The bolsters could be mounted with screws or the bolsters can be pinned on and etched afterwards although you may not like the looks of the pins. The other way would be to solder them on and etch afterwards.
Yes, I've used black tape over the handle material too. Buy new fingernail polish, old polish clumps up. Bright red so you can see the coverage with no thin spots. Acetone removes the polish and won't harm most handles except amber dyed stag. It removes the amber dye.