Which hull style for beginner ship modeller?

I made my own with 0.0125" brass wire and round nosed pliers. I also drilled through the moutning points, carved a small channel on each side the CA'ed the tail ends of the loop in to channel. None even came close to pulling free under rigging stress.

Another idea is to use small, standard cotter pins. (This is what Lindberg's Sea Witch kit gives you for this purpose.) Drill the holes all the way through and simply spread the ends of the cotter pins on the back side. But you obviously have to do this before assembling the decks to the hull.

The problem is that ribs that are going to be capped are usually straight. Planks on a ship hull need to be bent in three different directions (the same plank!). And, in areas approaching the stern and bow, the ends of the strips need to be tapered. Measuring the taper and width of the end of the plank is not a trivial task.