Introduction and question (Abs. Model decal sheets)

Hello all,

   First time poster, and fairly new modeler.  After completing a '65 MGB model with my father-in-law over Christmas, I got the modeling bug...  and I think it's incurable.  :)

To get into the swing of things again, I decided to start with AMT/ERTL's 1/2500 Enterprise sets, though I eventually hope to tackle the 1/350 PL.  Is the recommended paint scheme any good?  The decals look pretty minimal and I have read elsewhere that AMT in general tends to have fairly poor decals.  Has anyone used Absolute Models decal sheets from Federation Models?  The price (for all 6 ships) is very high... more than 4 times the cost of the kits.  I'm not too sure about my painting skill, but using almost all decals seems like cheating.

 Any advice?

  Ben