At the risk of hi-jacking my own thread, I am confused on a subsequent step.

I have built the top hatch per instructions. They have you glue down some 3/16"x1/4" strips on the outside edge prior to gluging in the sheeting. However, I do not understand why they are there. When I look at the profile, it looks to me like I will end up removing all the strip when I sand to match the profile on the forward section???

See photo to see that the contour of the forward section does not overlap with any of the strip. Do I sand this away after adding the sheeting (meaning it is there to give the sheeeting something to sit against while gluing but otherwise it no longer needed?)

Or do I sand back on the front endge but then tap "up" towards the rear of the hatch such that most of the strip is there by the back cap portion?