Way too young here, but I have an 8 1/2 x 11 copy of the plans in front of me. The drawings I have show optional conventional ribs and includes foam templates.

I have built a few geodetic (egg-crate) FF wings and it's a lot easier than it looks. I assembled rectangular rib blanks with plywood root and tip ribs. Then using a lond sanding bar, shaped the ribs to the airfoil contour. The ply ribs act as a guide for sanding. Sort of like sanding a foam core down to the templates instead of cutting with hot wire. It can actually be easier than cutting out individual ribs for a tapered wing. Lots of old FF stabs were done this way, too.

I agree that the fuse top would be a lot of work.