Full CArbon Body Enzo

After a long time seeing your amazing models and reading all the threads, I'm making my first Work in Progress on this forum. :thumbsup: My current project is a full carbon enzo. The kit used a Tamiya Enzo Ferrari 1/24 scale. I'll use Renaissance (http://www.renaissance-models.com) carbon sheet on the body and Studio 27 carbon sheet on the interior, specially for the engine. I began with the doors as you can see :

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/DSCN4703.JPG

I've made only one pattern for the door which makes the result not perfect as shown with yellow arrow. I also realized that I made a hole on my carbon sheet when I took the picture (shown by the blue arrow). :banghead:

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/DSCN4704.JPG

So I would like to know if it's better to make various small patterns in order to have a perfect fit with the pieces even if the carbon fiber is not in the same way on all the piece ?:confused:

And sorry if i make mistakes, I'm a :newbie: on this amazing site and sorry for my english, I'm French !!!! :smile:

Looks like an awesome project! I can't give you any advice other than to try really really hard to match up the directions of the weave when piecing together a complicated part. Anyhow, the real stuff is sometimes made from several panels, so just worry about big areas where it will be really noticeable.

Oh, and it will be easier if you paint the body panels gloss black first, so any holes or tears will be mostly hidden.

Good luck!

Hey Lionel,

Welcome to AF!! I thank you for your English, with you being French. It is very good. This is amazing! Full CF Enzo! For laying the pieces, make them how you'd think Ferrari would lay the sheets of carbon on the pieces. They will not always be one piece, being how complex some of the body parts can be. Good luck and keep up the great work!

Oh, and it will be easier if you paint the body panels gloss black first, so any holes or tears will be mostly hidden.Good luck!

Thanks for the advice. I'm ashamed :bricks1: because I know this tip but I wanted to earn some time on this project !!! :chair: I'll do it on complex pieces as the engine hood or the front cowl.

Hey Lionel,

Welcome to AF!! I thank you for your English, with you being French. It is very good. This is amazing! Full CF Enzo! For laying the pieces, make them how you'd think Ferrari would lay the sheets of carbon on the pieces. They will not always be one piece, being how complex some of the body parts can be. Good luck and keep up the great work!


well said! My thoughts exactly. This is going to be crazy :iceslolan

Welcome, and nice progress on this Carbon Enzo :)

Wow, that's an ambitious project. Wonder how many sheets of CF decal it will take to do? Should look terrific when done.

Definately paint everything you're going to cover with the CF gloss black- the decals will behave much better. And don't be afraid to patch errors with small bits of CF- if you match up the patterns, patches are nearly invisible.

Going to clearcoat it? (Personally, I wouldn't dream of not clearing it.) A bit of gloss will help the appearence of the decals alot.

Good luck!

Going to clearcoat it? (Personally, I wouldn't dream of not clearing it.) A bit of gloss will help the appearence of the decals alot.
Good luck!

I'll clearcoat it , of course !! :biggrin: I'll use the Tamiya spary can TS-13.
And I'll do the Ferrari trilogy like you : Enzo / F50 and F40 ! :bigthumb:

Make sure the base gloss black is 'really well polished'! Any surface imperfections will be seen through the decal and are near impossible to correct once finished.
If you get any tears or creases try lightly polishing the decal with really fine sandpaper then either patch it with decal or touch it up by hand with some semi-gloss black.
Looks like you've started this project very well! I can't wait to see it finished. Good luck!

Oh and make sure you test that TS13 it can sometimes melt decals!

I'll clearcoat it , of course !! :biggrin: I'll use the Tamiya spary can TS-13.
And I'll do the Ferrari trilogy like you : Enzo / F50 and F40 ! :bigthumb:


Cool! Going to do the F40 in kevlar?

Enzo? Who said anything about me doing an Enzo? (Mine will be in Rosso Scuderia, like Michael Schumacher's. ;) )

Looksa really good so far.

Great job so far! I know what you're up against as I'm just finishing my CF Enzo. I used SMS's new hi-def decals over Tamiya TS-18 (semi-gloss black)and they were a joy! I made complete patterns from Tamiya masking tape with the lines falling on body contours (i.e. on the doors are made up of 4 individual pieces).

1. the roof

2. the side of the windows down to the top of the side body line that matches the upper read fender line (i.e. the place where the door changes from horizontal to vertical again)

3. The piece the extends from the door side panel to the lower extension

4. the side lower extension itself. I painted the very bottom portion gunmetal.

I did the same with the rest of the body, with only the engine cover needing a different technique. On it I had to overlap the pices that go down the sides of the rear window's air vents and meet up with a piece that covered the flat, rear portion.

Anyways, keep up the good work!

Bill

p.s. Here's a small preview of mine to keep you going!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v633/billyvia/enzo/DSCN4023.jpg

Allez Lionel ! tu vas la faire !! COURAGE !!!!!
He should invest in buying the SMS companyto get free carbon fiber sheets !

Or maybe just try to get sponsored?

What a great project! can't wait to see this done.

If you scan the CF templates, put me on your mailing list please :):):)

Here's an idea of how the CF decal pieces were laid out for the door. I actually used 5 seperate pieces, not four as previously posted.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a192/billyboyvia/DSCN4023-01.jpg

Hope that helps,
Bill

p.s. I ended up using less than 1.5 sheets to cover mine, but if anyone wants to contact Matthew at SMS...;-)>

Please send more pics!!! :p

Nice idea! Is gonna be cool!

Looks like an awesome project:) Will require much patience;)Good luck:thumbsup:

Thanks BVIA for this tip !!! I'll do next pieces like you : with various small patterns which fit perfectly each part of the piece !!!!! :worshippy
I've just paint the other parts in gloss black now. :icesangel

I began putting CF on the front cowl. I'll follow the bvia tip and do it as follow :

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/DSCN4714.JPG

I would like to know if the patterns are OK or you'll do it on another way ?

Thanks in advance guys. :biggrin:

:feedback:

:thumbsdow or :bigthumb: for my patterns ?

:bigthumb:

:bigthumb:

Looking really really good there.

I can't say I know much of carbonfibring myself, as it's the thing I hate the most doing...

you're doing a great job!

Olivier

I began putting CF on the front cowl. I'll follow the bvia tip and do it as follow :

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/DSCN4714.JPG

I would like to know if the patterns are OK or you'll do it on another way ?

Thanks in advance guys. :biggrin:

That's almost how I did the hood, so you're on the right track!

But I doubt you'll be able to get the sunken areas (the green outlines area) in front of and behind the radiator outlet vent in one piece. IIRC, I used 4. 1 for the front flat area, 1 for the inner and 1 for the outer areas of the fender and hood and finally 1 piece for the area from the windscreen to the vent outlet.

hth,
Bill

p.s. Mine is now finished and pics are coming soon

Looks like a good start- that's how i wold go about piecing it together. But, before you go any farther, paint it first! Some small uncovered spots are almost inevitable around the radiator airscoops. If applied over black, they will be for all practical purposes invisible- but if these spots are red, they'll be very hard to ignore.

:grinyes:

Looks awesome. Going to the SMS site now to check out the 'high def' stuff that Bill mentioned...

Murray

:grinyes:

Looks awesome. Going to the SMS site now to check out the 'high def' stuff that Bill mentioned...

Murray

Hi all,

Just a little update to tell you that I'm still working on this full carbon enzo. It's going on slowly but it's going on !! :biggrin:

Front hood
http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN4948.JPG

Rear Hood
http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN4949.JPG

Air intake
http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN4954.JPG

I also began the interior doors
http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN4952.JPG

Don't hesitate to post c&c, Im' here to learn !!! :thumbsup:

See you.

Lionel

holy crap thats a lot of CF!!! How many sheets did u waste.......lol.....cuz i hate putting on CF!

REALLY NICE WORK! Keep it up! :sunglasse

Man, I follow the direction exactelly, but they don't look anywhere as good as this. I have quite a few bubbles in mine. Tell us your secret.

Here the images are not opening! :(

Looking good!!!!!

Bill

this getting better and better.

Full carbon car are nice :D

nice job lionel, you leave mautomobile? :D

this is definatly sweet, i think it would be in your best intrest to put down a coat of semi gloss black, then cf, in my oppinion

this is definatly sweet, i think it would be in your best intrest to put down a coat of semi gloss black, then cf, in my oppinion

I know !!!! :banghead: I made it on the other parts !!!!!!! :thumbsup:
And Corydos, be sure that I won't leave Mautomobile (http://www.mautomobile.com/forum/index.php) , this is a great board, even the best french board all over the world !!!! :biggrin:

I couldn't resist to do a first "blank" assembly of the beast !!!! :biggrin:

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN4955.JPG

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN4956.JPG

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN4957.JPG

I have to finish the doors and the nose for a complete full carbon body !!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEES !! :thumbsup:

beautiful work so far... I have enough trouble making a cf hood let alone an entire car!

Here is a little update. I know that I'm really going slow on this model but Im' taking my time as for the moment, I don't make too many models as I made for the past year (quite 30 models built in 18 months !!!). That's the reason why I dont' post too many updates !

So I remade the doors with various patterns this time after painting in gloss black the doors and there's no holes or crinkles on the decals !! YEEEEEEEES !!!!

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN4988.JPG

I also finished the inner doors with 2 differents types of CF sheet : Renaissance for the part which should have been paint with the body color and Studio 27 for the part which received carbon in the real car !

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN4990.JPG

I just have to finish the front nose and the body will be over. After that I'll coat it but I don't know yet if I'll do it with the Tamiya spray can of Smoke or with the Tamiya clear coat.

What do you think ?

looks great!

looks great!

:iagree:

Hey everybody. I finished the full carbon body !! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees !!
But I still don't know if I've to coat it with the Smoke or with TS-13 of Tamiya ?
What would you do ?

Thanks in advance !

I'd go for Smoke...TS13 would be pretty risky.

Cumprimentos,
Pedro. ;)

It's a matter of personal taste between smoke and plain clear. I think most CF decals look too bright in person, so I use smoke over mine. Other people here will insist that the appearence is correct, and that it just needs clear. I've never seen Renaissance CF in person (and I don't trust digital pics to accurately represent it!), so I don't know if I would think it needs smoke as much as SMS- but more than likely, I'd use smoke.

Either way, whatever you decide- I certainly wouldn't use any TS Tamiya spray on top of all that CF. After that much work, I'd use Tamiya acrylics! Why use anything that you aren't absoulutely sure won't eat the decal work? TS might not ruin it, but the potential is there....

Excellent work, looking forward to the finished pics!

great job!

Here it is !!!!! I've finished the body and with the Renaissance CF decals !!! Yeeeeeesssssss . :bigthumb:

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN5064.JPG

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN5065.JPG

But the model isn't finished yet !!! ;) Now I'll put Studio 27 CF decals on the underpanel, in the engine bay and on the monocoque. I'll juste make a little "break" by starting the engine in order to don't have a CF decal overdose !!!!! :biggrin:

Thanks to c&c !!!

Lionel

P.S : I'll use TS-13 for the clear coat.

Outstanding work! :bigthumb:

Are you sure about that TS-13?!?!? Possible but risky!

Take a look at mickbench's Cobra 427 with acrylic clear - bloody awsome and without the risk of "China Syndrome" on all your decal work ;)

TS-13 isn't bad and I used it over SMS CF decal without problem.

It's always human error that cause problem with TS-13.

You are right Vric that it's "human error" as you put it :) But it's also true that, if the potential to melt weren't inherent in the clear itself, it wouldn't happen. After all, arsenic can be therapeutic so long as the human using it doesn't make an error :)

After all the effort put into this model, all I'm saying is be wary, be aware and that - as far as I know - acrylic clear seems to give as good reults without the risk.

Not my call to make, just my friendly 2cents - peace to all etc etc :)

wow

Fantastic CF work. Looks stunning.

As far as TS-13 is concerned and there was actually a thread started not long ago about the merits and also dangers of TS-13, I actually shy away from the stuff in regards to clearing decals with it.

OK, I’m no muppet when it comes to painting, as it’s a stronger area for me (still make mistakes though) but I treat TS-13 with a lot of respect. I had to strip an entire model body once for not using that stuff correctly.

I’ve also heard the horror stories about how it reacts with decals, EVEN if applied lightly. As you have a model car body covered entirely with decals, and CF decals at that (the expense) I’d be more and more careful..!!

If you apply TS-13 lightly building up the coverage, the orange peel will perhaps be more, and more polishing required – risk of burning through to the CF.

If you apply it too heavy to avoid orange peel after a few mists, it “might” burn into the decals. OK it might not, but who’s to say.

But it will dry faster.

X22 acrylic is safer. If you apply it too wet in the early stages it possibly won’t ruin all that hard work, problem is – three weeks of waiting for it to go hard, but you might avoid orange peel, meaning less polish work, reducing the possibility of polishing into a decal.

I’m siding with Klutz here, and TBH VRIC is right.. If you go with TS-13 please be careful. Be a shame to ruin all that work.

It's your model, you do what you think is right. You seem to know what you are doing, as putting CF on like that is not easy..

Krylon Clear works well also.
Looks BadAss!

thats amazing, i plan on doing that myself one day, once i aquire the skills

incredible work,

wow, really good

Thanks everybody, your comments keep me motivated for this project !!! :thumbsup:

I began putting Studio 27 CF decal on the monocoque too. Here's the step where I am. I put CF decals in the red area :

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN5104.JPG

In order to don't waste time and CF sheets, do I have to put it also in other parts of the monocoque ? If you check the following picture, I know that behind the red line at the back, in the engine bay, it's gonna be painted. My question is about the front of the red line in front of the car. Do I have to also put CFs decal there ?

http://membres.lycos.fr/lionelpedro/Enzo/DSCN5103.JPG

Thanks in advance guys for your help and tips !!!! :bigthumb:

P.S : If you have nice pictures of all the CF parts in the real car, you cand send it to me by e-mail or give me the links by PM !!

HOLY CRAP!!! Nice CF work there bud!

No reply ? :feedback: My english is so bad that nobody understand me ? :crying:

I think that I wont put CF decals on the front and paint the rear part ! :biggrin: Next update wit pictures of the monocoque finished !!!! :bigthumb:

No your english is just fine. I'm watching this thread as it's great work. Keep at it. You're doing fine.