized that error, it would have required a major rebuild to correct.
So what did I do in that case? I looked ahead in the instruction book, and realized that I could probably get away leaving that one brick in the wrong position. The studs would have helped anchor the cockpit to the tail piece, but there were other studs on that side also covering that task. So I took a gamble, and thankfully it paid off: my final build still feels solid, even without those additional anchor points. But it was a reminder that everyone should follow when building a LEGO set, no matter what level: take your time, and make sure that each stage of your build is correct before moving on.
There’s a great sense of satisfaction upon completion of the LEGO Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter. Not only does it look great and film-accurate, but the mechanisms for the wings and landing gear work fantastically, a testament to the engineering that went into the set. The Ornithopter is also in full minifigure scale, so looks impressive. The one difficulty will be in finding a good place to display the finished piece, considering its 31″ wingspan.
Overall I was really pleased with both the challenge of the build and the end result of the LEGO Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter. It’s an impressive piece, and really evokes the imagery from Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. Any fan of the film series will be happy building and displaying this set.
For more information on the LEGO Icons Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter, head to the LEGO website.
Click That Brick!
Click That Brick! is a look at LEGO building sets that appeal to the geek in all of us. I’ll be bringing you previews and reviews of various LEGO sets, such as the LEGO Icons Natural History Museum. So be sure to keep your eyeballs peeled for more great LEGO content here on GeekDad.
LEGO provided this set for evaluation, but had no input into the review.
