hi,
ive just airbrush painted my model in plasti-kote enamel paint, i was planning on flatting and polishing the paint for a ultra shine/finish, but have tested some inconspicous areas behind the cab, and im not getting good results, its worse than when i started, ive used 2000 grit wet and dry then G3 compound, then auto glym polish. any ideas, techinques or products, ideas will be most welcome

many thanks

Synthetic enamels and most polyurethanes are NOT designed to be polished they should achieve 'gloss from the gun' [or aerosol] as such, they tend not to polish back to shiny instead showing scratches.....
If the finish has dried dull, check that correct procedures were followed during application and that the air was not damp whilst the paint dried. The easiest [and best] way to achieve a gloss finish is simply to re-spray the item in question. Also note that in some cases, the resins that supply the shine may sink into the undercoat, a second top coat applied after the first one has dried will normally give you a better gloss...

Quote; "could i therefore flat the paint, then spray a clear laquer over the top for the shine?"
In short the answer is yes-HOWEVER; if you do flat the paint down [using any abrasive] care needs to be taken that you don't 'rub through' especially on edges & corners. Scratches made during the flatting willn't normally show when a varnish top coat is applied.
Unless the surface is rough [orange peel] or has runs or bits in it, you should theoretically get away with simply spraying over the existing top coat, the reason for flatting being twofold; 1, to get rid of surface imperfections and 2, to help the subsequent paint key [adhere] to the preceeding coats or surface. As models aren't subject to the rigours of being steam cleaned or being shot blasted by road grit there should be enough adherence for a satisfactory job.
The other point is that you can't really LACQUER synthetic or polyurethane finishes. You CAN however VARNISH them......
Lacquer is generally deemed to be an air drying paint finish such as 'car paint' whilst varnish dries by partial evaporation and partial polymerisation.