The first time I painted the canopy of my Waiex (with Rustoleum "Painter's Touch" semi-gloss black) I let it dry for just barely two weeks, and some of it dissolved in the fuel residue, without appearing to touch the yellow underneath.

The second time I painted it (to touch up the bare spots from the first time), I let it dry for a good six weeks.

Then I went out and crashed it, through a combination of allergies and stupidity (or because of an evil dog with magical powers -- I'm choosing to believe it was the dog).

Now I've restored the top 1/4" of the fuselage, repaired the breaks in the tail, and repainted the canopy again.

My questions are two:

First, can I hasten the drying by hanging it up in my heated office instead of leaving it out in my cold shop?  Any notion of how much difference I'll see between 68 degrees and 55 or so?

Second, if I waxed the thing, would that help to protect the canopy from fuel?  The canopy extends quite far forward on the plane, so it gets raw fuel dribbled or splashed on it regularly.

The NW Regionals are the end of May.  I figure I'll be able to fly this plane then, but it'd be nice to have some practice time before I go.

Tim, I've found that when it comes to Rustoleum dry time, The longer the better. By long, I mean a month or better. A little warmer temp will probably speed things up, but you'll still be pushing things if you want to fly it in May. I see all the time on this forum guys putting their Rustoluem finishes into service a week or less after spraying. Sometimes they get away it, sometimes not. I can attest that not one bit of my Rustoleum paintjobs have failed due to fuel exposure and I always let the paint dry at least 30 days. I know it seems like a really long time to let it dry, but it sure is durable if you do it. The gloss black you want to use is notoriously prone to crinkle under fuel residue, but I'm 99% sure it's because it's always rushed into service.
I don't think wax is much fuel protection either. Also Rustoleum clear won't be fuel proof no matter how long you let it dry. I don't know why.

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but it's just what I've found to be true.

Well, the NW Regionals are over the Memorial Day weekend, which lets me give it 30 days to dry, and still get a few practice days in before the contest.  I was just hoping to compress things.