lacquers....WTF?

Thank. You. So Much

As a general rule lacquers, enamels & acrylics can safely cover base lacquers. Enamels & acrylics can cover enamels but not lacquers. That doesn't mean they will work well on plastic parts. Lacquers are some type of solvent based. Some plastic primers are lacquer based and seem to work ok with acrylics there are ones from the hardware stores that are 'hot' and may melt styrenes. Base coat acrylics can only be covered by more acrylics. Enamels are oil based. To clean up, you need to use enamel thinner or mineral turpentine. They take forever to dry and seem to never dry on plastic. That's about my experience with enamels. Acrylics are water/alcohol based and can be cleaned with water or windex. They are usually thinned to a milky consistency and applied in thin layers. Some acrylics are lacquer based. I have never used those.
Primers tend to be a debate as to which one to use. Make sure they say for plastic. Some primers that have a lacquer base are made for use on plastics( read the can). I prefer Tamiya spray primers. Some are made for ABS and Styrene and can be used on metal. They seem to be great on sculpted parts as well. Hope that helps.