The studio · capability · robotic CNC modelling

3D Robot.

Precision robotic modelling for complex scenographic pieces. The CNC arm roughs polystyrene in three days where hand carving would need fifteen — and replicates a mould to millimetre tolerance.

The capability

What we do.

3D Robot fabrication is the most modern capability in our workshops. It is a CNC robotic arm (Computer Numerical Control) that mills blocks of high-density expanded polystyrene following a 3D vector file — exactly like a 3D printer, but in subtraction instead of addition, and at a monumental scale.

The workflow is: the piece is modelled digitally (Rhinoceros, ZBrush, Blender, or a client CAD file), then imported into the arm software, finally the robot roughs the polystyrene block for hours or days depending on size and detail level. The piece coming out already has millimetre-defined geometry — the workshop sculptors are left with the hand finish, the patina, the refinement of the most delicate details.

The main advantage is speed: an eight-metre piece that would require two weeks of manual roughing is done in three days by the robot, leaving time for finishing. The second advantage is repeatability: the same file can produce identical copies, useful when you need serial pieces — repeated columns, twin statues, multiple moulds.

The workshop has owned the robot since 2013 and has used it on dozens of projects — from the preliminary sculpting of the Winx statues at Rainbow MagicLand to the preliminary modelling of the Fendi rhinoceros, from the ACME props of Warner Looney Tunes to monumental pieces for Walt Disney Studios Park.

Piece sculpted by the 3D robot in progress: polystyrene block with milling traces still visible on the surface, before hand finishing — **Just-roughed piece.** Milling traces visible before hand finishing

Full-round statue modelled by the CNC robot in our workshops: female figure in high-density polystyrene, face detail — **Full-round modelling.** Female figure in polystyrene

Workshop view with piece in progress under the CNC arm, polystyrene dust on the floor — **Robotics workshop.** Polystyrene dust on the floor

Detail of the CNC robotic arm milling, rotating cutter on the polystyrene block surface — **CNC arm detail.** Rotating cutter in action

Documentation

More photos
of our work.

Full-round piece sculpted in the workshops, statue of a mythological figure in polystyrene before fibreglass — Mythological statue in polystyrene

Preliminary modelling for a large scenographic piece, multi-day robot run — Monumental preliminary modelling

Component of a theme-park scenography being milled, overview of the piece in the workshop — Theme-park scenography component

Multiple replicas of a scenographic piece produced by the CNC robot, two twin pieces ready for finishing — Multiple replica — twin pieces

Robotics workshop view with the CNC robot in working position, large piece being milled — CNC robot in working position

Preliminary modelling of a scenographic character in high-density polystyrene, face detail — Scenographic character — face detail

Monumental scenographic piece just out of robot milling, ready for the manual finishing phase — Monumental piece after milling

Behind the scenes

How we work.

The incoming 3D file

The robot works from a 3D vector file: modelling done in-house (Rhinoceros, ZBrush, Blender) or a CAD file provided by the client. Digital geometry is the first design decision — any mistake here is faithfully reproduced by the robot.

Polystyrene roughing

The CNC arm mills blocks of high-density expanded polystyrene following the file. It runs for hours or days depending on size. The piece comes out with geometry defined to the millimetre but with a surface still showing milling traces — that need to be smoothed.

The hand finish

The robot does the roughing, but the piece is never finished. Workshop sculptors smooth the surface, refine the most delicate details (eyes, hands, folds), apply fibreglass, and lay the chromatic patina. The robot does 70% of the sculpting — the remaining 30% is still hand craft.

×5

the speed advantage over manual roughing for monumental pieces

Since 2013

the year the CNC arm entered our workshops

~mm

the modelling tolerance — geometry defined to the millimetre

See it at work

In these projects.

3d robot fabrication is a capability that recurs across our projects. You can see it applied in these works: