I was at my local hardware stroe and they sold spools of brass, lead etc wire. what diameter would I be looking at to model wires on 1/35th tanks. What about handles. I know this might be too gneral but nay help would be appreciated. What about string to simulate tow cables and ropes what size usually?

I have a wide variety of wire, brass, copper and steel. I use steel wire primarily for rigging on bi-planes. I use either guitar strings or steel wire from the hobby store. I have various sizes of brass rod, from a hobby store, for hand rails, light guards, etc. Brass is easy to bend and will hold the shapes. It is also easy to solder. I get copper wire from old electrical cords or from old electrical motors. I use the copper wire to simulate "wiring". Again it is easy to bend, will hold teh shapes and comes in small guages.

Now, to determine what sizes to use. If you are replacing plastic kit parts, take the part to teh hardware or hobby/craft store to get similiar size wire. Usually the wire will be slightly smaller as the plastic part you want to replicate is out of scale.

I hope this answers your question.

Hello Padrino,
I find the best wire size to use for grab handles is .020 or .025 dia.
Lead wire, .010 & .015 is good to simulate the wiring on external lights.
HTH

I have found that using small lengths of nylon cord work well for tow cables. If you aren't prepared to plop down a fair hunk of change on cables that have exactly the right number of strands and the exact twist, then this is a good route. Once you get it cut to length and the ends attached, it can be held in place with CA glue, then use thinned white glue to mold to the shape you want. Study your sources to get the drape right, as these cables are both very heavy and very stiff. The white cords found in the middle of the US military 550 green nylon cord work the best, I have found.