Dave, the way that I have been doing mine is about three coats of dope on stab and elev, after that dries,  sand smooth then dope my hinges to stab or elev doing one hinge, then turn over do .
 next hinge butted up to first hinge, then altrenate again.
 This way there isn't a gap between the hinges.
  I let this dry, then butt up to the opposite surface, and dope them down.
 Again NO slack between stab and elev..
  The capital letters are to be emphatic...No slack between stab and elev...
  I hope that this helps...