I would use a paint that is meant for that purpose. Most likely, an oil
paint, possibly poly (not likely to find that except at a marine store).
Read some at
http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProductFinder.asp?pfm=BBS
Automotive paints should perform well too. I know nothing about them but
here, briefly, is what I know about paint in general, learned both
empirically and by reading...
Paint is a coating meant to protect and/or beautify a surface. All paints
consist of:
1. a material that will dry and/or cure to a film (a resin)
2. a liquid to keep #1 in suspension or dissolved until use (a vehicle)
3. something to make it opaque; used to be, it was usually white lead,
now, most is titanium oxide
4. color
5. possibly, other materials to modify properties of the above
Take away the last two and you have varnish. (Or lacquer. Or shellac.)
There are a whole bunch of different types of paints but for our purposes we
can divide them into two: oil base and water base.
Water base paints use acrylic, vinyl, PVA and others for the resin, water
for the vehicle. Their films are durable and elastic but not very hard.
Oil base paints use alkyd, polyurethane, phenolic and others for the resin;
the most common is alkyd. They use petroleum based products such as mineral
spirits for the vehicle (used to use turpentine). Their films are durable
and hard but not very elastic. Any of various oils are added to the mix to
increase elasticity but at the expense of hardness...more oil = more elastic
but less hard. Nothing in oil paint will hurt your sprayer.
When you were talking about "enamel" you were really talking about plain old
oil paint. AFAIK, it is always glossy unless something else is added to it
(by the manufacturer) to reduce the sheen. Used to be, you could go into
any decent paint store and buy some flatting powder (talc). Ask for that
now and all you would get are blank stares.
The manufacturers of water base paint call some of their product "enamel".
It isn't; it is neither hard nor as glossy. Moreover, it takes months to
cure...set something on a shelf six months after being painted with it and
it is very likely it will wind up stuck to the shelf. I think acrylic
paints are great for walls, wonderful for the exterior of a house but suck
for anything else.