loadout_slot.showOverlay conversion to angular

pain points:
- using a directive on a child element to set a binding on a parent
- having to convert scope.$index.toString() to match attribute value 
even if I omit quotations

questions:
- how do i even update model attributes or create a model?
- ng-model is useless except for input, textarea, select
- i want a way to do collection.get(0).set("name", "dave") in angular