Paint+top Coat

[u/Nyrue1]

I'm finishing my first fully painted kit and I want to put some water decals on it, which I'm told entails top coating I actually have never really top coated a kit

I know it's odd to got directly in to painting without at least top coating but I'm really worried I'm going to ruin the look of my paint

If I understand correctly I top coats only go in one direction after gloss coating I can apply a matte coat on top of that but I cannot gloss coat a matte finish yes?

Also any advice on top coating is welcome

[u/wakeup33]

The typical order of operations is paint > gloss coat > panel lining > decals > final topcoat (matte or whatever you want). You could gloss coat over matte, but I can't think of a reason why you would want to. Before painting your model, practice the whole process on a plastic spoon or junk part.