Hi Peter, I can fully understand your concern and apprehension around the marking out and cutting of the gun ports... I like you faced exactly the same fears when I got to that stage and looked at a number of different ways of achieving a result that hopefully would look good.. I searched through multiple diaries, youtube videos and internet articles trying to glean enough knowledge to take the task on... In the end I decided as it was my first build to simply stick to the instructions given in the magazine. I think I must have measured and marked out several times, double checking everything before finally taking my dremel in hand a working very slowly and carefully on the first port... Once the first port was cut moved onto the next, stood back and looked to see if it looked right. As I progressed my confidence in what I was doing improved and eventually the job was done. There are many ways to do this task from following the instructions given to building port frames before actually planking.. Problem I thought about with the building of the port frames was I didn't have any instructions to follow so wouldn't know if what I was doing was right or wrong.... I think really, it is all down to doing what your feel comfortable with the most and I would make up some test pieces first, trying your hand at cutting ports out on these test pieces before actually trying it on the actual build, this will give you some feel for the task in hand... You have stated in earlier posts this is the first time you have built something like this so my recommendation would be to follow the instructions, take your time by doing a little at a time, measure everything at least twice before cutting and I'm sure you will find it is not as difficult as it may first appear... Read other diaries, follow the official build from Mr T and take a look at how I achieved the results I did by looking at my build diary starting at page 40.. Use the search facility above to find other diaries containing information on how to cut the ports out.... Finally remember, am here to assist wherever I can so if you need assistance then simply post and I'll try to answer your queries as soon as I can... Hope this helps and good luck with it, I'm sure it will work out just fine....

Regards

Alan

Hi Peter
Not the nicest job in a build but it will pay to take your time to get it right. Double check the measuring and marking out, and once you are sure its correct make the gunport oulines nice and bold as faint pencil lines can dissapear after a lot of handling.
If it is your first build then follow the mag instructions, they are aimed at a first time builder so will generally be the easiest and safest way of doing it. You will develop your own methods with experience.
And finally a wooden block of the exact size of the required gunport cutout is very useful. Cut the port out slightly inside the line and sand / square up the opening with a square section of wood with sandpaper sides until the test block fits in snugly.
Good luck with it anyway

Steve

Thanx very much guys I will take all your points on board and in particular follow the build magazine instructions!

Regards, Peter G