Hi Peter
I am far from an expert but it sounds as if you have managed to get hold of some laminated alloy.
Can't remember it's proper name but have seen it being used by my brother on a super Yacht conversion taking place at my local dry dock
The stuff they were using was Two sepperate sheets bonded together with some sort of laminating film in the middle.
I was told that it added strength, reduced noise & vibration.
To be honest I would not try to remove the bottom layer of paint with paint stripper.
That would have been given a good coat of Etch primer, in my experience paint stripper hardly touches it
You'll probably be better of removing it all with a DA or just rub it down & re-paint it.
As Andy has said, when bending try a little heat to help soften the material.
Try it with a small off-cut.
To give it a go all you need is a small blowlamp & a bar of soap
Rub the block of soap on the area you want to bend, just a nice wide strip on the bend line will do.
Start to warm the opposite side with the blowlamp, keep the lamp on the move so as to not concentrate the heat in one spot.
When the soap starts to bubble then turns brown ( Like toast ). The alloy will be as soft as its going to get.
It will bend easiest whilst still warm but the alloy should still remain slightly
softened when cold ( It will work harden again once you have bent it )
With a little luck this may help you to get some bends into it without the material cracking.
One final tip.
Don't try to put to tight a radius bend in that material.
2 X 1mm + the thickness of the laminate .... Going to be a big ask trying to put a sharp break into that.
Try & find a former that has a nice radius on the corner ( Not unlike the radius needed for IVA )
Hopefully you'll be able to bend that material to 90deg without cracking
