As a follow-on to my thread on Rotax vs Lycoming clones, this:

Our hypothetical homebuilder has reasonable but not mad shop skills. He's worked on a couple of RV's, but never anything in fabric. While the RV's are pretty labor-intensive, the newer kits are generally pre-drilled to size and use blind rivets. Call it "low impact aluminum" because I think it's funny.

I had an email exchange with Mark, who runs Ransclan.com. He's built a couple of fabric RANS and is working on a Zenith, and he says he'll never do fabric again. Modern tube/fabric kits have all of the welding done. Other than the paint booth, which is a large detail not to be ignored, ISTM that fabric would be much faster and easier.

Have you done either? Both?

Dope and fabric is a simple process.

Riveting pre drilled skins is a simple process.

I like both

fabric is nothing to be afraid of, and with the advent of systems like stewarts or oratex, there is no stinky mess anymore

I've recovered several fabric planes and performed a lot of sheetmetal work. Probably my favorites. I found Stits Poly-Fiber to be easier that SuperFlite IV to put on... I haven't used Stewart's system yet, but will next plane I do.

Some guys are artists in one medium but look like a novice in another one... my weak area is engine work. It's really hard to know what you're good at till you try it.

As a former surgeon, I was pretty good with flesh and blood. Perhaps that's a transferable skill, but I don't know that it transfers better to one medium than another.

When we proposed building an airplane in the Jr. High we had to consider four choices: wood, tube and rag, composite, and aluminum. What tipped the scales heavily towards aluminum was the time and interruptability factor. If gluing wood, mixing epoxy, or wetting fabric, you can't stop mid-task. But if you're drilling a hole in aluminum and the whistle blows, you can stop, down tools, and come back in an hour or a week. There were other (toxicity, mostly) concerns, but it was the ability to stop a job anywhere in the process without penalty that persuaded us.
That may not be your overriding factor but at least one to consider.

As a former surgeon, I was pretty good with flesh and blood. Perhaps that's a transferable skill, but I don't know that it transfers better to one medium than another.