diff --git a/app/models/concerns/atomic_base.rb b/app/models/concerns/atomic_base.rb
index e279e7e..3fee9c7 100644
--- a/app/models/concerns/atomic_base.rb
+++ b/app/models/concerns/atomic_base.rb
@@ -12,12 +12,7 @@ module AtomicBase
     # atomic record extension class (contains the real data) -- ExtTopic
     def self.atomic_record_extension
       "Ext#{self}"
-    end                
-
-    # extension table -- :ext_topics
-    def self.extension_table
-      atomic_record_extension.constantize.table_name
-    end
+    end    
 
     has_many :versions, ->{ order "id DESC"}, class_name: atomic_record_extension, foreign_key: :uuid
 
@@ -25,13 +20,16 @@ def self.extension_table
 
     default_scope {includes(:data).where(deleted: false)}
 
-  end
+    # create forwarding accessors for the data columns
+    extension_class = atomic_record_extension.constantize
+    data_cols =  extension_class.column_names - %w(id deleted uuid created_at update_at)
+    code = ""
+    data_cols.each do |col|
+      code << "def #{col}; data.#{col} end\n"
+      code << "def #{col}=(value); data.#{col} = value; end\n"
+    end
+    class_eval code
 
-  # delegate method calls to extension class 
-  def method_missing(method, *args, &block)
-      self.data.send method, *args
-    rescue NoMethodError
-      super
   end
 
   # created returns created_at for the base
diff --git a/app/models/concerns/atomic_extension.rb b/app/models/concerns/atomic_extension.rb
index 1145a21..380d72a 100644
--- a/app/models/concerns/atomic_extension.rb
+++ b/app/models/concerns/atomic_extension.rb
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ module AtomicExtension
 
     # atomic record base class -- Topic
     def self.atomic_record_base
-      atomic_record_extension = self.to_s
-      atomic_record_extension.gsub(/\AExt/, '')
+      self.to_s.gsub(/\AExt/, '')
     end
 
     belongs_to :base, class_name: atomic_record_base, foreign_key: :uuid
diff --git a/app/services/crud/delete.rb b/app/services/crud/delete.rb
index cf828ce..20ebeb1 100644
--- a/app/services/crud/delete.rb
+++ b/app/services/crud/delete.rb
@@ -5,11 +5,5 @@ def initialize(base_record)
       super(base_record, {deleted: true})
     end
 
-    def sql_update(ext_record)
-      "update #{base_record.class.table_name} " \
-          "set ext_id = #{ext_record['id']}, deleted = true " \
-          "where uuid = '#{base_record.uuid}'"
-    end
-
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/services/crud/update.rb b/app/services/crud/update.rb
index 74fd485..4f9c330 100644
--- a/app/services/crud/update.rb
+++ b/app/services/crud/update.rb
@@ -9,21 +9,16 @@ def initialize(base_record, parameters)
     end
 
     def call
-      ActiveRecord::Base.transaction do
-        current_attributes = base_record.data.attributes.symbolize_keys
-        current_attributes.except!(:id, :created_at, :updated_at)
-        updated_attributes = parameters.reverse_merge(current_attributes)
-        ext_record = extension_resource_factory.create!(updated_attributes)
-        ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute sql_update(ext_record)
-        base_record.reload
+      transaction_factory.transaction do
+        ext_params = base_record.data.attributes.symbolize_keys
+        ext_params.except!(:id, :deleted, :created_at, :updated_at)
+        ext_params.merge! parameters
+        new_ext = extension_resource_factory.create!(ext_params)
+        base_params = {ext_id: new_ext['id'], deleted: new_ext['deleted']}
+        base_record.update! base_params
+        base_record
       end
     end
 
-    def sql_update(ext_record)
-      "update #{base_record.class.table_name} " \
-          "set ext_id = #{ext_record['id']} " \
-          "where uuid = '#{base_record.uuid}'"
-    end
-
   end
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/db_integration/topic_spec.rb b/spec/db_integration/topic_spec.rb
index b953c89..9b7dea1 100644
--- a/spec/db_integration/topic_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/db_integration/topic_spec.rb
@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@
 
 describe Topic do
 
-  it 'has the right extension class' do
+  it 'has the right extension class name' do
     expect(Topic.atomic_record_extension).to eq("ExtTopic")
   end
 
   it 'has the right extension table' do
-    expect(Topic.extension_table).to eq("ext_topics")
+    expect(Topic.atomic_record_extension.constantize.table_name).to \
+     eq("ext_topics")
   end
 
   it 'returns the count of topics' do
@@ -70,8 +71,8 @@
       end
 
       it 'has the new title and description' do
-        expect(updated_topic.title).to eq("new title")
-        expect(updated_topic.description).to eq("new description")
+        expect(updated_topic.data.title).to eq("new title")
+        expect(updated_topic.data.description).to eq("new description")
       end
 
       it "reports 'created' as creation time of the original record" do