[Starship Modeler's 9th on-line modeling contest: The Other Guys]

Entries Page
Contest Rules

Spice Scout Buggy



Sponsored By:


DaVeK Ventures





by Joe Brown

Dune (David Lynch movie), 1984

Scale: 1:48

Background

The planet Arrakis (also called Dune) is the source of the rare and valuable spice melange. This is mined with a spice harvester that vacuums the melange from the patches of spice sand. The harvester crew employs spotter aircraft, such as ornithopters, to keep a watch for the giant roving sandworms that defend the patches of spice sand. Scouting for richer patches of sand is possible from the air, but the ornithopters are better used looking for wormsign.

So, the miners use spice scout vehicles, both cars and buggies, to locate the best areas for the harvester to mine. The harvester carries the vehicles internally to the spice sands, where they are driven out the harvester's aft ramp to go look for the richest spice patches. If a worm is spotted, they race back to get into the harvester before a carryall drops down from above to pull the harvester away from the dangerous sandworms.

This style of scout buggy is favored because of its tremendous rear wheel. The huge wheel provides good traction for speed in the sands, and its larger surface area means that it is less likely to become bogged down. Two balloon tires in the front provide steering, and a sealed, spherical crew compartment helps shrug off the deadly sandstorms. The power plant and the drive motor for the buggy are contained within the big rear wheel on a pivoting, bearing-equipped platform, which keeps the motor upright and protects it from the insidious sand and dust that is so prevalent on Arrakis.

The Model

Many times, I have had to struggle and fight with a model to get it completed in time for a modeling contest deadline. Not this time. This buggy almost built itself and was both fun and easy to build! I had noticed that there were several vehicles in the David Lynch version of Dune that were almost tailor made to be recreated in this contest. These vehicles really are the “Other Guys” in that while they are not the glamour vehicles, without them that whole universe simply wouldn't work.

While looking for information on the spice harvester, I discovered references to a vehicle that I didn't recall seeing at all. I pulled out a copy of the film and checked the scene where Duke Leto's ornithopter helps to evacuate the harvester's crew. Sure enough, there was the spice scout car that Revell made into a model, skidding along through the sand. But, I also saw this unknown buggy with a huge rear wheel running up the aft ramp of the harvester. I instantly had to build it.

Amazingly, I found a picture of the buggy on a Dune website that showed that exact scene, cameraman and all! Good thing, too, as you never see that buggy again in the whole film. Its on-screen time is about 4 seconds, if that much. There was a toy of this buggy that pops up on Ebay occasionally, and while there are some differences between the toy and the filming miniature, there are enough similarities that I was able to use it for reference material.

I started construction by finding a wonderfully ribbed Christmas tree ornament that perfectly matched the huge rear wheel. That determined the final size of the vehicle. I drilled a hole through the ornament and fitted a styrene tube through it as the axel. I made the frame of the buggy from a type of plastic shirt hanger that my wife is always trying to throw away. (I'm always trying to save them since they make great support structures for models.) I also discovered that ping pong balls were exactly the size of the crew sphere, and I hacked several of them apart while getting the shape just right. When you do that, what's with that smell from inside them?

A craft store near my home carries large plastic beads that kids can make play jewelry with, and I found my front balloon tires in a bag of those. Those tires were attached to styrene tube, which in turn connected to the front of the hanger frame for the buggy. I sized a platform to fit in between the frames and glued the crew sphere onto that. The whole model was then primed with auto primer. I airbrushed several coats of acrylic tan and brown onto the model and then weathered the finish with pastels. Unfortunately, most of the weathering was washed out by my camera's flash. (I have simply got to learn to take better pictures.) The crew windows were carefully hand-painted on to match my reference printouts, and the model was done. I just can't wait to hear the comments from the local NASCAR and off-road modelers about this one!

Image: Left/rear view

Image: Comin' at'cha

Image: From above

Image: Primed




Go back up | Starship Modeler Home | Site Map | Feedback

This page was last updated 4 December 2003