Dry transfer/rub-down decals

[MadManMUC]

So, I'm doing a little bit of planning ahead — not just for my current Reliant build, but also my 1/677 Voyager, as well as a 1/537 Enterprise refit and 1/1400 Enterprise-E — and what I want to do is redesign and (in many cases) expand the decal sets for each, and make Letraset-style dry transfer sheets out of them in Adobe Illustrator and the DecalPRO FX kit Ian Lawrence used on one of his 1/350 Enterprise refit builds. I'm doing this because I love the look on a finished model, versus waterslide decals.

The question I have, though, is: do any of you have experience in applying these decals over recessed (or even raised) features like deflector grids? I remember from long ago using Letraset that these things are not just gossamer thin, but extremely fragile and prone to tearing with not much more than a hard stare in its general direction.

What would be the best way to apply these things over such features? I know I'm still a long way off from this stage in my builds, but I'd rather have a plan ahead of time, and save myself the agony and frustration of not having a clue when I actually get to that stage.

[Tesral]

I've use Letterset in it's intended first use, page layout and the stuff is fragile indeed. It was never interned to go around corners.

Waterslide has lots of support.