I enjoy kitbashing a lot more than buying the official minis, I will always kitbash when I have the option.
The cloth tabards will be covered in "power cables" like the space marine tech marines, there will be bits of cloth visible underneath and I'll be going over them again once the canvas has hardened.
I've ordered some pewter wire cables because guitar string is a nightmare. it works fine for the little bits I will need it for but that's not very much.