update on my progress guys:
i went to jaycar today and had a chat to one of the attendants there. told him what i was doing and which leds i was gonna need. he said the 30,000 mcd ones would be the best. call me gullible but i agreed. told him i needed 16 (two b/n each letter). didn't notice till i got home and counted them that he gave me 32, and only charged for 10.
anyhoo his advice was to run them in parallel (see pic). he also threw in a big chunky looking resistor. he rekons i only need one and this can go anywhere in the wiring (+ive side). i wanna include it in the garnish but im worried its gonna get hot. is this a problem? its quite large, about 50x10x10mm. i dont want it melting anything