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The Planet of Deserts

Posted by sberry on 26 Mar 2019, 10:16

The Roman space exploration program continues. This time they have discovered a planet covered with deserts, where giant worms live under the sand.
I had selected two desert photos from Creative Commons for using them as background and had them printed (“Liwa Desert” (c) User Jc8136 CC BY-SA 3.0 and “Fossil Rock, United Arab Emirates” (c) User Satish at nomadic-me CC BY-SA 3.0).
But I was quite shocked when I saw the results: the colors had come out much more vivid than expected, giving a distinct yellow-orange bias. This turned out a major problem when using these backgrounds during the photo sessions, since the camera had serious problems to get the white balance right, and it was difficult to obtain some decent photos of the diorama at all. Here are some results obtained with these background pictures:

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So I took another series of photos with the same background that I had used already in the first project of this series (Trona Pinnacles in California (c) Bob Wick / BLM, CC BY 2.0). And I think the pictures actually look better:

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The figures and models (except for the scratch-built worm, of course) are again from Dark Dream Studios Space Battles (DDS 72001 & 72006). The soft plastic is OK for the figures, but for the models, which have lots of flash and an exceedingly bad fit of the different parts, I certainly had preferred hard plastic.
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sberry  Germany
 
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Posted by Susofrick on 26 Mar 2019, 11:25

Really like what you have dune here! Very good all of it, especially the worms!
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Susofrick  Sweden
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Posted by FredG on 26 Mar 2019, 12:44

All we need is Paul Atreides to make an appearance. Shai Hulud is already here. :mrgreen:
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Posted by Ben90 on 26 Mar 2019, 14:09

This is so cool! Great work and photography!
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Ben90  Germany
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Posted by Peter on 26 Mar 2019, 14:17

This looks wonderfull! Fantastic work! :thumbup:

It looks a bit familiar, put I can't put my finger on it. Star Wars? Trigië? I've seen that earthworm somewhere! :eh:
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by FredG on 26 Mar 2019, 15:18

Peter wrote:It looks a bit familiar, put I can't put my finger on it. Star Wars? Trigië? I've seen that earthworm somewhere! :eh:


Arakis otherwise known as Dune
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Posted by Wiking on 26 Mar 2019, 16:47

Nice. Never seen a 1/72 Dune worm. And it is nice made with all his pin teeth.
Figure look nice and well paint.
The second pic row (Trona Pinnacles in California (c) Bob Wick / BLM, CC BY 2.0) look nicer to me.
In this row the first pic with the worm, he look like to eat a rock.
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Posted by Kekso on 26 Mar 2019, 17:48

Now I want to see Dune movie again.
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Kekso  Croatia

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Posted by Kostis Ornerakis on 26 Mar 2019, 20:42

I like everything, but I love the worm! :thumbup: :-D
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Kostis Ornerakis  Greece

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Posted by FredG on 26 Mar 2019, 20:57

Kekso wrote:Now I want to see Dune movie again.


Try the mini-series Kekso. It's nearer to the books :yeah:
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Posted by Graeme on 27 Mar 2019, 05:33

Great scene and the worm is fabulous. the effect of it erupting from the ground is excellent.

The pictures with the paler background do look better but I do like the moons on the skyline in the first set of pics.

Regarding the "Dune" references, I have to say that I like Your dio much, much, MUCH better than the movie.
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Graeme  Australia
 
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Posted by sberry on 27 Mar 2019, 18:53

Thank you very much!
It is a pleasure to read all these comments, because they are so positive, but also because it is nice to have so many learned forum members who need no explanation what’s about this worm.
Actually, this morning I had the sudden revelation that the title I have chosen for the project is not optimal; Operation Desert Worm would have been much better. But now it’s too late, and sith happens, as they say in a galaxy far far away …

Now, the worm. Once you have started looking for these nasty creatures, you find them virtually everywhere. For instance here, here, here, and of course here (bon appétit!). In an earlier age, there was even a model made by Revell. But is no longer produced (probably the moulds were destroyed during Butlers Djihad), and so today it is a “collectors item”, meaning the price is astronomical. Thus I decided to make my own worm with plastic tube from the DIY store that is not considered a rare collectors item and accordingly much cheaper. Plus some Milliput, I should add. Well, and some toothpicks.

But there was of course another problem: In creating such an object with a, well, quite distinct elongated shape, it did not want to end up with something that looks like certain unspeakable toys being sold in certain unspeakable stores. I think I managed that problem quite well – take here a look for a worm design that is really awkward compared to mine, I have to say in all modesty.

A major inspiration was of course the Dune books and the movie, although I would say that the latter is not one of David Lynch’s best works. Just sayin.

However, it would be unfair to neglect the other famous worm movie called Tremors, a real gem of B-movie trash!

And then there is the TV series, and I fully agree with FredG that it is closer to the books than the movie. However, for me this series is kind of spoiled because the German Actor Uwe Ochsenknecht was casted as Stilgar. This is so absurd, I think there is no other man as un-Stilgar-like as him in the whole universe! It is like someone casted Danny DeVito for the next Darth Vader, or Arnold Schwarzengger was to play Mother Theresa in a biopic.

But there is hope. At least I hope so. There are constant rumors that a new Dune movie will appear, perhaps in 2020, this time by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Bladerunner 2049). If I hadn’t run out of spice, I would take a look into the future and tell you the exact release date. Right now, we just have to wait, I suppose…
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sberry  Germany
 
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Posted by huib on 28 Mar 2019, 21:40

Great work, Sberry!

Yes the sandworm is everywhere:
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In a game called Kingdom Rush
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Posted by lirui on 01 Apr 2019, 04:31

I love that devourer
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lirui  China
 
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Posted by Gowan on 03 Apr 2019, 06:59

Awesome stuff! Love all of it. It is a shame that the first background did not come out so well as that moon shot would have been perfect.
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Posted by Hellboy on 07 Apr 2019, 18:09

Amazing! :shock: Fantastic scene and great photos! :yeah: Wow .....
... and I love this worm! :-D
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Posted by sberry on 21 Sep 2020, 20:07

Update 1.5 years later: The wait is (almost) over!
The long-expected new Dune movie will finally be released this December; a trailer is here:

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sberry  Germany
 
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Posted by Bessiere on 22 Sep 2020, 05:30

The Harkonens look suitably evil and music by Pink Floyd is promising. Does anyone make figures for Dune/Arrakis?
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Posted by CliosPaintingBench on 23 Sep 2020, 02:12

Real sense of movement in the walker and the dust clouds, very evocative!
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CliosPaintingBench  Australia
 
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Posted by Insa Schmitt on 23 Sep 2020, 09:13

Das Video ist nur eine Bombe, ich schaue es mir gerne an.
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