Removing Amercom Diecast Aircraft Landing Gear?

[Mako]

Curious to know if anyone has removed the landing gear on their 1/144th scale, Amercom, diecast aircraft?

I want mine in flying mode, but it might be nice to preserve the option to display them in landed mode (on wheels) too.

Given the looks of them, I suspect that it probably isn't possible to cleanly remove them, so they can be replaced later.  They appear to be a mix of metal and plastic parts, and while the metal pieces look fairly straightforward to remove, I suspect the plastic parts won't survive that.

Think I can just use a pair of needle nose pliers to remove the straight, landing struts, but may need to cut away the plastic parts.  Then again, perhaps a little pulling, or twisting on them might work as well - just want to make sure I don't wreck the wings/engine pods of the plane(s).

I probably shouldn't worry, since they're meant for air battles on the tabletop, primarily, but am curious to know if anyone's done it.

The specific plane I'm planning on doing surgery to is a Stirling bomber.

[eilif]

I've not got any experience with Amercom specifically, but I've had good luck disassembling die-cast models by grinding out the rivets and taking the model apart.  Often times parts that can't be removed while assembled can be more easily removed once disassembled or they can be separated more clealy by grinding off attachment points from the inside rather than the outside.   

Good Luck!