Well decals, continue to be my Nemesis! The decals provided in the kit are not bad, opaque and in register. They also react well with Micro Set and Micro Sol...sort of. I clear coat with Future, like many other modelers. Micro Sol softens the future which makes it VERY difficult if not impossible to move a decal once it is placed in a location. In laying out the red stripes, the Micro Sol softened the future around it, and when I tried to lay down some of the stripes they got stuck in the wrong place causing me have to remove it...ruining it. I didn't even try with the other one. I masked off and painted the red stripes, the color is a little off but after the wash I don't think anyone will notices.

Then I went to put the red circles on the fuel fill locations. Well I didn't pay any attention, and started putting them on. First off they are hard to locate correctly as with the water, the shiny surface and the decal film it is hard to see if you have centered on the circle. In the process I was putting them down with just water so that I could move them and when done putting a light brushing of Micro Sol over them. Well two of them moved and I was unable to get them back because of the previously mentioned softening of the Future. So I was going to be automatically short two, but low and behold the there are twelve call outs and locations on the plane, and they only supplied me with ten circles. Now I am four short! I don't have the fancy hole punch set for making disks and such, so I am not sure how I am doing to deal with this shortage.

The larger decals though when in place really settle nicely into the engraved panel lines, and will look very painted on once covered with clear coat and flat.

7 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Thanks Eric, @eb801, I ordered a set of punches to make some circles. I should be able to get close enough and paint the red circles. Overall I am fairly happy with the way it is turning out too. I think it looks pretty good, even without a wash and weathering yet. I missed a few things along the way so far, but I am hoping it will look pretty good on display.

Thanks Tom, I got that, on some I just happened to be cloddish enough to move the decal when applying the solvent and getting it stuck then. Sometimes being incompetent has its consequences. These decals are VERY thin, so they had no strength at all. It is probably part of the reason they settled into the panel lines so nicely.

When it was available here in the utopia called California, I used Minwax Polyurethane (not the water based version) clear for my clear coat. Once it set up not much of anything affected it and you could move your decals about because the surface did not soften. It was also great for washes. I used Naptha as a dilute for my oils and it would flow out in the panel lines like it was nobodies business. There of course issues with it also, it took longer to dry, was harder to clean from your airbrush and didn't smell as nice as Future. Now I use Future exclusively for my gloss clear and know someday I will have a model where every decal goes on where I want it, how I want and look how it is supposed to.

Still the result looks superb, my friend @luftwaffe-birdman! The red striping difference is unnoticeable, and with your patch machine you will sort out the red circles "situtation".
Looking forward to see this excellently built giant done!

Walt, decaltrouble apart, it looks great - I like the paintes stripes, they look rather nice. Best of luck with the remaining decals/paint.

That Maxi punch set sure worked out well, Walt MIght have to get a set myself. Where did you order this from? Good for making car dashboard dials.

Eric, @eb801, I got the the punch set at Umm-USA, http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/index.php . While I like it, because it offers a lot of sizes at one price, it doesn't offer the versatility that the other sets with few sizes offers. Still for the price point and what I plan on using it for I think it will be a good set. Worked great here.