Welcome aboard. You can go either way in regards to the binding. It will probably need a tidy up from the factory anyway, so painting over it and then scraping it back carefully with a razor blade can be part of that clean up process.

Taping can also work if you are really patient and careful. Have a look for Teamjeffo's latest build, RC 4 build. He tapes it on that and it looks really tidy.

There is generally more than one way to skin any of the guitar building cats you may come across.