Top Coat???

Canopies can be either flat or gloss.  Depends on how well they were serviced, how much time ground crews had available, and which theatre (environment).  In peacetime canopies are well cared for, but they can get pretty grungy during intense action conditions in tough environments.  Older canopies were also very susceptible to UV damage from sun that made them foggy and dull.  If model is going to be very weathered it can be dull.  If little weathering it should be glossy.

Matt-Joachim

I have future on all my canopies. So are you saying I can spray the clear coat on with the canopy on un-masked?

One time, I was doing a Navy aircraft with a gloss finish, so I decided to not mask the canopy when I sprayed a final coat of Future on the aircraft.  That was a mistake. It did not look good on the canopy. Where dipping the clear parts makes them crystal clear, spraying it made them blurry.

I had to carefully remove the Future from the canopy with 90% alcohol on Q-tips.

I left the canopy off and just masked the office. thanks for the help Tom

Only if you want your final coat to be gloss and are spraying future. I am assuming you do not if these are combat aircraft? If you do not mask the canopies, then do an overall flat coat it will make the canopies opaque.

I have future on all my canopies. So are you saying I can spray the clear coat on with the canopy on un-masked?

Mask the canopies. (You could get away with not masking them if you used Future clear (acrylic), however the final flat coat would mess it all up). Just make sure the clear gloss is really dry before the decals. I wait at least a day with Future clear coat and several days with a laquer, such as alclad clear.

Once the decals are on..and dry, another clear coat to seal them, then flat or semi gloss. Then weathering. Just my technique. Good luck.

Thanks BISH!

You need a gloss coat to apply the decals and then a flat coat to bring back the flat finish and seal them in. depending on what your doing for weathering, you can apply the flat coat before or after that.

Depend son what your using and how long it dries, touch dry should be enough.

how long should it dry before applying decals?

Cat? -I have one on hand (meow) all joked aside though so basically i need 2 top coats? One to create a flat surface for the decals, and another to lock them in? Thank you for the FAST response, friend.

Matt, you will need to mask the canopy; don't spray the clear gloss over it.  After the decaling is done, most likely you'll be putting a final flat cat on it.  Then, remove your canopy mask and you are good to go.

Gary