F&L,
I guess you could over-build and leave them off. If you put together an ARF, best advice I'd give you is to put them ON!
Bi-planes are a draggy sort of affair...... Two wings slicing through the air give you a disturbed airflow when the tail section of the plane gets to that same disturbed air. More than likely you want to brace the devil out of it so it doesn't flutter or structurally implode. (Watch some U-Tube slow-motion videos and you'll see what I mean!)
Since you are wanting to get into the bi-plane loving stage of your modeling career, try giving all those flying wires a chance! Better yet......... Go take a ride in one (preferably an open cockpit one!) and listen too the sound they make...... I'm sure you'll have a change of heart. I used to own a real S-1 back in my young and crazy days as well as a 7AC Champ. (Tail braced too!) I wouldn't have it any other way! Good luck with your choice.
WT