AJAX :: Make A SOAP API Request - PayPal Using 3.5?

This is so frustrating to me. I'm doing this via standard .NET 2.0+ web services (not WCF). My application is in .NET 3.5 but I'm just adding a service reference. I've not done any SOAP WSDL sending before. I've used NVP which to me seems much more error prone and burdensome because you have to create all the wrappers yourself and if any of that third party API changes, it breaks your code. I have not a clue how to make a call using the latest PayPal WSDL. I added the service reference and I see proxy classes such as [className]Request and [className]Response but how do you actually make the CALL and send the request over the wire?

I see people have used the outdated (.NET 1.1) PayPal SDK. We do not want to use an SDK just to send a request. Isn't it much easier nowdays in .NET when using any SOAP API to invoke the request? People for example using PayPal are relying on a caller class from that SDK but again it's way, way outdated. So onto today, .NET 2.0+, I thought that you don't need all that plumbing anymore?

How would I do this? I see no good documentation on the net period on .NET 2.0 or 3.5 web services especially SOAP and it's frustrating. Sure add the service reference, use the WSDL and proxy generated class wrappers but outside this HOW to make a request is impossible to find. I'm seeing legacy ways of doing this in .NET and then I hear this is all done under the covers for you in .NET..I guess that must be .NET 2.0+ ?? Is it as simple as just making the proxy class method calls and .NET under the covers takes care of the plumbing to actually send the request over Http unlike .NET 1.1 where you had to do all the plumbing yourself?