Tag Archives: Sandworm

Shai-Hulud? More like Shai-hello there!

Few sci-fi creatures have presented a perennial challenge to LEGO builders like Dune‘s sandworm. We’ve already covered a few LEGO sandworms over the years, but given the number of techniques that can be used to represent these otherworldly lifeforms, we’ll probably be covering them well into the year 10,191. In hachiroku24‘s version, the worm’s body is mostly overlapping 1×2 rectangular and round tiles, a simple yet effective solution. It’s a scene that probably just got cut from the recent movie — lovers Paul Atreides and Chani enjoy the ultimate date night: Preparing to ride the mighty Shai-Hulud together. We’re sure nothing could ever drive them apart, right?

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An unlikely pairing in the wilderness

General Tavarre provides us with a scene that I didn’t know I needed in this LEGO scene, what if a Sandworm of Dune appeared on the barren wilderness of Earth, the home of Mortal Engines.

The Small Mining Town of Bavaria & Shai-Hulud

Combining Dune and a Traction City from the Mortal Engines novel series, it creates a wonderful scene as the City trundles onward to it’s demise in the Maw of the Sandworm. What I enjoy in this little vignette is both the colour palette with it’s earthen tones and secondly that it near exclusively uses the smallest pieces affording some great detail from the cobbled together look of the Traction City to the teeth of the gaping maw that is the Sandworm.

Scenes like this are always worthwhile taking the time to enjoy the LEGO connections, they give me the inspiration to see what I can create next!

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LEGO sandworm might just inspire you to chant the litany against fear

Frank Herbert’s Dune has inspired movies, television shows, comic books, video games, and many amazing LEGO creations over the years, and this diorama by muad_brick is among some of the best that I have seen. Where many builders, myself included, give Shai-Hulud its iconic shape by building ring segments, muad_brick used a series of curved slopes arranged in a textured pattern. The rows of teeth fading into the dark gullet of the beast lends the scene an extra level of drama, and that ornithopter made with only a handful of parts is amazing!

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Our road leads into the desert of Arrakis

From Arrakis comes spice and these LEGO vignettes by builder Bryan Firks, whom you may know from the second season of LEGO Masters. I had the good fortune to chat with Bryan about these scenes and the inspiration behind them. He became a fan of the “Duniverse” after watching the 2021 film Dune, sparking an interest in the original book and the richly detailed world. Soon, the idea to create a series of microscale scenes developed in his mind. He drew inspiration from 2021’s TBB creation of the year, Jan Woźnica’s Tales from the Space Age, for providing atmosphere and color. Equipped with new color palettes, he employs similar techniques with his vignettes. On the left, transparent neon orange antennae represent orbital strikes on the old city of Arrakeen. A spice refinery explodes in the foreground. In the center, we see an ornithopter hovers above a spice harvester with levers as its wings. On the right, there’s one of the legendary sandworms of Arrakis! The worm is captured brilliantly with round bricks interlinked by flex tubing for poseable segments. The sand dunes give a sense of scale to the worm, showing just how massive it really is!

Bryan faced a few challenges rendering these scenes on this scale. Being a Lord of the Rings fan, he wanted to use Uruk-hai swords for the ornithopter wings. Alas, they were too big for this size. The sandworm presented a fun challenge, and using an inverted 2×2 dome for the gaping maw is very cool! The flow of direction, from left to right following the lines of the orbital strike through to the worm’s mouth, is intentional to give the build a sense of motion. Another clever choice is the night-day-night pattern of the backgrounds, giving the vignettes a lovely balance. The mirroring of the dual moons in the night scenes helps to frame and hold the day scene in your attention as you take in the whole. My favorite part of the build, besides the sandworm? It demonstrates how inspiring the LEGO community can be. Anyone can become inspired by another builder’s creation, leading to more beautiful homages and builds!

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