Building a Tamiya IS-2. The tow cable is a thick string. Plastic ends to put on it. Anybody use that string or do you use aftermarket metal tow cables? Looked at some metal ones, pretty much all I found would take a couple weeks to get here and cost a lot when combined with shipping. Thinking about checking the hardware and craft stores for some type of thin metal cable that is close to scale to use with the plastic ends. Anybody found anything like that?

See this.

KL

Good info, thanks!

I use metal fishing trace line, used some on a build of Tamiya Ford quad.



Comes in various thicknesses, and the plastic sheath is easy to remove by running a blade along it.

May not be the most cost effective but it's not too bad. Check out lead wire for fly fish tying. This comes in all sorts of diameters and is very flexible without any memory. I have wound a couple of pieces together to create tow cables to my liking. It can be found in many sporting good stores or anywhere that fly fishing equipment is sold.

Some wires, you will find, are too stiff to easily form. Picture hanging wire is very cheap and, while not as fancy as the expensive hobby tow cable stuff, is easy to find (hardware, dollar stores, etc.) and easily forms into tight curves and bends. The cheaper the wire, the easier it is to form. Stay away from stainless steel - way too stiff. I bought a roll of cabling for jewelry (stainless steel) as it looked very much like scale real tow cable, but it was way to stiff to bend into the stowage hooks and clips. Great for use in towing mode, though.