The facsimile of the burial chamber and sarcophagus of Tutankhamun

After recording the tomb of Tutankhamun during the first half of 2009, the team returned to Madrid and began work on the different phases of the production of the facsimile. The intricate process includes adjusting the high resolution photographic and 3D data, routing tests and detailed colour matching with the samples taken from the tomb. Below you will find a photographic display of the stages of the work in progress.

Seti laser scanner (version 2) recording in the Tomb of Tutankhamun, May 2009

Routed output from the standard 3D scanning test (data from the new Metris scanner),
routed in 3 dimensions at a resolution of 100 microns

Tutankhamun/Osiris: East Wall of the Tomb of Tutankhamun
High resolution photography

Tutankhamun/Osiris: 3D data from the Seti scanner

Tutankhamun/Osiris: Dara from the Seti scanner routed in three dimensions

Tutankhamun/Osiris: routed surface with colour (before colour correction)

Factum Arte's Pedro Miró going through scanned data of the tomb

Creating a map of the tomb from 3D and colour data

Factum Arte's Blanca Nieto working on the "stitching" process:
adjusting the photographic data to the 3D data

This part of the process requieres great attention to detail in precision adjustments

Factum Arte's Rafa Rachewsky carrying out colour matching tests

Colour references made while working in the tomb

Colour is adjusted refering to the colour samples taken in the tomb

Factum Arte's Javier Barreno preparing the 3D data for routing

Factum Arte's Juan Carlos Arias and Pedro Miró carrying out routing of a one meter section of the surface of the tomb of Tutankhamun in low-desnity polyurethane resin

Factum Arte's Javier Barrena working on a tile of routed surface

Raking light helps checking the surface of the 3D routing

Factum Arte's Silvia Rosende and Aniuska Martín removing routing imperfections

Aniuska Martín casting a corner of the sarcophagus from routed data

After several weeks of routing, tiles are assembled at Factum Arte's warehouse

Aniuska Martín retouching the joins between adjacent tiles

Progress in Factum Arte's warehouse, mid-February

Reference map of the tomb's north wall

Factum Arte's Javier Barreno checking the alignment of tiles

Progress in Factum Arte's warehouse, end of February. Now that the North-east corner is completed, it must be separated into smaller pieces for the next stage: colour transfering

All the joins have been retouched precisely before the wall is newly separated

Factum Arte's Eduardo Corrales working on the separations

Steel wire is used to cut through the 3 inch thick surface

This time the separations are made to follow the lines in the wall's drawings and figures for easier reassembly. These pieces will be sent to Papel Gel for colour transfering

The routing of the walls of the Tomb of Tutankhamun was completed on March 24th. Routing on the ceiling started on 29th March. Work on the sarcophagus will begin Mid April and be completed by the end of May. The Assembly and finishing of the North wall is complete and the wall has been cut into 6 sections for moulding and casting. The complete wall will be finished and cast into the final gesso/resin surface by 20 April. The first 2 Panels have been already been made and delivered to Papel Gel in Barcelona.

The assembly of the west and east walls are almost complete and the hand finishing is underway. Work on the floor and structure is currently in production. Anticipated finish date for the complete assembled tomb - EARLY JULY.

As all the work to record and make the facsimile has been financed by Factum Arte (with a small grant from the Friends of the Royal Tombs of Egypt) the exact date for the completion of the tomb is flexible.

Papel Gel

Papel Gel, a workshop near Plaza Colon in Barcelona, was founded by Julio Gómez Portela. They have developed a flexible transfer base and a range of glues that enable them to accurately transfer prints onto irregular surfaces.

Due to the undulations and character on the surface of the tomb of Tutankhamun it was not possible to print the surface using the purpose built multi layered printer that Factum Arte used on the facsimiles of the tombs of Seti I and Thutmosis III. As a result we have developed a close working collaboration with Papel Gel and will be sending the finished sections of the tomb to Barcelona so that the images can be transferred onto the surface. The following photographs show the various stages of the transfer process from the printing, coating, registration onto the features of the surface, joining sections, removal of the elastic support and the final checking and removal of any air bubbles under the surface.

These photographs were taken on March 19th by Alicia Guirao and Adam Lowe and will be updated as the work to transfer the colour progresses.

The order of transfer will be:
North Wall - transfer will be completed by mid May
East wall - transfer will be completed by end May
West Wall - transfer will be completed by mid June
South Wall - transfer will be completed by mid-late June