When acrylics first came out, they had a nasty habit of not adhering to surfaces, just puddling up like rain water on a waxed surface. And that was straight out of the bottle, applied with a brush. However, I discovered that if I primed the surface or lightly sanded it with 600 or 800 sandpaper it covered nicely (got a bad taste for the stuff and thats why I still use enamels 99% of the time)
Acrylics have gotten much better in that respect, so I would suspect that your problem lies in another direction. The first thing that comes to mind is the surface of the plastic is greasy. When the model is molded, a mold release compound is applied to the mold (its a form of grease - I use Pam when I'm molding a part). Right before I start assembly, I wash the parts on the spue using warm soapy water and then rinse and dry them. When the model has reached the painting stage, it get washed again to get any sanding dust and any remaining release compound off the model (I use a soft bristled toothbrush to clean out any of the panel lines or crevices). I then shake to model and use a blow gun with about 40 lbs psi to remove any excess water that remains. (you'd be amazed at how much water remains in various hidden places if you let it air dry overnight, just waiting for that opportune time to pop out and ruin your half finished paint job). Once I'm sure that all the water is out of the model, I start painting.
After going through all of that, If you still have the same problems, you might try lowering the surface tension of the paint. I have heard of people adding a drop or two of dish washing liquid to their paint mixture to do that and I had a friend that was a photographer who used a product called Photo Flo (got it at a camera shop) to do the same thing for him.
Hope this helps a little.