For IJN gunners, as long as your base isnt total crap, 100 vets should be fine to reach the caps.
For Engineers the only cap is OH speed which is constant with all ships. Overheat time however is not capped so the more ability the better. It is better to keep your engineers ability close to eachother though.
There is a cap on repair rate that is constant with all ships but only UK can reach it relativly easily so again the more ability the better.
For Scouts (and all aircraft) defense ability is uncapped. Scout defense is controlled by the aircraft ability.