Welcome to the Do-It forums trapper.
Both the nickel and brass inserts have their place with blades when it comes to painting. I think the most realistic baits come with the nickel while those bright fluorescent paints do great on the brass but there's no set rule saying you can't use the fluorescent colors on nickel. I cast my nickel blades, then just before I am going to paint them I give them a good soak, maybe a half hour, in pure denatured alcohol, then laid on some paper toweling until the alcohol has evaporated.
I air brush most everything now, including blade baits, but have used the canned bombs and powder paint in the past and they all will give you a great finish. The airbrushed baits though do need to be sealed with a seal coat and for that I prefer the Seal Coat product sold here at Do-It. Its easy to work with and is as durable as other similar product any when dried and allowed to cure for a few days in a warm room.
In my opinion, the blade baits are perhaps the most flexible baits to make simply because when a finish wears out it can be removed and re-coated in a blink. The nickel blades will still have their glitz and shine and those brass blades cab be re-polished with a Dremel and the cloth buffing wheel with a little brass polish on it.....then you're good to go all over again.
The blades are fun to finish but even better than that, they're a super good bait and there's nothing better on this planet than catching fish on something you made. Again, welcome aboard!
