Hey everyone and thanks for the advice. So I went and got this acrylic lacquer from an auto shop here in town and did a test run.

I did three very light coats allowing it to dry inbetween each coat. It said fifteen minutes but I waited about an hour between each. Waited 24 hours after that and it worked. It was a light bulb moment of course the ink is going to run off if I don't seal it.

Well you live and learn after a brain fail like that, anyway my plan is the following:

Let the decals dry for a few days.
Apply a few coats of poly with a turps mixture except make it super thin this time and build up the layers.
Headstocks are up to 2000 grit so once there are enough layers of the mix over the decals I start on the micromesh. From memory I think 3200 was the next step as suggested by Simon so thank you so much for that. Things are happening slowly but I'm getting there. Next build should be better I'm learning so much everyone so I really appreciate all the input.

Happy to hear any comments on the above.

Cheers,

Alkay.