F100,
Lacquers you are correct on , out dated paint system for sure .
Alkyd Enamels , Used proper temp reducers , and a catalyst , for crosslinking ( drying ) What you see is what you got , sanding and rubbing did nothing for the shine . Out dated too .

Acrylic Enamels , Used proper temp. Reducers , and a catalyst for crosslinking ( drying ) If you learned to spray them well you could float the resins to the top to give a high quality shine .
Getting out dated too .

Acrylic Urethanes , use proper temp reducers , and a catalyst , what is used mostly today for Single Stage .

Base Coat Acrylic Urethanes , uses a proper temp reducer , no catalyst . Requires a Clear Coat for UV Protection , which requires proper temp reducers , and catalyst . Some fast spot Clears use no reducers , just Catalyst.
This is what also gives the base color its shine .
These are what most all shops nation wide spray today .
More user friendly , but more costly.

There is also a Water Born Base Coat System , but is high dollar and requires special equipment to spray properly , Humidity is its downfall .

Also Polyurethane's but not used in the automotive field much , more air craft line product . Duponts Imron was a Polyurethane , and in its day was an excellent product , but not used much any more .
These also used a reducer and catalyst .
All these products are highly toxic and require a proper Spray mask to spray them !!!!!!


Hope this shed some light on the subject

SprayTech