Used to chase big models too, until a project like yours showed me the hard truth.

My uncle was a master welder for forty years, and he always said the new guys with the school training were catching up fast. He felt the real gap was in the math and the blueprints, not just the hand skills. In his shop, the young engineers using the new software could plan a weld sequence he'd never even think of.

Totally get that. I've left so many little scratches on old camera parts trying to be careful with a metal tool. It feels awful, especially on something you're trying to save. I switched to using old guitar picks for prying open battery doors and small plastic clips. They're stiff enough to get some force but won't mar the surface. What thickness pick do you find works best?