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want it to look as close to 10/10 as i can without taking it off its hinges so keen do it properly, ish
thanks for the advice
rogan-
Before ir stippers the world was an awful place for exterior decorators. If you really can't afford one and that's understandable if you think you'll only use it once, they are almost a requirement if you want to get close to 9/10.
Chemical or just heat or a combination works for some people. The metabo paint eater is also very useful for flat surfaces. The mouldings are slow going depending on how ornate they are, you can get contour scrapers and use chemicals to ease those.
Once you get back to wood everywhere you can fix any problems with epoxy resin and wood filler, fine surface filler, primer, undercoat, 2 top coats. Denib between coats. It's a bit of a performance though.
Airhead
When you only have a hammer every problem looks like a nail.
You could scrape it off by hand with a tungsten scraper, maybe use an ir stripper to help the process, have it dipped in caustic soda, use chemical paint remover, use a mechanical paint remover, fix holes and use fine surface filler to match current paint level and repaint.
If you decide to sand, use a hoover and set the right suction level, move the sander quickly to stop the pads heating up. Think about how you will strip the mouldings. Sanding is only really a good option if you don't have any of the better tools to hand.