I have found the construction techniques very different from gas to electric. It has to do with the trade off on mass vs strength. My recommendation (I have built scratch as well) is to first build a couple electrics from good sources like stevens-aero or mountain models. You can then imitate some of the techniques and shape it into a plane you like.

BTW, I flew in the 60's and still have a super kaos and qwick fly II hanging on the wall. I also agree with the above comment that many of todays sport flyers fly like them. One plane in particular I tried was the AcroPhat from nesail. It comes ARF, but with the large non-tapered wing and low wing loading it flew a lot like the old pattern planes. It even supports a steerable tricycle gear.

What you are not going to get is knife edge flight, none of the old planes where good at it. I don't think it was even a recognized move in the 60's. (at least I don't remember it)

Larry