I've never seen the actual process, Graham, but I see that a high-res human scan goes for around $10 on the web. You can only buy the product; you can't specificity which head you want scanned, although Donald Trump's might go for $2, I think.
I used XenoDream to model the alien seashells, and Maxwell Render to produce the scene. Some people don't feel the rendering engine makes any difference with the final product. I disagree: here's a render out of PIXAR RenderMan in 1995 upper-left, and then basically the same model rendered out of Maxwell Render in 2008. It has nuances, atmosphere, and doesn't exaggerate the specular reflections in plastic or metal:
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