Note that an image placed (glued) like this on a face can still be moved in the same plane (on or next to the face), rotated in plane and can also be scaled.
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Next question: This drag-and-drop method allowed me to apply the .png to the surface and it looks great. However, when trying to render it in V-Ray all I see is the bare surface and the faint outline of the image bearing the text. Have I missed a step or five?
Sorry, someone else has to walk you through the right process. However, I’m not even sure if this is possible at all with images. I don’t do any renders (yet?) outside SketchUp’s native options.
You may still have to isolate the shape (as traced texture) on the larger face.
I think @TIG made an extention to trace the outline of shapes to then be used on faces.
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OK, thanks, I’ll look into that.
Maybe this will help you:
@mihai.s did this a few days ago. I don’t use Vray, but it feels like this covers about the same problem you’re having
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Yes, thanks, I was trawling through there for a while, but the sheer number of options is a little overwhelming. xD
The Abram’s T-158LL track system, only minus the ground pads, the center guides, and most of the fastenings. Also awaiting de-edgifying. 
Lots of small and long overdue things done to the model, many of them internal, so I won’t upload another image just yet.
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Test fitting the track:
Still no center guides, but they’re almost done.
I have to round the edges of the faces of the end connectors, but Follow Me doesn’t like the path. It seems to choke on the big arcs for some reason. Maybe too few segments? I dunno. But the sharp edges will remain until I crack that.
Anyhoo, getting to the finish line slow and steady.
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have you tried roundcorner / fredocorner, by Fredo6 ? it’s on sketchucation, it does a really good job at that.
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No, I haven’t. But I will try it now. Thanks!
read the infos, you’ll need to install libfredo6 aswell, and check the videos (ok maybe not all), Fredo’s plugins are popular and come with either detailed operation manual or multiple videos.
Depending on the detail level you put in your piece, you might have to make it bigger (like, scale 10), round stuff up, then make it smaller (scale 0,1), because this extension is not immune to the small faces limit of SU.
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Okay, thanks. To get around the limit I usually create a circle with the radius I need and then chop out a corner to use as my Follow Me arc. That works most of the time but sometimes SU says nope.
Follow Me works best when the profile to be extruded is perpendicular to the first segment of the path. Usually SketchUp will warn you when this is not the case and ask if you want to perform the Follow Me operation anyway (in which case SketchUp will project the profile onto a plane perpendicular to the first path segment, then use that projected profile which results in some level of shape distortion). Your description of using a portion of a circular arc makes me wonder if the above perpendicularity factor is involved.
Consider a “circle” with 16 segments, with every fourth vertex aligned along axes. None of the edges forming the circle will be parallel or perpendicular to the axes. Let’s say you keep 90 degrees of the circle (four adjacent edges) as the path and delete the remainder. If the profile is drawn along an axis plane, the projection issue described above will occur because the profile would not be perpendicular to the first segment.
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Not sure what the issue is, but you may be correct! Only once have I been able to successfully apply the fillet via FM and of course I ended up with those shattered hemispheres on intersections because the radius is too small. I could have spent hours manually repairing them, but in the end I opted for a chamfer. It’s not accurate so far as this replica vehicle goes, but sacrifices must be made!
I often do that on small pieces. Yeah sure it’s supposed to be rounded, but hey, we’re talking about less than a milimeter, I’ll see it from a few meters away, a chamfer is fine. it’s all about visually breaking the angle, once you remove the edges (manually or render), and zoom out to see the whole project, it’s fine.
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True. Plus the end connectors will mostly be either buried in sand or hidden behind the side skirts, so I think we’ll get away with this small deceit. 
I’m still learning V-Ray, but I believe it has a tool to render sharp edges with a softened edge without actually rounding it off in SketchUp. That won’t show in the SketchUp view but will in the V-Ray rendering. Also IIRC, @Box had a trick for faking a rounded edge by offsetting the profile back a bit from the edge and then softening the edge itself.
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What @RTCool is referring to is using a couple of offsets and shift with the eraser to limit the distortion created by a softened edge.
If you just use ctrl eraser on some edges it will make your faces ugly but by using shift eraser on the other edges the distortion is contained within the lines and the edge looks rounded, without adding lots of geometry.
You should also look at The Dave Method, very useful for small details to parts of models.
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That looks just like a lifesaver winter mint. 
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