S-3 Viking

As you will recall I had some issues with the large decals breaking on the fin and upper fuselage walkway. The lightning bolt decal was more problematical as the black fin showed through in places plus it would'nt conform to the top (which I knew would be an issue).
To seal the decal I sprayed the fin with Tamiya X-22 Clear and when dry I VERY carefully masked the white outline with Tamiya masking tape and used paper to cover the 'NF' code letters and the five chevrons before taping over the top of them;

The 'double nuts' (or 00) and eagle emblem were masked with Winsor and Newton masking fluid, bearing in mind I had a nightmare with the stuff on the Miniman SS-23 a while back however with the design on the decal I had no other choice.
I mixed a near-as-dammit match of Tamiya XF-7 and white with a couple of drops of X-22 to give it some shine and sprayed the fin. After this I VERY carefully removed the tape as it could have easily ripped the decal and at this point things were either going to go very well or very badly (and usually for me it's the latter).
Therefore I'm pleased to say that it worked! I did rip a small part of the white trim but touched it in with Vallejo paint. YAY for me!!

This is a good as it gets and the model will be what I call a 'four-footer' (i.e it will look great from 4ft or more), anyway I can now get on with the weathering and try and get it finished.
Maybe next time I won't pick such complicated colour schemes :o)