Could you please tell me why we have to paint the beams black even if we are going for natural finish, slightly confused about that and the mag does not explain why.

Hi there,
I'm sure that the more knowledgable builders on the forum can answer this better than I can but basically, the beams are painted black so that the natural colour of the building material doesn't show on the completed build. With the gunports open, I can only presume that the beams are where the dummy cannons will be fixed to and if they were not painted black, the bare wood would show up.
Any way, as I said, some more experienced builders will answer this in more detail than I can.
Happy building
Daffy 09

That wasn't a stupid question mate, and dont be afraid to ask anything, except next weeks lottery numbers
Also a huge welcome to the crew mate!!!!!!

lonestar is right,their will be gunport frames all along those decks so the dummy barrels will be fixed to the gun supports so when finished you will have loads of black holes and the barrels only sticking out.

GCHQ? Ok that one made me want to go back to bed, I have a headache now trying to work out what it means lol
It was a guess mate, based on the structural set up, I have used this method before, on the Mayflower and San Matio, although they didn't suggest painting the gun ports black.
The only problem I had while using this method, was trying to get all the cannon muzzles to line up, so I would recommend using epoxy resin and making a template to hold the cannon in the gun port until dry.
If and it's a big IF, this method is going to be used on our Victory, your usually required to make a square piece of wood that is the dimensions of the gun port, then mark out the centre of this block and drill a hole through it, making sure its straight through the centre on both sides, then place the block into the gun port, and drill all the way through into the dummy gun planks, this will ensure that all holes along the ship are centre of the ports, after all ports have been drilled, make a bigger hole that of the diameter of the cannon, then cut this template in half, so it looks like a rest for the cannon to sit on, place this in the gun port for the cannon to sit on until dry, and move on to the next one etc, but that's only if this method is being used.

GCHQ = Government Communications Headquarters
They used to listen in to Russian transmissions etc...may still do for all we know Basically it is a listening post & as far as I know it is still situated just outside Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire.