Looking good Simon, sorry to hear of your decal woes.
In terms of decal removal, the only time I had to do it I just kept applying decal solution (keeping it soaked) and rubbed at it with a cotton bud. Eventually is dissolved enough and became a goopy mass that I was able to remove. MicroSet actually says "decal remover" on the bottle.
For stubborn
decals, have you tried the Ultimate Modelling Products decal solutions? They do a normal, strong and extra strong. The strong is about the same as MicroSet, but the extra strong is very good at thick
decals (but may melt thin
decals). Also, have you tried applying hot air to stubborn
decals, I find this helps enormously. I have one of
THESE which works well.