Man, i should've thought of copper wire! I experimented myself and did rudimentary buckles using and unsheathed twisty-thingie wire left over from christmas packages... (didn't want to buy photo etch either...)
i used a pair of pliers and the tamiya decal tweezers. the decal tweezers are nice because it's a large flat surface with a clean edge.
hold the wire with the pliers and then pull&bend with the tweezers. should give the wire a nice corner. repeat for all the corners you need.
This is what i was able to do, but bear in mind this was more experiment than anything else. It's from the cockpit of a 1/48 Academy Sabre.
Hope this is what you were looking for.