thread for cable

I cant think of the diameter now but for me the best is a nylon thread ........no fuzz and the spirals look just right to represent wire rope .

Wire rope example .....

TRY USING THIS I NORMALLY USE THE CABLE TO HANG PICTURES THE SIZE IS ABOUT RIGHT FOR 1/35 BUT I KNOW IT COMES IN THINER SIZES TOO.  YOU CAN GET IT JUST ABOUT ANY PLACE IS NOT THAT EXPENSIVE AND IS MADE OUT OF METAL JUST TAPE THE ENDS TIGHLY BEFORE CUTTING ONCE YOU GLUE THE CABLE LOOP ON THE TIP OF THE WIRE REMOVE THE REMAINER OF THE TAPE ATTACHED TO THE CABLE AND WEATHER IT ANY WAY YOU WANT TO FROM ACTUAL OIL FROM YOUR CAR OR THE REGULAR WEATHERING TECHNIQUES.  GOOD LUCK

I like using the "guts" from 550/Parachute cord. There are five strands of nylon cord inside the nylon sheath. A few feet of cord will give you enough to do a battalion's worth of vehicles.

Winch cable has a much smaller diameter than tow cables. 

Here's what I use: I get silver embroidery thread (from Michaels).  It doesn't have loose fibers, is the right diameter, and has a bit of texture to simulate the winch cables. 

I like to use ship modelers waxed rope and paint it a steel color

Here is the winch from my M4 tractor. The rope is painted with Alclad Steel

Rounds Complete!!

Get “makings” (esp. A. C. Moore, Michaels). Shop selections of bead chain and chain.

Bill: It strikes me that you don't have enough cable.  Your spool seems rather "skinny".  Photos show quite a bit of cable -- where the wound cable almost encompasses the entire diameter of the spool base. 

Here's what I do: I take a piece of styrene rod and cut it to the exact length of the space between the two spool bases.  Then I split the cylinder down its length and insert it into the spool and glue it into place.  Then I superglue one coil of thread around the styrene cylinder.  This masks the cylinder and it appears to be a HUGE coil of winch cable.

I've done it for every US vehicle I've built that has a winch.  See below -- it looks to be a huge coil of cable but it's only the cylinder covered by one pass of my embroidery thread