Tamiya vs Monogram, a tale of two kit zeroes

This is a video montage of two builds that serve as a comparison of an old Monogram 1/48 scale A6M5 Zero model and a comparable Tamiya kit of a Nakajima Rufe (basically a Zero on floats). Today the kits are the at a similar price point online but in the 90's the Monogram Zero was $3-$5 and the Tamiya kit was $30. This no shock as the Tamiya kit is a much better product. Even with the brutal competition brought about by the internet he the Tamiya still averages a few dollars higher. The Monogram kit was very old and had become deformed by something in storage resulting in a very noticeable wing droop and a wide bow in the fuselage halves. Much to my surprise the decals were still usable with some work. The Rufe was missing some decals ( I am not sure if I stole them for another project or if they were that way when I got it). Either way, I had enough stuff in my spares drawer to fill the shortage. For reasons that elude me the decal on the top of the port (left) wing of the Monogram Zero never 'unwrinkled" after using the Tamiya decal setting solution. I popped the air bubbles and all of the other 'rising sun' insignia roundels laid flat. Any ideas guys? As expected there was some silvering with the old decals and I failed to trim them closely. There were also many scratches in the Monogram canopy that I did not put there. I thought perhaps I scratched lifting the tape but it seems like a lot. The primer coat also left grey edges around the canopy frame.

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