Vallejo gloss (brushed) varnish on the areas where the decals were going to go, and then fortunately the next bit didn't involve smelly paint, so I got to do it at the kitchen table.
The decals are waterside ones from Decal Details, who do a pretty decent and cheaper than Battlefront range, via an eBay seller who I'll be using again. It took me a while to get a process going I was happy with, but floating them off the backing with a brush after an initial soaking seemed to work pretty well.
Next stage was a matt varnish (GW Purity Seal, as I had some to use up; outside, as I still don't have a spray booth!), and then quickly back inside in the warm so the varnish didn't frost.Once that was dry, out into the workshop (smelly stuff alert) for a brush on of some Humbrol enamel weathering washes (I WILL get some PSC ones but they spent ages out of stock - and oh look, they are AGAIN!): brushed on pretty liberally, left to dry for about 20-30 mins then wiped off quite roughly with a cotton bud, leaving it in the crevices and areas that'd gather dirt. This mucks up the tank quite nicely and also blends the transfers in even more, taming the rather stark white. It also leaves a slight sheen, which to my mind isn't bad thing. (I will, though, probably give them another light coat of matt varnish next time it's not windy and cold out!) The tanks are probably muckier than they should be but, know what? Don't care :D they look ok to me.
Very nice!
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