Ken Juan and Lance - thanks! I agree that the lead is very pliable and easy to distort.
To answer Lance's question about attaching the wire to the spark plug ends - I cement a very small styrene tab to the sliced-off tip of the plug, and top it off with a #15 Grandt Line bolt. I take the end of the lead wire and tuck it behind the tab, securing it with a tiny drop of cyano glue. If you squint hard enough it should resemble a crimped connection that's fastened with a nut...in 1/32 scale :-)
Painting the lead is just as much trouble as with copper wire, with final touch-ups at the end of the process. Even with primer, the wire will shed it's paint if bent a little.
Cheers,
Gary