Matt,
really good question - been looking for the perfect solution myself, still not entirely happy. For what it's worth, I can describe my findings so far:
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Kit plastic parts - Bad, as they require clean-up of the mold lines, and most of the time they do not fit properly. Trying to bend them to shape more often than not results in breakage.
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Real steel (or copper etc.) aftermarket cables - good idea, but I find them too "springy" to be attached. Gluing that stuff to your model can be a real pain.
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DIY copper cables - you take a couple of strands of really fine copper wire, chuck them into your motor tool and spin them until they resemble a tow cable. Same as with (2), and on top of that it is hard to twist them in an uniform fashion.
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Rigging material for classic ship models - there is quite a selection of ropes in various thicknesses, used for rigging sailing ships. Advantage of this material is its flexibility, so you can apply the rope in any shape you want. Downside is the "fuzziness" of some of the products, small fibres sticking out, which does look really stupid 🙂 Some people are able to get rid of this by quickly passing a lighter or a match along the rope, burning off these fibres.
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Synthetic rope - the same as (4), but made from some synthetic fibre. No small fibres sticking out here, but the material is harder to find. Some kit manufacturers include this material in their kits (AFV Club, Thunder Model etc.), but I found it can be a bit tricky to glue, as for some reason CA glue needs ages to work on it.
Personally I prefer the rigging material, especially since I was lucky to find non-fuzzy rope in a local hobby shop.
Cheers,
Boris
