Britannia-upon-Globe Mascot - the Kings Car

Essex-based rapid prototyping specialist - Impossible Creations has played an integral role in the design and development of the reproduction of the Britannia-upon-Globe Mascot which featured on a Rolls Royce RF 14 commissioned by the Prince of Wales.

The process began in March 2015 when Leigh-based Ted Overton of Overton Vehicle Overhauls contacted Impossible Creations to reproduce the mascot that will complete the restored Rolls Royce RF 14, "The Kings Car", commissioned by the Prince of Wales, later Edward 8th in June 1921.

Overton came across the RF 14 by chance in the early 1980's. Whilst working on a series of Bentley specials, Overton found a Rolls Royce chassis amongst a pile of old machinery on a Suffolk farm. Of course as it was "The Kings Car", the farmer wasn't too quick to part with the piece when Overton requested to purchase it so he made a note of the engine number to confirm its origin and went away. The P1 register confirmed the engine maqtched the RF 14 and Overton spent three weeks going back and forth collecting parts scattered around the farm. After a long restoration process, the car was completed to a state of running smoothly but there was still one piece missing, and that belongs to Prince Charles - The Britannia-upon-Globe Mascot.

The process began with the 3D scanning of the sculpture held at the Beaulieu National Motor Museum. The scan data was then sharpened and shrunk from 400mm to 200mm high using a Geomagic Touch Haptic Device, a multi purpose 3D design platform. SolidWorks and Geomagic Freeform software were used. These images were then sent back to Overton Vehicles Overhauls where they were sent for accuracy with Buckingham Palace.

Finally, the CAD model was 3D printed on our ProJet 3500 HD Max 3D printer to produce a master pattern in Xtreme high-definition ProCast acrylic. From this pattern, a master mould was created, cast in brass and nickel plated.