Well, I got brave and decided to try painting them myself! I've watched my dying friend paint, so I had a clue to his processes!
Then I went on Amazon and purchased all the primary colors and a few more. Found a pack of tooth-pic sized brushes too!
First I painted all the fine lines black, and sanded the top to leave the lines sharp! Then, after three hours I managed to get a nice looking plaque!
My experiment with dark stain didn't look too bad either, but it took longer to stain than paint all the tiny letters!

How'd I do Bubba?????