So far so good.
The superstructure went together according to plan. I managed to fill any gaps and sand the corners down to the right radius for the rounded corners. After a coat to primer I was ready to tackle the next step.
I had decided to try and simulate rivet lines and had ordered some decal rivets from Micro mark in the US.They looked pretty good and the instructions were thorough and clear: get the surface as smooth as possible (paint, 1200 wet & dry), apply decals carefully, leave to dry 24 hours and then apply several coats of decal solvent, with 24 hours between coats.
The whole process turned out to be quite a disaster.
The first problem was that USPost considered the decal solvent a 'hazardous substance' and refused to send it. I had to go through a slow process of getting a detailed description of the constituent chemicals and their dangers and submit that to the USPost. After 3 weeks they decide it was safe to send. The bottle was only 1oz so not really a weapon of mass destruction. After it arrived I discovered that the same product is available in NZ at a fraction of the cost. Doh!
So here's how the decals look at the start, before any coats of solvent.