I highly recommend a usb microscope .. Can get them cheap on ebay. I first won an auction for $11 and its a decent unit with crappy stand .. Making a stand was annoying but excellent for close up spot checking. Now I picked up an Andonstar unit for $40 with a nice stand .. Can solder right under the display for much easier and higher confidence work .. I need the antistT wrist strap though :)
After you add glue and place the chip, it seems that it would help to put some weight on the chip for a short while to ensure it is flush / close as possible to the board. What do you think?
In the reflow process the entire part is heated well above 100°C. Any moisture inside would turn into steam and may escape violently. When hand soldering, the leads of the chip receive heat directly, but the body of the chip itself is not heated very much, so there is no steam to worry about.
