Woody V

This can also be caused by humidity in the air, known as "blushing". Lots of info on the internet as to the causes and remedies.

Of course not. I was referring to the tenor of their response.

I'm looking forward to your follow up on this. You never know, sometimes things that seem farfetched at first can work out. I'm always looking for new ways to do things.

That's standard stuff. They just want you to feel intimidated. Same happened to me.

You can buy the exact same decal paper Microscale prints their decals on from Microscale HERE.

It should say lacquer and have a warning that it's flammable.

YES. The problem with acrylics is that once they dry they can't be "re-wet", meaning more liquid paint or thinner won't turn the dry paint into liquid paint. Thus you get build up on the tip. Lacquer, on the other hand can be re-wet so wet paint or thinner turns dry lacquer into liquid paint again. Thus no build up. This whole re-wetting quality of lacquer results in many, many benefits which I'm sure further comment will explain.

I'm afraid you're just going to have to bite the bullet and put some time in getting comfortable with your airbrush. There's no getting around it, an airbrush is essential. There's probably as many opinions on the subject as there are model builders but here's mine. Any airbrush with a .2mm tip. 15 psi. Lacquer based paints are far superior to acrylics, so don't delay the inevitable, get some. Then practice, practice and more practice. Pre-shading isn't an exact science. It's okay if yours isn't perfect because it's all going to be painted over anyway and the "mistakes" you make may be the only thing you see, but others won't. Start on the bottom of your model, it's least likely to be seen and you can build confidence before moving on to the top, most visible part of your model. I wouldn't go with any of the ideas you're considering. The wheel has already been invented so just use it.

Lacquer based paints will solve all your problems. But that's just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions.

Yup, back in the 70s top modelers riveted many a Matchbox SBD using that method.

Yup, solving problems is part of the fun and finding new ways to do things is even funner.

I understand that some modelers would rather go blind that use decals, but I ran into an ugly problem on a recent build where the surface details created a problem where masks simply would not conform, so in desperation I made decals with the masks and not only did it solve my problem, it eliminated any chance of lifting paint, and I wouldn't think twice about using the method again. For what it's worth, here's how it works: https://www.scalemodelpaintmasks.com/index.php?/topic/611-how-to-make-decals-with-masks/

I know it's too late for this one, but a metal "pin" just about guarantees things like this won't break off. A commonly used technique kit bashing resin figures.

1/32. They come with the Eduard color PE cockpit set. They are pretty nifty!

I used paper once and found it worked very well. I printed it with a laser printer to get the color and stitching, and being paper, the etch hardware was easy to attach. Once it was glued to the attachment point, I used water to get it to conform. You might want to consider it.