Thanks for the kind words. The only effort I made to get a 'fabric' effect was to do some heavy dry brushing with oil paints. The ribs are pretty pronounced on the wings, so you get a pretty good contrast between the peaks and valleys.
There are a few types of rigging attachment points in this kit:
Fuselage holes: per the kit instructions, you tie one end of the thread around a short styrene rod. (I added CA to make sure they dont fall off!) The free end of the thread is then passed through small hole in the fuselage, pulling the rod snug against the inside. Voila! A secure anchor for the wire.
Pass-through holes: there are a number of points where the thread simply passes through the wing or the strut and there is an open hole provided in the kit. I just used the needle threader to pull the loose end of the thread through the hole. I then used a drop of CA to make sure it did not move after I pulled it tight, and to reduce the damage if thread broke at some point. WARNING: some of the holes have 2 threads running through them. Don't forget to run both lines before you close up the hole with CA, or you will have to drill it out again without damaging the installed thread. Don't ask how I know this....
Indicator holes: these holes are not open all the way through the wing. They represent point where the thread would terminate. I am not sure how the pro's do it, but I took the brute force approach. I drilled the indicator holes out until they went all the way through the wing. Then I passed the thread through them. Pulling the thread taut, I hit it with some thick CA, zapped with accelerator, then let it set. I then trimmed the excess thread, sanded down the CA and thread until it was flush on the wing, then primed over it.
I did not attempt buckles. I was happy just to get the rigging complete and not looking like a bowl of spaghetti!
And I completely agree on the price-value of these kits. The scale is managable for my clumsy fingers and old eyes, and the kit was only $14 or so, as I recall.
I pulled this together in just a few days over the holiday. And if you consider that it kept me out of the bars for a few evenings, I am way ahead!!
Regards