Well,
The modeling gods had pity on me -- maybe because it's American Thanksgiving.
Between the hacksaw and my Dremel tool, I was able to cut through the plate without damage. The heat from the cutting softened the epoxy and everything came off cleanly.
Synch was accomplished successfully and I decided to proceed directly to pond trials -- I'll jigger something up later for the rear tie down so I can pop the battery off without cutting tie wraps.
Speed seemed good. Turning great. No opportunity to test range.
Gigi was fascinated by it but chose not to jump into the sub-40 degree Fahrenheit waters (we had some ice a couple of mornings ago). I may need to paint the second decoy white and use it as a terrestrial fetch toy.
The hook on the front does an excellent job snagging water lily pads -- it's going away.
Bottomline: A successful hack. To all, thanks for the pointers.
Landlocked