The RV-12 is not 100% pulled rivets. There are lots of solid rivets, but the rivet holes for these parts are near the edge of the parts, so you can use a rivet squeezer to set the rivets—no rivet gun is required. Most people find it easier to learn how to use a rivet squeezer than a rivet gun, and it is a quiet, one-person operation. That said, by far the vast majority of the rivets in the -12 are pulled rivets. Setting pulled rivets is also a simple, one-person operation.
You will have to fabricate or modify a few simple parts in the RV-12, but not many. All complicated bending and forming is done at the factory.
You will have to do some dimpling, which is typically done on the -12 using dimple dies in a rivet squeezer. Since the rivets that hold the skins are round-head rivets, not flush rivets like the other RV kits, you will save a bunch of time not having to dimple almost every hole in the skins.
Most of the holes are pre-punched to final size, which saves a bunch of time because you don’t have to deburr prepunched holes that are drilled to final size. You will have to do a little bit of match drilling on a few parts, but since you typically use a pre-punched part as a guide for match drilling, it’s pretty easy.
