You just said Defender but I think you were referring to my Robotron comment. That's entirely possible that I did not recognize the boards were oversized for dado cuts. I wasn't going to use dado cuts. When the plans said 88% accuracy as an engineer I didn't trust them enough to use dado cuts that are non-forgiving. I'm not trying to be 100% accurate to the original but I do want the parts I'm buying to fit properly. The way I built mine was I used support trim pieces (3/4" x 3/4") for the top, bottom, coin door panel, and the upper and lower back panels. Then I mounted the control panel to be centered in the curved area and mounted to the coin panel. Then I built the marquee area which I had to design my own bracket since they don't seem to sell the plastic trim they used to use. Then I mounted the speaker grill. At that point I was able to flip it over and lay the bezel in place and then brad nail in trim boards on both sides to support the bezel at the angle created between the speaker grill and the control panel when the bezel laid across that area. So I wasn't positioning all that stuff based on plans I was kinda building it to fit.
I understand the concerns around scoring. I was a mechanical engineer by study, spent some time in manufacturing and was a quality manager for a couple of years. I tend to be really hard on scoring cabinets and prefer people to be suprised at how well things turned out. Many people do not understand that by cutting something with CNC does not eliminate the need for some minor wood working abilities to assemble a final cabinet. My overall mindset is that I only post plans that I think are very good. Measurements have to be spot verified by someone other then the submitter of the plans before I will post without the warning banners. Anything that is scored in the 90s has been built from the plans, is complete, and will assemble as cut. Items scored in the high 90s have high level of detail such as drill marking for for things like mounting marquee lights fixtures, bolt holes for power supplies, blocking and rails for mounting PCB cages, etc.... The highest score I will give out is a 98% unless it is a 1:1 copy of the original build plan blueprints for the cabinet.
Scores in the 80s have the same scoring criteria as above, but a cabinet has not yet been cut from the plans. They may be perfect, or have some minor variations..... but the proof is in the cutting and assembly.
I have very few plans posted in the 70s. The only ones here that come to mind are the Taito trimline plans. For these plans, many of the plans share the same cabinet, but may have a different monitor orientation or a different coin door. The cabinets scored in the 70s reference the wrong coin door or monitor orientation.... but it is identified in the notes. Part of the problem with these cabinets is that many were recycled between games (some even at the factory) and there is not good consistency in which configuration should be for which game. All of these plans will cut and go together well... but they are scored so low because you may have to modify the coin door or monitor frame per your needs.
Of the plans that have the giant red banners and warning, many of these plans should be in the high 80s or 90s with score, but no one has volunteered to spot check the measurements. The warnings are in place until this occurs. Many of these plans were provided by or purchased from people who have cut cabinets via CNC, so I would expect them to go together nearly flawlessly... but they still need to be verified.
Not sure if this helps......
Brian