I noticed this also many years ago pulling a hood apart.
A couple of other observations that hopefully will be clarified/confirmed/denied by others.
These are old memories, a bit faded.

The nuts had no paint. They were not used to hold the scoop up from the hood during painting.

There was not a distinct line on the studs to indicate the height they were held up from the hood. No shadow around the holes on the underside from the studs blocking paint.

There was no distinct pattern under the scoop showing an outline of something used to hold it away from the hood.

The paint on the scoop ended very close to the outside edge. No attempt to cover the underside.