Until now, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil has only been replicated by hand, as conditions are difficult for scanning of any sort -- until Pix4D, Aeryon Labs Inc., and Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro came together with a combination of skills for using a drone to gather images (Aeryon), process the data (Pix4D), and work around scheduling at the site for the creation of the 3D replica which will be used by the University in the future. The 3D model was created with 3,584 images made during 19 short trips to the site over six days battling scheduling issues and weather. Check out more about this large-scale ambitious scanning project in the full article: http://3dprint.com/46020/3d-scan-christ-the-redeemer/

Below is a photo of the Aeryon drone scanning Christ the Redeemer: