Painting won't obscure the details, unless you apply a thick coat. Airbrushing will give you the thinnest layer, and they can be hand brushed as well. Once painted, drybrushing with a lightened base color will highlight the raised areas.
Once the paint is dry, I apply a coat of Future to the front of photo negative instruments (that have had the backside painted white), and place the panel (removed from the fret) over it. When that is dry, I use a sharp # 11 blade to cut out the photo neg. I then go one step further, gluing ( with CA) this assembly to a piece of sheet styrene, and cut out the assembly. With the sheet styrene backing, you will have more area to attach the panel in the cockpit.
Hope this helps.