Auto body repair & detailing: Choice of Paint For Repairs on Classic Car, cellulose paint, nitro cellulose

Question
Could you tell me a little more ?  What is the base coat made of ie is it acrylic, cellulose etc.  I just need to make sure I ask for the right thing as in Ireland /UK the terminologies are often different.  

Also is the clear coat as a protectent  or does it help with the blend / polish - or both :-)  Specifically I was wondering if I should use it over some of the existing work I have done to aid the blend.
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Followup To

Question -

I have a 1962 Mark 2 Jag.  Solid Cotswald Blue with no clear coat.  I have been doing some spot repairs to the paint work along the sills due to some surface rust

I have been using cellulose paint - which I think was what was on the car originally given its age.  Nitro Cellulose is getting hard to get with new environmental regs.

I am an amature - this is my first foray into spray painting.  My results are ok ( well I am not completely happy but everyone else thinks they are great)

So - my questions - what sort of paint system should I adopt now ?

I need something 'forgiving' that isn't going to require a special breathing apparatus or booth to get a reasonable result.

Any advice on blending in the new and old paint welcome :-)

Thanks a million

Dave

Answer -
By far the best paint as far as blending is base-coat clear-coat. It may seem intimidating at first but once you play with it a bit it will be very easy to use. But as far as restoring your car back to its origanal condition a enamel paint is best but it is very hard to blend.
         Thank you for the question!
         Ken  

Answer
The base-coat and the clear-coat are urethane based. The base coat dries flat looking and it is not important to have any shine at all while spraying. What is important is that you lay down even coats and blend out the color especially metallic colors it is a lot like lacquer paint. And the clear-coat is the layer of paint that gives a paint its shine. The base with out the clear is not going to shine or last. You lay down two coats of clear-coat after as many base-coats that it takes to cover. Blending the clear coat is not easy for the novice, but it works very well after you get the hang of it. Lets say you have a primered repair spot the size of a USA quarter you would sand a spot the size of a baseball with 400 grit sand paper feathering out the primer and making the area smooth keeping it the size of a baseball. Then you would scuff the area with a 3M gray scuff pad about the size of a basketball. After you blend out the base coat trying to keep it the size just lager than a baseball. You then blend out the clear-coat try and keep the clear-coat within the scuffed area. After you apply two coats then save a little clear-coat in your spray gun and add to it some urethane blending solvent about a 50/50 mixture and blend out the clear just a little father to melt it all in. Be careful it will run the clear-coat. Hope this makes sense and is not to confusing.
         Thank you again!
         Ken