Thanks.
Initially I thought I would use the Uschi decals that I had invested so much money into, but when I made test swatches of paint an applied the decals I found that they were silvering badly. In addition I could see all the individual ink dots/pixilation in the decals and I knew I would not be happy with the look. So I opted to paint the wood grain.
To achieve the wood look I first painted each individual panel in different shades of tan and creme. Some of the colours I used were Xtracolor RFC Linen, Radome Tan, Desert Sand, French Creme, Kuwaiti Sand and so on. You get the drift. Then each panel was masked off and I applied Winsor & Newton oil paints straight from the tube. I used Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre and Raw Sienna in varying amount and locations, depending on the look I wanted. The oils were applied using a 1/4" wide brush to establish the basic look and direction of wood grain.
Then using a fan brush, the grain was softened and the various colours were blended. Turning the brush 90 degrees would allow me to create the finer more distinct elements of the grain.
It is a long process as it takes about four days for the oils to dry, before the panel can be masked and then the adjacent panel can be painted. I imagine I could have shortened the drying time by soaking up some of the oil from the paint, or by using a drying accelerator, but my experience has shown me that I have more control and working time with the paint if it is not drying quickly.
Cheers