Need some painting advice

[kit]

My little sister is working on customizing her command wolf and wants to paint designs on it. I have already sprayed the armor with flat black enamel. Before she starts to paint on that should I put on a clear coat to protect the base layer? I am positive there will most likely be a lot of paint removal as she tries to add the designs. I am getter her acrylic to paint with because I heard that the paint remover for acrylic wont affect the enamel. Is this a safe bet or should I add a extra layer of protection?

Also, I hate how shiny the paint is when I try to hand paint my zoids. Is a flat finishing spray going to tone that down or will it remain just as fake looking as before? No offense meant towards those who like the gloss effect. For the custom I am doing I will have a lot of hand painting and I want everything to match the flat base colors.

[Snowflake]

In my experience, acrylics are flat while enamels are gloss. Of course I'm sure both come in both.
As for designs, it is -hard- I'd say better to make stencils.. Paint is going to stick to paint no matter what, and it'll never fully come off.
Hey you know what you could do, though, put the decal color on, then put black over it, then cut through that with a toothpick while it's still wet.. just brainstorming.. never tried it..

[kit]

Okay, thanks. I'll talk with her more about how we are going to do this. The etching method sounds rather fun and now I am going to have to test it.