Monitee,
I am a bit of a brush fan when it comes to the job you are doing.
First get yourself a good quality brush. I find synthetic brushes - Rota Cota - work very well, and buy their top of the line product.
In doing a job like yours, for bare timber I would suggest the following:
It will come up looking good
- Sand down all the timber to a 240 grit. Brush or blow all the dust away.
- Oil based primer - it will prevent bleed out better than acrylic. When applying the primer finish all your brush strokes in the same direction, using a moderate load of paint in the brush Let it dry for a good few days, then sand back with 240 grit to get rid of all the ridges & brush marks.
- Oil based undercoat applied as per [2] above. Also let dry for 4-5 days and sand back with 240
- When applying your enamel, before painting let the tin of paint sit in the sun for a couple of hours, stir well and apply a light coat. Let this coat dry for a few days very lightly sand to get rid of any nibs or ridges. Apply 2nd coat