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I'm having a really small issue. I keep breaking these itty-bitty lift rings on my Proto 2000 E-units. I'm looking at the Cal Scale Etched Brass lift rings. Will these help with the breakage of the lift rings. I know the etched brass ones are going to be thin but at least will it keep from just snapping after being touched? I have painted my E-Units already and they are all together so I dont want to buy anything that requires any modifications to the body at all. I just want a drop in replacement. Also do you know if these lift rings were ever painted on the prototypes? It's hard to find the top of an e-unit anymore. If anyone else has other ideas please let me know.
I use the wire formed parts from Detail Associates. I have cleaned a bunch of those plastic ones off the tops of my own early E units. The wire parts are more durable and once painted you don't notice the difference enough to matter. E unit tops were filthy as a rule, so a light dusting of grime will hide any minor differences.
I also use the DA wire versions and they are much more durable than the plastic ones that come with P2K models. I normally don't even bother painting them unless I'm trying to show a unit right out of the paint shop. Between getting the paint worn off from use and the weathering that Ken talked about, any unit in use for a while ended up with kind of black colored lift rings anyway.
