"Or I might just build a Northstar. I really like the looks of those. "

Northstars are a proven design, and a crowd pleaser. I know of two that had maiden-flight problems: One had the pilot become disoriented so it crashed (it does NOT look like a conventional plane, and it's fast) Use a high contrast color scheme, obviously different top and bottom.

The other had the hull split on a T&G, and took on a lot of water before beaching. Glass or otherwise reinforce the hull.