You had to cut your own "fiber" hinges ?... I just received my second GP Cessna 182.. Looking to set one up on floats.. Anyway, both mine have come with the CA hinges already installed (but not CAed) ... I don't understand your having to cut "fiber" hinges etc for this plane... Regarding the block for the nose gear.. They come come with an upper and lower part connected by thin plastic strips.. There are two holes at the top and two at the bottom for a total of 4 holes.. If you do not use the supplied nose gear you will have a very difficult time using the front wheel pant on it... The wheel pant is molded to fit the suppled gear which is too short to install in the motor mount itself...
The CA hinges supplied with this plane work just fine... My first one is a couple years old and has hundreds of flights on it and no problem with the hinges...
This is one of the nicest looking Cessna ARF's around IMHO... And a great flyer to boot...