CASE STUDY

3D Scanning and Printing a Bainbridge Water Fountain

Europac 3D was recently tasked with assisting a restoration specialist, Lost Art, to replicate a famous water fountain in Teesdale, Cumbria for a client who wanted to reproduce the piece in its full glory.

The scan needed to be carried out carefully to avoid any further damage to the fountain. This is where Europac 3D came into action with a unique combination of using Artec Eva and Artec Spider 3d scanners to capture the unique shape and dimensions of the water fountain.

The pair of scanners were particularly adept at scanning the fountain, being able to scan outside on a sunny day without any loss of accuracy or capture quality. They were used with a battery pack, which allowed for easy set up next to the fountain and freedom of movement, allowing for the operator to walk freely around the fountain with either of the handheld scanners.

The Artec Eva with its larger field of view was used to capture the larger smoother surfaces of the fountain sculpture, while the Spider was used to capture the detailed intricate parts. Both scans were captured in Artec Studio 12 software and the two sets of data were ‘married’ together to produce a watertight triangulated surface mesh. A unique feature of the Artec Studio 12 software allows for scans from different devices to be combined into one common point cloud and then merged to create a 3D model exactly as the client requested.

The 3D model was then printed in full-size in a ceramic plastic material using a Uniontech Pro Series 3d printer. The restoration artist was then able to add additional details and features such as intricate leaf details that had worn away from the original fountain

The final product was then cast in bronze using the 3d print as a mould template – Creating a new-meets-old final product of the famous Bainbridge water fountain for the client’s personal collection.