Brush entities become brushes again [hammer question]

Trying to make a prefab for catapults (faith plate) in portal 2, the trigger (brush entity) turns back into a brush when deselected. When I try to save this as a prefab and instantiate it, the trigger is also lost. Is this normal behavior? What can I do to fix it?

Also, after crashing, hammer now has all-black orthographic viewports. Any thoughts on this would also be appreciated.

Oh, and another stupid question while I'm already asking stupid questions.

I have this loverly quartet all lined up and ready to play me a masterpiece, however they disappear in-game.

They're all prop_dynamic since I can't SetAnimation for the npc turrets or phys props.

[Blocked Image: http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/1266/quartet.png]

Wondering why they disappear.