I have just sanded the entire front smooth as well. The athearn bolts are grossly oversized when I compare them to my Proto2000 unit (you can barely see the proto bolt heads). I just sanded it all smooth and painted over after I added the repacement grab irons (I replaced those too)
I've been using lift rings from detail associates on my projects. They look great, I just shave off the molded on part, drill a hole and drop it in.
One other method for filling in the holes would be to use the mounting lugs from the two parts you removed, but that would be simular to the streched sprue method too.
Are you going to strip the paint on the shell before you repaint it? I would recomend doing that before you start adding any putty since whatever you are using to strip paint might take the putty back off too.
I've been using lift rings from detail associates on my projects. They look great, I just shave off the molded on part, drill a hole and drop it in.
One other method for filling in the holes would be to use the mounting lugs from the two parts you removed, but that would be simular to the streched sprue method too.
Are you going to strip the paint on the shell before you repaint it? I would recomend doing that before you start adding any putty since whatever you are using to strip paint might take the putty back off too.
