I could be entirely a dumdum, but from what I seem to be able to tell, items with the "item_model" component only seem to like it if the item already exists within the game.
As shown here, when the item model is set to "arrow" the custom texture applies correctly.
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However, when the exact same file is named as "magical" it does not.
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NEVERMIND im a dumdum, forgot to add the proper model in items/..