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Scuplture Scanning Service UK
One of the most enjoyable aspects of running a 3D scanning bureau is the broad range of industries that the technology can be applied to, this includes medical, automotive, aerospace, heritage and sculpture to name a few. Getting an insight into these different industries and their relative requirements enables our technical people to have broad knowledge of different scanning hardware and software that is needed to provide the correct digital data unique to these different verticals. Perhaps this is one of Europac3D’s greatest strengths, a broad understanding to provide the ‘correct data’ for both 3D scanning and printing applications across may sectors.
Poppy Field
We were recently approached by sculptor, Poppy Field to 3D scan her life-size sculpture ‘Tip Of The Iceberg’. Poppy has been working on the project since late 2018 and it is intended to embody a 21st century ‘liberté’. The starting point being the phrase ‘Tip Of The Iceberg’ and its use in discourse surrounding the #metoo movement.
There of several 3d scanners that could be used for such a project, however in this case our technicians used a Kreon Ace measuring arm and Skyline laser scanner. There are also technologies out there that can capture this type of shape quicker, however the Kreon system is unbeatable when it comes to large volume, high resolution data capture. The laser scanner not only picks up all the details of the human form, but also the small indents and sculptors marks that are formed during the creative process. These unique signatures are often what makes a piece of art and therefore our Europac3d team will always endeavour to produce the best data achievable.
The Kreon Sykline laser scanner captures 600,000 point per second with a ‘paintbrush’ width of 200mm and is usually applied to accurately scan parts predominantly within the engineering field. In this case, the wide laser scanner rapidly captured the sculpture in around 1.5 hours and at a resolution of around 15 microns. The raw data set is initially captured as a ‘point cloud’ or millions of XYZ co-ordinate data points; it is then registered and converted into a 3D model in the form of a triangulated surface mesh or STL file.
3D Printing Service
The meshed 3D model created by the Kreon system was then sent to our 3d printing bureau, 3DPrintworx, whereby the model was hollowed and rescaled to 58cm. At 58cm the sculpture was too tall to fit in our 3d printers, so it was then sliced into two pieces, dowel pins added and corresponding holes cut into the opposite half. The two halves can then be accurately joined during post processing.
The final print was produced in PA12 nylon, a strong durable material that is great for printing small thin parts such as fingers in this example. The 3d printing process took about 10 hours overnight and then the 2 halves were cleaned using Dyemansion Powershot C. Finally, the two halves were bonded together to create the final model.
End to end Service
The whole process from scan to 3d print took around 7 days to complete. The application of the best technology at all stages of the process and knowledge learnt across a broad spectrum of industries allows Europac3D to deliver the highest quality 3d print and scan service from start to finish, without having to go to multiple vendors.