You will be losing a lot of detail in those beams...
Perhaps I wasn't clear about how they worked. I have prepared a graphical example of how SE4 displays them:
Your starting image:
The pattern mask that is applied to each image (zoomed up):
The mask, overlaid on your first beam image:
The first beam image, masked to show which parts appear in SE4:
And finally, a simulated firing of the weapon to the right :
Is that what you intended?