Thanks for the help so far friends.
I decided to crack on and do a tester project making a smaller 'panel' type thing to get used to working with the materials.
These were some lights from an Italian asylum panel hidden down in the basement.
I have actually made it useful as well by setting it up with smart bulbs. This means I am going to program them to come on for silly smart home things eg my security cams detecting motion. Each of the lights is controlled separately and can be dimmed/flashed etc
I feel more ready for the bigger project now.