ducttape,

The self righting characteristic is a result of both the dihedral and the cg location, but the dihedral is the stronger effect in most cases. You certainly can make a low wing plane more stable ( self righting ) by adding dihedral. Having said that, my observation to you is that 'trainers' don't look much clunkier that typical non-scale low wing planes, and if you buy one and fly it, you won't find it to be embarassingly ugly. When you are learning to fly, self righting is not the only characteristic that is useful. When you are landing, it is nice if the wingtips are higher from the ground, so that they aren't as likely to scrape when you have a little rocking. Get the trainer, get trained, then buy something 'hotter' looking. Just my two cents.

Good luck,

banktoturn