floaters would probably be best. you could start it out as a floater, turn on snaps to vertices and cut around the floater's edge. then weld. that's one possibility though it's probably not the cleanest method.
I can think of 3 things that would cause the floaters not to render. *You've set the bake to only render onto matching Mat IDs *The cage isnt covering the floaters *The floaters are not added to the projection modifier. The conform space warp is quite nice for this too.
Floaters 101: You need to have an "outline" loop of polys around your floater that lays parallel to your base surface. Around curved surfaces, your floater's "outline" needs to match the contour of the surface as well, again it has to be parallel to the surface. For floaters, the goal is too look seamless from a certain…
I completely agree that floaters save time. And I really love them for it. But if you have the time to model it, if it is for a portfolio, will floaters be looked down on?