Chuck,
I have a Brother P-touch label maker that I bought for $20-30 a number of years ago. It takes label tapes of several different sizes and colors, and more importantly, you can adjust the size of the font. My panel is white letters on a black background. Using black tape with white letters, I made some labels that from more than a foot or two you can't see. They REALLY blend in. I also use it for labeling the rope clutches on the cabintop. So much better than the old Dymo labels.

What Tom said. I also got some flexible yellow/black tape for mine and have been labelling wiring with it. Makes it much easier to remember what I did instead of having to drag out my wiring diagrams. It is a handy device and the tape is not much $$.

I had the same problem and discovered that there is a very good solution. Find one of those shops that make engraved plastic signs. The ones where they cut through the surface color to reveal a color underneith. Like the signs on doors, someones desks etc. My shop has black faced laminate with the underlaying laminate being translucent. So, I had him use his smallest type face (really a template for a little router) to cut the desired tabs, he then cut them out with the edges beveled and supplied clear double face tape. These tabs fit over the old letteing. After a trial fit, I scraped the black coatiing on the panel under the places for the new tabs and then just put them on with the tape. They read well and are backlit by the panel light.
I also replaced the factory back light with a foot of LED light strip, about 10 bucks a foot and available in many colors, as it is 12v it wires in with no trouble. So now it is easy to read everythig and everything is labeled correctly.