Ah, rigs. Yep, rigs were often changing with the times. As I am sure you know, the J class went from gaff rig to Bermuda rig. There would have been advances in technology that the commercial boat owners also took advantage of. Actual sail plans would also change depending on the prevailing weather. I am not sure if fishing schooners carried storm sails, but they would certainly have top sails, gaff topsails, fisherman, jibs, and flying jibs hoisted up and down at different times.
I think I read somewhere, that as today, skippers would race back into port to get their catches off loaded asap and back out to sea. This was one of the reasons schooners were so popular on the Grand Banks, speed.
If you are going to change this into a working model, another consideration is how many sails you can rig and operate effectively. Mainmast staysails, jibs, flying jibs, and Genoas can be more tricky. If it is a static model, as you said, can pretty much do as you feel fit. There are plenty of pictures of the Helen B Thomas on line to guide your choice.