Fine Art Foundries, Sculpture Studios & Themed Entertainment Fabricators
For Fine Art Foundries, Sculpture Studios & Themed Entertainment Fabricators
The artist's 12-inch maquette needs to go to 8 feet without losing the surface. The original clay needs to be archived before the mold touches it. The animatronic mechanism needs a shell that clears every axis at every travel position. These problems live at the intersection of art and engineering — and most scanning services don't understand either one well enough to solve them.
Our background includes large-scale animatronic figure production at Animax Designs — a 35,000 lb, 17-axis touring dinosaur and a 5-axis Sasquatch shown at IAAPA 2024. We understand the difference between a surface that has to be accurate and a surface that has to look right. Sometimes those are the same requirement. Sometimes they're in direct tension. Deliverables within 5 business days. We travel nationally for larger projects.
Service Listings
Maquette Scan — Sculptural Enlargement Source Geometry
Clay, wax, plaster, epoxy, and mixed-media maquettes scanned at full resolution as the digital source for CNC foam carving, robotic milling, or large-format 3D printing of monument-scale enlargements. Surface detail captured at 0.025mm — tool marks, fingerprint texture, and intentional surface variation are preserved and scale faithfully at any enlargement ratio. The artist's hand goes with it. Commonly used for public monuments, memorial sculpture, and large-format gallery editions from 1:10 maquette to full scale.
From $470
Est. per maquette
Pre-Mold Digital Archive Scan
Original sculpture, clay, wax, or plaster scanned and archived before the mold process begins. The mold is irreversible. If the original is damaged, the mold is lost, or the mold degrades over a long edition run, the digital archive is the only record of the original surface independent of any physical object. Deliverable is a permanent, full-resolution mesh file in OBJ and STL — the artist's work as it existed before any foundry process touched it. Foundation for edition tracking, insurance documentation, and future reproduction without pulling the mold.
From $650
Est. per work
Armature Section Geometry — Internal Mass Envelope
Large-scale enlargement or bronze casting scanned at key cross-sections to extract the internal mass envelope for armature design. The structural fabricator designs the armature to fit inside the actual bronze wall geometry — not a nominal approximation from the drawing. Wall thickness, thinning zones, and cantilevered masses are all visible in the section data. Used on public monuments, large gallery bronzes, and outdoor sculpture where the armature has to carry load without printing through the surface or creating maintenance access problems.
From $850
Est. — contact for quote
Enlargement Scale Verification Scan
CNC-carved foam, milled resin, or 3D-printed enlargement scanned and deviation-mapped against the scaled maquette model before the mold is applied. The deviation report identifies exactly where the enlargement drifted — over-carved areas, under-carved areas, and regions where surface texture or detail didn't transfer correctly at scale. This verification step finds errors before they are committed to bronze, saving the cost of a complete re-carve at monument scale.
From $750
Est. — contact for quote
Animatronic & Themed Entertainment Shell & Skin Geometry
Animatronic mechanism scanned at rest and at key travel positions to establish the full clearance envelope — the zone the shell must not enter at any point in the range of motion. Shell and skin geometry is then designed around the actual mechanism, not a nominal CAD model that doesn't reflect fabrication tolerances, cable routing, pneumatic lines, and sensor positions accumulated during build. Direct project experience: Mechanical Lead at Animax Designs on a 35,000 lb, 17-axis touring animatronic dinosaur and a 5-axis animatronic Sasquatch (IAAPA 2024). The shell problem and the engineering problem are the same problem.
From $1,800
Est. — contact for quote
Bronze Casting Defect — Repair Reference Scan
Surrounding original surface geometry captured before foundry repair work begins on porosity, cold shuts, inclusions, or damage. The restoration artist has a precise reference for the surface plane, texture character, tool mark direction, and detail continuity that should exist across the repair zone. After repair, a second scan confirms the restored surface matches the original reference — particularly important for edition pieces where cast-to-cast consistency is the standard.
From $650
Est. per repair zone
Estate Reproduction & Edition Archive Scan
Surviving artist's proof, posthumous edition original, or historic bronze scanned for dimensional reference, edition documentation, and permanent legal record of the work as it existed at the time of scanning. Used by estates, galleries, and institutions managing posthumous editions, authentication programs, and archival documentation. Deliverable includes full-resolution mesh files and, where needed, a dimensioned reference drawing for edition records.
From $750
Est. per work
Travel & Access
We come to your foundry, studio, installation site, or storage facility. Equipment is carry-in portable, battery-powered, and can be used in gallery spaces, foundry floors, and outdoor installation sites. Small maquettes under 36 inches can be scanned via our mail-in service if preferred. We travel nationally for larger projects. All pricing is estimated — contact us with your project scope for a specific quote.
| Within 50 miles of Nashville 37206 | Included |
| 51–150 miles | +$180 |
| 151–300 miles | +$295 |
| 300+ miles / National | Quoted individually |
| Mail-in (objects under 36") | From $470 |
When Studios & Foundries Call Us
Scenario — Monument commission
A 14-inch maquette needs to go to 7 feet for a public monument commission. The artist is concerned about losing surface texture at scale.
The artist has spent six months on a 14-inch clay study. The commission is for a 7-foot bronze. At 6:1 enlargement, every tool mark, every fingerprint register, every intentional roughness either survives or doesn't. We scan the maquette at 0.025mm resolution — fine enough to capture surface character at this scale — and deliver a mesh that drives the CNC foam carving. The artist reviews the scaled digital model before the first chip of foam falls. What gets approved goes to the foundry.
Scenario — Pre-mold archive
A significant work is going to mold for the first time. The gallery wants a digital record before any foundry process touches it.
A gallery representing a major living sculptor wants a permanent digital archive of each new work before molding begins. Not for reproduction — for insurance, for authentication reference, and for the artist's own records. We scan each piece before it goes to the foundry and deliver a full-resolution mesh that lives with the work's provenance documentation. If the original is ever damaged or the mold is lost, the digital record of the original surface survives independently.
Scenario — Animatronic shell design
A touring animatronic figure needs a replacement skin. The original shop is unavailable and no geometry documentation exists.
A touring animatronic figure has a damaged outer skin. The original fabrication shop has closed and no geometry documentation was preserved. We scan the mechanism at all key travel positions to establish the clearance envelope, then scan the surviving skin sections for surface geometry reference. The replacement skin is designed around the actual mechanism — every cable run, every servo position, every structural member that accumulated during the original build. The new skin clears the mechanism at every axis position.
Scenario — CNC enlargement verification
A foam enlargement came off the CNC and the foundry wants to verify it against the maquette before molding begins.
A 5-foot foam enlargement from a 10-inch maquette. The foundry's CNC operator noticed a subtle asymmetry in the facial features that wasn't in the maquette. Before the rubber goes on, they want to know exactly where the drift occurred and by how much. We scan the foam and deviation-map it against the scaled maquette model. The report shows two areas where the CNC drifted — both correctable with a few hours of hand work. Caught before the mold, not after the bronze.
Scenario — Estate reproduction
An estate is producing a posthumous edition from a surviving plaster. The gallery needs dimensional documentation of the original before casting begins.
An artist's estate managing a posthumous bronze edition needs each cast compared against a documented original to verify edition consistency. We scan the surviving plaster original and deliver a permanent reference mesh. Each subsequent cast can be scanned and compared against the original — confirming that the edition reflects the artist's original work, not a mold that has shifted over repeated pulls or through repair.
Scenario — Foundry repair reference
A significant bronze has a porosity defect that requires foundry repair. The conservator needs the original surface geometry before the chaser touches it.
A gallery bronze with a subsurface porosity defect that has broken through after installation. Before the foundry makes a single weld pass, the surrounding original surface needs to be documented — the texture, the plane geometry, the tool mark direction, the patina boundary. We scan the defect area and surrounding original surface. The chaser has a reference for the geometry that should exist across the repair zone. After work is complete, a second scan confirms the repair surface matches the original.
Questions from Foundries, Studios & Creative Directors
Does scanning preserve the artist's surface texture and hand at enlargement scale?
Yes — at 0.025mm resolution, we capture surface character that is far finer than what typically enlarges to a visible artifact at even 10:1 scale. Tool marks, fingerprint texture, deliberate surface roughness, and the small irregularities that make hand-built sculpture look alive at close range all survive in the scan data. The CNC carver or 3D printer works from geometry that includes that surface character. What gets lost in traditional pantograph or point-transfer enlargement — the subtlety of the original surface — is preserved when the enlargement source is a high-resolution scan.
What materials can you scan — clay, wax, plaster, resin?
All of them. Clay (oil-based and water-based), wax, plaster, epoxy resin, polyurethane foam, and mixed-media originals can all be scanned. The primary challenge is highly reflective or translucent surfaces — some waxes and certain resins. In those cases, a light application of dry scanning spray (removable, no residue) provides the surface contrast the scanner needs. We discuss material and surface finish requirements before the scan visit.
Can you work inside a gallery space or artist's studio without disrupting the environment?
Yes. The scanner is hand-held, operates from battery, and the lasers are Class 1 — no risk to artwork, no special lighting requirements, no chemical or physical contact with any surface. We work in gallery spaces, artist studios, foundry floors, and museum storage. Setup takes 10 minutes. For fragile or extremely high-value works, we discuss handling requirements and access protocols before any visit.
What is your experience with animatronic figure production?
Ryan Schimmel served as Mechanical Lead Engineer at Animax Designs, where he led mechanical design on a 35,000 lb, 17-axis electrically actuated animatronic dinosaur from concept through global touring installation, and designed the mechanism and shells for an 8-foot, 5-axis animatronic Sasquatch shown at IAAPA 2024. The shell design problem in themed entertainment is fundamentally a scanning problem — the shell has to be designed around the actual mechanism envelope, not a nominal model that doesn't reflect what was actually built. We've done that work at large scale.
Can you scan at the installation site if the work is already in place?
Yes. For installed bronzes requiring repair reference documentation, condition surveys, or archive scanning post-installation, we come to the site. The scanner is portable and operates without any fixed infrastructure. For works on elevated pedestals or in complex installation environments, we discuss access requirements in advance. We have worked on scaffolding and in tight gallery configurations.
Can you mail in a small maquette rather than having you visit?
Yes. For maquettes and originals under approximately 36 inches that can be safely shipped, our mail-in scanning service is available from anywhere in the United States and internationally. We scan, process, and return the work with a complete digital file package — typically within 5 business days of receiving it. Contact us to discuss packaging requirements for fragile clay or wax originals before shipping.
Ready to discuss your project?
Tell us about the work, its current medium and scale, and what you need the scan for. We'll respond within one business day.