I will document some things about the motor mount and shock cord anchor another day, but this evening in my last few waking moments I wanted to unveil the decals.
If the clothes make the man, it must certainly be true that the Decals make the Starship.
A year and a half ago I ordered them from Gordy at Excelsior. In exchange for some paltry sum I quickly had a full page of beautiful decals, including several extras in case I goofed, and an amazing "foil wrap" which I have no idea how he produced. It's really shiny, like aluminum foil, on which has been printed the black grid. But it's a decal. Amazing!
Over time I've learned how to handle waterslide decals with fewer issues than before. This is how I do it now (subject to change without notice):
0. Don't apply over a matte surface. USe a gloss coat (either gloss pigment or clear gloss on top of a matte pigment) to avoid silvering.
1. At least the night before decal application, I hit the decal sheet (s) with Valspar High Gloss Clear Lacquer. One nice spray, pointing downward on a sheet held horizontally to cardboard by tape so it doesn't blow away and land on leaves or something. Note, I DO NOT go for a full glossy spray coverage. I used to do that, but when cutting out the decals, sometimes the clear would separate from the decal surface trapping air in there. Just go for a fine scale pebbly surface. This is just enough:
2. Use sharp hobby knife and scissors to cut up the decals, BEING VERY CAREFUL NOT TO SCRATCH THE PRINTED SURFACE. The pebbly gloss coat helps amazingly with this. I use a metal ruler with a cork backing which is fabulous, and also a smooth piece of angle aluminum to guide the knife. The only real caution about ALPS-printed decals is the ink can be scraped off, and I've found black seems to be particularly sensitive. Again, coating like I do makes them much easier to work with.
3. About a year ago there were several pointed arguments about additives to warm water for surface tension effects -- add drop of dish soap? add some Future to improve bond? My answer, which works for me: NO. Warmish hot tapwater, only. Since I went to plain water my decals seem to stick tighter in that they are less likely, once dry, to come off if I touch em the wrong way. Note, other folks find the soap addition works great, and more power to that way, it's just not how I do it at the moment.
4. The gloss lacquer makes the decals much much less likely to flip under itself or do other annoying and hard to correct stuff. They handle great! But careful, they are not actually stronger. You can still screw 'em up!
5. After I get them in position I blot by pressing with an ever so slightly dampish paper towel. Pressing on fixes the glue better.
6. When the water cools, get fresh warm water. But it's not critical in my experience.