D'oh!
Hey, I was watching your video on youtube and posted a comment before it ended..
Man, I've had days like the one you just documented..and I applaud you for not throwing it against the wall in frustration. You can ask one of my 350 scale Enterprises how that went.
But I've never had any luck masking over decals sealed with anything..they pull up every time, but I did learn a VERY valuable lesson from the Lovely and Talented, ModelManTom on youtube. And if you use Post it Notes for masking you can avoid that problem. I know, I know Hindsight is always 20/20.
I like to reset my decals before working on the model anyway, so I usually have a spare..or a few. Since I've been working on some kits that are ten + years old, I just scan the sheets in and re create them in illustrator. That way, I can change ship names, numbers and colors if I need to.
But sorry for the set back...just remember what Rocky says.."It's not how many times you get knocked down...it's how many times you banana.."
Remember, he was a little punch drunk, but you get the point, right?