ORIGINAL: wsmalley
Since my flaps were not designed into the wing, I opted for the bottom hinge location with some lithoplate strips on top to cover the gap with flaps down. I use a dressmaker's tracing wheel to make rivots from the reverse side. It actually adds quite a bit of rigidity. In the 'up' position, the strips slide over the covering and barely raise the surface. Note the gap created on the root side with the flap down. This is why the full size has a circular taper built in. I can cure this with some work but note it's presence. I'll study your new sytem, agreed lessoning the workload is important. The full size has a computer to do this.
I had thought about hinging mine at the bottom, too. I couldn't think of a suitable wiper system that would be easy to build into a small model, yet light enough and strong enough to work well in the air. So, I used full-size airliners as an examples that keep the top surface relatively clean and the bottom surface dirty (aerodynamically, speaking). So, I opted to have the gap on the bottom.
I'm also attaching the latest wiring diagram that removes the mixing between the elevator channel and the aux channel.