The Hammer 40 was my second plane and my second build way back in about 88. I was serious about aerobatics more so than sport and was advised to take this plane over the Hotts. We had 3 or 4 of them in Jamaica at the time.
The Hammer flew extremely neutral and light, and I learned knife edge both ways with it. No bad habbits at all. Only downsides were the rudder Iis thinksmall ,the wing was too thick, didnt stall easily. We shaved the leading edge on one and it did better at spins etc.
With dihedral about 1/4" per wingtip there was no roll in knife edge. Mine had almost no pitch down couple...for this I would rate the Hammer higher than the ultrasports, kaos, etc.
My mods were stiffening the back end where the stab is mounted with 1/64"ply, a larger sub fin and a rudder double the size. The 46sf was a bit underpowered by today's standard for the size airframe, even with the pipe. Flew one with a 60, but prop clearance was an issue. That was eventually converted to tailwheel.
In your case I think discreetly adding 2 inches length to the hinge line, then doubling the rudder in a way to preserve the looks and shape would be very cool and give the effect you want.
I may suggest also lowering the stab about 1".