Hi Adrian,
I was quietly following this thread in 'the other place' and I'm pleased that I can continue to do so in here, although rather less discretely than before.
I was talking with Jim McGeown at the Southwold show in the summer (even managed to insert the odd word sideways into the conversation) and I remember well Jim admitting that, in the early days when he didn't know any better, he used the Skinley blueprints as the basis for his kit designs. So if the aforementioned circular patches appear on the Skinley drawing then you have your answer as to why they are in the kit, even if that doesn't explain why Skinley drew them in the first place.
Another suggestion is to ask Bob Essery.
