Full Wrap – Total Asset Protection

Detail Artisan is a specialised PPF studio based in North Rocks, Sydney providing protection options for owners wanting to preserve and enhance their vehicles finish. We are privileged to be able to work on a variety of high-end vehicles which is both challenging in the application process but necessary given the cost of maintaining or repairing these vehicles if there are stone chips or damage.

We’ve discussed before, a Full Wrap is an intensive project which requires both a lot of time to complete properly and also a lot of material. Both of these mean a Full Wrap will cost more then other PPF services but also requires a lot more skill, attention and patience to get right!

The owner of this Ferrari F12 Berlinetta took a long time before selecting the special optioned colour ‘Rossa Berlinetta,’ this colour costs an immense $42,000 and requires the car to come off the standard production line and be hand painted in 4 layers, the standard base coat of Rosso Corsa followed up 3 layers of pearl to give the most depth we’ve ever seen on a red colour. However, this also made the owner worry and look into wrapping the entire vehicle in order to have the car immaculate across track days and the years ahead.

For the F12, we used Clear Shield’s Ultra PPF Film as we wanted to have a the flattest finish possible in order to show case the paintwork underneath. We have found that certain colours can be diminished as a side effect of PPF. The kit was immense, the bonnet itself came in 3 pieces, and the areas for the doors and rear quarters were curved to allow for the cars aero design.

Paint Correction & Inspection

For such a bespoke vehicle, we made sure to properly inspect the vehicle. This meant that the F12, like all vehicles at Detail Artisan underwent our 21 Stage Wash & Decontamination process. Only afterwards, under our intense LED lighting, we could see the condition of the paintwork. The overall paintwork was not bad, but did show signs of dullness from over washing, it also had light swirl marks building up over the body as well as sanding marks and pig tails which unfortunately are the tell tale signs of hands on workmanship from Ferrari whenever a custom colour is chosen.

The Paint Correction consisted on 2 stages and while many people will think this is excessive, the focus of the correction was more on refining the finish and gloss rather then removing and cutting away defects. A Soft Polishing Pad and an Ultra Finishing Pad were used with the Rupes Bigfoot System in order to achieve the best finish possible.

PPF Installation – Front Half

The preparation for a successful PPF Full Wrap is quite intensive, even compared to Ceramic Glass Coatings as the car needs to be carefully washed after its paint correction process to remove all compound dust as well as remove any debris and dust that may have settled on the car. Even the dust in the air can be trapped under the film as it is laid on the vehicle.

---

The bonnet of the F12 is particularly challenging as the bonnet is so large, it must be done in 3 pieces. These are specially designed and a lot of care must be done to line these up properly. The following slideshow show cases the bonnet going through its installation process.

The area around the vent creates a lot of tension which crates lift in the film. Getting the vent to stay down during the installation is a challenge. Additionally, we prefer to wrap the film under any potential edges given a better finish, reducing one less edge and being doubly sure that that edge doesn’t lift in the future.

Once the bonnet is installed, we begin the front guards and also the front bumper. This means that the most important areas of the car; bonnet, front bumper and front guards are covered first. Many customers will only cover there full front as covering the full car can be out of there budge but in this instance, the entire F12 was a car that definitely should be wrapped.

The front bumper is the most important component in the install. This area will be hit with the most stone chips and must be installed as close to the edged possible in order to provide the most protection possible. Some front bumpers are more complex then others depending on the make and model, but more often they are broken into a few pieces to allow better fitment around vents and curves. The front bumper can also present the largest challenges as there are a large number of convex and concave curves.

PPF Installation – Back Half

The back half of a vehicle is not installed as often as the front half of a car, this means that sometimes the kits requite slight alterations within the computer program to fit properly, but also the pieces are much larger than the front of the car. The rear quarter panels in particularly on some models (like on Porsche 911’s) can consist of the side skirt, rear panel and the roof/A Pillars all together in once single piece. This makes that piece harder to manage and much more care needs to be taken while installing.

During this part we also install the doors and the rear bumper. Depending on the car, the rear bumper can be straight forward or very difficult since it’s a very wide piece but also requires a lot of stretch and fitment around badges.

The Doors are also installed during this time, and also require some adustment in order to fit around key holes, door handles, mirrors if present and also to ensure that the edges have enough over hand to wrap behind the door edges.

Installation Complete – PPF Full Wrap

Once the installation is complete, the vehicle is not ready to be released. Far from being ready, the car must sit and dry overnight in order the achieve the best results. During cold weather, this part of the process can actually take longer as the moisture trapped in the edges and under the film takes time to evaporate and dry.

The following photo’s show just how good the F12 looked after installation. The rear bumper, rear quarter panel were particularly challenging to ensure a clean install without excessive bubbles.

Detailing & Interior Treatment

Part of our speciality at Detail Artisan is making sure all the finishing touches are done. While many will focus on just the PPF Installation, we ensure all components of the car are detailed properly.

We cleaned and conditioned all the two tone Nappa leather, afterwards we treated them with a 2 Part Leather Coating to ensure longevity and ease of cleaning in the future. The carbon fibre trim in the interior was polished with the Rupes Ibrid Nano where needed and then coated in our ceramic glass coating for further protection.

The Finished Product

This Ferrari actually took us over 2 weeks to finish, the preparation, the paint correction and the detailing before and after took the appropriate length of time to finish properly. In Addition, the PPF installation itself took a lot longer then more straightforward vehicles, however the finished results are well worth the time taken.

In addition to PPF, Detail Artisan is specialised in Ceramic Glass coatings. We apply coatings on a daily basis which gives us the experience in protecting your vehicle beyond your dealership or other detailers.

More on our ceramic coatings can be found here.

Ceramic Coatings balance out the weaknesses of PPF, while the PPF is a fantastic product which gives superior protection that cannot be matched by coatings the ppf itself is susceptible to staining, acid etching and even bug splatter marks over time can cause markings if not washed off soon.

The coatings provide a gloss and depth that cannot be achieved by PPF but also a hydrophobic surface which allows easier cleaning and fantastic water beading.

If you are looking to protect your Ferrari or any other car, contact us by clicking here or feel free to give us a call so we can give you a quote and discuss your vehicle’s requirements.

To see more of current projects, please feel free to visit our social media pages below.

---