I've built 3 of them.

You don't need the balsa fairings on the landing gear or the cabane struts unless you want them there for looks. The N strut wood helps strengthen it so you need it there. They do look nice with the airfoil shapes but the landing gear mounted ones tended to crack with age (hard landing every now and then). After my first plane, I tossed the stock gear and bought some aluminum gear that was a little wider but same height. This helped in the ground handling and looks beefier. Consider it if you aren't going to enter a scale contest.

Try to make it as light as you can, (ie: sand sand sand especially in the tail). Try to keep the tail light to save weight up front.

My first one was covered with Coverite and painted and had an OS .50 FSR. It flew okay but was not as good as it could have been so my second one was covered in monokote and it came in much lighter and was much more responsive (same engine). My third one had an OS .70 4 stroke...wow!

The cabanes align with the fuse with no special skills needed, just have a basic knowledge of soldering and you're good to go.

You'll love the plane
Don