Nice job!
I could spend all day looking at a sweet Tempest build and that's a sweet Tempest build. 8)
I have also built that particular ship, though I didn't share your 'thick decal' problem, quite the opposite in fact; the decals were thin, brittle and extremely delicate to affix. Nor was it particularly nice or easy to build.
It was the Eduard 48th scale kit, many moons ago now.