Recommendations needed: WWII biplane cable stays fastening

Hello -
I'm building a Guillows S.E. 5A WWII biplane, and wondering if folks
have ideas on how to do the cable stays. The wingspan is ~18", ~4"
cord, ~4" between top and bottom wings.
The kit provides 1/16" simple cut-outs, about 1/4 wide. I was
thinking of at least sanding an airfoil shape into the spars, then
fastening bent-wire loops to the ends (well, 1/8" from the ends) of
the spars using black thread wrapped around to form a 1/8" wide coil
to hold the loops to the spar. The idea is that I could then glue the
spars into insets in the wing surface, and then have a good strong
loop to run thread to form the cable runs.
I'd also considered building up the stays with thicker wood and
sanding an airfoil. I'll be painting the plane and coloring the spars
to look like varnished wood. I figured the black contrast between
varnished wood color and black thread would give some nice detail...
Also, I only have thin black thread - was considering doubling up
the thread and applying thinned Elmers to make it thicker.
Any other ideas?
Thanks!