You could fit washers under the rim gears even if you don't want to put them on top, to reduce the rubbing of the lens gears on the frame. That shouldn't affect the visibility of the gear operation. Another option would be to mount the retaining clips on the bolts that carry the rim gears -- make them elliptical in shape so the area of gear engagement is exposed but they make contact with the lens gear's top surface a few mm either side of that point. Some low-friction teflon tape on the underside of the clips would be a good idea anyways.
You could get rid of the retainers completely and still leave the gear engagement visible but the engineering (or actual cost) might be beyond your reach -- I'm thinking custom-made gears with tapered faces, conical sections in effect. The rim gears would hold the lens gears in place that way.
I love the idea but the retaining clips seem like a bodge to me, an afterthought, and I'd want to engineer them out of the equation myself if I could.
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You could get rid of the retainers completely and still leave the gear engagement visible but the engineering (or actual cost) might be beyond your reach -- I'm thinking custom-made gears with tapered faces, conical sections in effect. The rim gears would hold the lens gears in place that way.
I love the idea but the retaining clips seem like a bodge to me, an afterthought, and I'd want to engineer them out of the equation myself if I could.