Enzo: 1 of 399 CF model

[bvia]

Enzo Ferrari. Arguably the first name in racing. From the cockpit to the office, everything Enzo did was held to one simple question...

How would it benefit Ferrari on the racetrack?

Enzo's swan song was the F-40, a racecar for the street.

Ferrari the company continued on. The next supercar model was the controversial F-50. To own this supercar, one must have been a loyal Ferrari customer and have owned a F-40. Even then not all F-40 owners would be offered the privilege with The Factory sending invitations to only those they deemed worthy.

2002 and Ferrari releases the ultimate legacy to "Il Commendatore" the F-60, or Enzo. 399 of these F-1 cars for the road were offered to owners who
1. Had previoulsy owned a F-40.
2. Had previously owned a F-50.
...and as always,
3. Were deemed worthy by The Factory

Ferrari would paint the Enzo in any color the owner wanted. One owner, wanting to stand out from the "crowd of 399", decided he would get his in bare carbon fiber. This is what I based my model on.



The model was purchased at Hobby Lobby for 50% off ($12.95) and is the 1:24th Tamiya Giallo Modena version of the Enzo (since it would be undercoated in semi-glass black TS-18 that did not matter).



The week I purchased the kit I decided to do the bare carbon fiber version. Luckily I had contacted David Durst at Scale Race Cars (SRC) and he had mentioned that he just received the first shipment of Scale Motor Sports' (SMS) new Hi-Def Composite Fiber decal sheets (1525). I ordered 3 sheets and began prepping the body by assembling and detailing the interior and engine.



The interior and engine were painted using Tamiya acrylics and the supplied Tamiya CF decals were used on all interior surfaces including dash and engine air inlet. THe undertray is Tamiya semi-gloss black (TS-18) as is the entire body under the CF decals.



With the ancillaries completed, my CF decals arrived and the fun began. Using Tamiya masking tape, I began creating templates for each body panel beginning with the doors. They compromise 5 seperate pieces of CF decal, with Microsol, Microset and the heat of a hair dryer to snug the decals down.



The engine cover is made up of 13 separate pieces with 2 small overlaps located (and visible) at the lower ends of the sail panels and SRC PE rivets were used to add detail the rear window/engine cover.



Hours of searches for images/details of the car proved fruitless, so liberties had to be taken with regards to the CF panel layout. I aksed myself "How would a Ferrari engineer design the layout of the CF weave pattern?" and tried my best to replicate my conclusions.



After the exterior was covered (with only _1_ wrinkle!) and dried for a week, I began taking the Hi-Def portion of the SMS decals and ruining it! See the Hi-Def portion of the new SMS decals is the fact that it has a textured surface that would show through with a light coat of semi-gloss or clear. Since I knew that no one paying THAT much for a car would accept that type of finish I slathered the entire exterior surface in Nason 2-part Automotive clear coat.



The hood also consists for 13 separate pieces of CF decals. Left over Tamiya CF decal was used to cover the healdight assemblies.



Here you can see the pattern of the new SMS Hi-Def decals. Once the clear coat was dry it was wet-sanded using MicroMesh clothes and polished using Meguier's Scratch-X, then Meguier's clear plastic polish. A final coat of Turtle Wax 100% Pure Carnuba Wax sealed the model.



The mirrors and lower body panels were painted Tamiya Gunmetal and the model was ready for final assembly. In the end, I used less than 1.5 sheets and have enough left over for my next CF project. The R34 GT-R Test car.



Well, thanks for taking the time to look and as always, comments , criticisms and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Bill

[sjelic]

Well Bill, what to say....I take my hat of.
Absolutly fantastic!

[Samurai75007]

Looks good though to get a Ferrari Enzo they did not need to own an F-40 or F-50 but it helped. They needed to own any (new) Ferrari 360 or other... I know the owner of Lamborghini of Dallas and he had gotten a chance to get an Enzo because he has one of the 4 prototype F-40s and a 360. The more you own the better chance. But he never had an F-50. Sorry about that but your Enzo looks sick!!! I think I will do this to myn that I haven’t had a chance to work on yet, too much time spent at the real work shop.

[Snooker]

That's an outstanding model I'm really impressed!

[nniemi]

This is the best looking Enzo i have seen on AF!! Simply stunning! Those SMS decals make Tamiya CF look a little out of scale though.

-Niko

[tonioseven]

Damn, that's one of the best models I've seen since becoming a member of AF!!

[vx_supercharged]

Simply amazing - stunning work

[tturbozx66]

Simply beautiful!!!

Any engine and interior shots?

[GvEman]

Awesome! Truly amazing!

[blubaja]

Carbon....Fiber.....INTENSIVE!!!!! Woowee man! That is really awsome!! Great job!!

[white97ex]

superb job on that CF

[p9o1r1sche]

Thanks for the up-close look at the new CF decals. Great finish on the model.

[Sticky Fingers]

I've only used cf decals once, on my last completed model. So, I appreciate how difficult it is to apply. Credit due - that enzo is a stunner!!

[Merkava]

Absolutely amazing! No words really describe my feelings towards this model... I'm still in shock!

[Veyron]

Brilliant! Excellent execution!