I too am new. I figured I would practice on rather cheep things to get the hang of it first. I bought a lot of 5 484 cabooses. The big thing is to find the right length of tool to reach the tab you want to remove. Be it a needle nose pliers on the base or screw driver etc. For things on the side I have used a sharp knife with a thin edge. The sharp edge gets under the tab and the edge of the knife doesn't break. Also do small twist/prying, force things, slip and they will break. You will find the metal taps of windows/doors will bend/flex so I do not bend a full 90. I do it just enough so a piece of small wood (like a shaved skewer) will gently pry the piece away from the car from the out side. Once off the car you can gently 90 I have found with later tin that the kids painted their own kits so some of the paint was wet when the part was applied so i am a little more careful till I see the part coming off smooth. (I had a pullman car that the roof wouldn't slide off) when it did you could see where paint possibly factory was thick and sealed it in. Make sure when masking etc. that you tape is not too good. Even painter tape will take old decals off. I have some old tape that did the trick and a tiny brush to touch up. Some decals are available but a complete set may cost more than you paid for some cars.
On the 30's American flyer cars most of the tops are slid and popped on the top. If you gently put pressure on the very edge the roof slides/pop off. On items like Pullman cars there is a support bar in the middle pushing the edge of the body out securing the roof from coming off. Hope something here helps. Still got a lot to learn my self.
My toy of the day is a nice paint turquoise lighted pullman car with the curly 1 year coupler.
My question of the day is when were the squat rose colored glass bulbs used. Does not looked painted. Found one today quite interesting. I put it in a long socket to test. It was in a late 30's caboose. Thanks as always Gilbert Greg
