Tropen Scholar Piston Removal

[grainweevil]

Short version: Do any of you fine ladies or gentlemen know how to safely remove the piston assembly of a mid-50s (I'm guessing) Tropen Scholar? Unscrew? Friction fit? Sealed for all eternity and I'm all out of luck?

 

Longer version: This is asked more in hope than expectation - searches found a couple of threads where this was asked and not answered, but hey, third time lucky...

 

I have recently acquired a Tropen Scholar piston filler, and despite early happiness that the thing was taking up ink like a thirsty camel at an oasis, my Serenity Blue thumb and forefinger have established that it is, in fact, leaking ink behind the piston and, joy, into the blind cap. Now it may well be that I can't acquire or adapt a solution to solve this, but I'm pretty sure I can't get anywhere unless I can remove the piston assembly to actually get at it. It looks like it must be screwed in, but some gentle application of heat and a suitably padded Bionic Wrench didn't seem to be getting anywhere, and obviously I'm reluctant to push it when I don't even know if that's actually how it's fitted. Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

Cheers, Al

[grainweevil]

Oh dear. No-one?

 

How am I supposed to look the poor thing in its ink window and tell it it's all over, time to join the pen cup in the sky? I can't. One of you do it...