Simulating woodgrain on a plastic model

[72montedude]

I know this isn't really the right spot for this, but I know that theres a few plastic modelers who visit the forum and I was hoping that one of you could help me out. I'm building an exact replica of a car as a Christmas present, and have ran into a snag on the interior. I'm attempting to make it as close to the real car as posible, and the interior has a fair amount of woodgrained panels that just wouldn't look right if painted black, yellow, or brown. I've been building models for quite some time, but have never had to simulate woodgrain before and I have no idea how to do it. So, I was hoping someone could help me out and give me some insight on how to do it. Thanks in advance.

[mikevillena]

72montedude,
For most scales, I use an X-Acto razor saw blade and I drag it across the plastic surface several times to get the woodgrain "grooves" which I further refine with some careful sanding to eliminate the rough raised edges. This takes a fair amount of practice to get the gauge or "scale look" just right. I then use various colors and shades of water color to highlight the grain.

[Piggy89373]

Also, a medium grit emory board works well for this. Sand in an oval shape in small spots and work from one side to another for every other place. Lay down a wash of your background color, then dry brush the highlights. If you do right, the lighter colors (you'll do it more than once) will look like a wood grain.

[Losi Stealth]

What about the way they did it on that episode of monster garage? Didn't they use some sort of fabric to give the paint a grain? Could this be scaled down effectively? I think it was some sort of cheesecloth, but not completely sure.