I have had good luck with plain old Krylon Acrylic Enamel from Wally World for $7 a quart I think ? I thin the snot out of it with water and use a homemade 2" PVC dip tube about 12" long. I thin it so it runs off the shaft like water and dip two coats for full coverage. I tape off a 10" crown with blue painters tape and dip the first coat about 1/8" shy of the tape, then next coat dip right too the tape so I do not get a big, "step" where the paint has built up. I also start my crest work right there too so I cover the transition from crown to stain on the front of the shaft.
I crest with acrylic water based testors from Hobby Lobby and dip 3 top coats with Dalys Profin scuffing between coats with 320 grit.