I've got a TM M14 with the standard plastic stock which I'm converting into a 'sort of' SVT40.
I'll need to paint the replacement handguard anyway, and I was wondering about peoples experiences of what works and what doesn't when trying to do more realistic wood effects, rather than just trying to replicate the TM dark orange plastic 'wood' colour.
There were some interesting comments in the Garand thread a bit using artists acrylics (dark umber and black drybrushing) but I was hoping for something a bit lighter. Anyone tried any commercial wood effect paints like the Ronseal ones? Any other suggestions (apart from carving a wooden stock!).
Thanks
Martin
"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" Helmuth von Moltke
Toys: AGM MP40, Cyma M1A1, TM M14/G43/SVT40, TM VSR/K98, SnS No. 4, ASG Sten, Ppsh.
Arnhem3,Gumrak,Campoleone
It is easy enough to get a convincing wood effect on plastic and there are various ways to get a convincing grain effect.
The challenge IME is in making the finish durable enough to stick to the plastic in the long term, skirmish after skirmish 
AGM MP40 - AGM STG44 - CYMA Thompson M1A1 - WE P08 4 inch - Marushin M1 Carbine GBB - AGM Sten MkII
I converted My Cyma M14 into a G43 But I carved a wooden part for the top stock and stained it with ink. It ended up a perfect match with no worries about the grain as it was wood. Simples and it doest fall off like painting plastic.
I lightly roughed the surface of my plastic furniture with sandpaper, sprayed it with red oxide primer, and then brushed on mahogany wood stain. It looks ok until you get within a foot of it then you can see the brush strokes, although to be fair I didn`t take much time over it. It has however proved very durable, hasn`t chipped or peeled off. 
There are a couple of threads on the US forum on the subject
http://ww2aa.proboards.com/index.cgi?bo ... hread=7343
http://ww2aa.proboards.com/index.cgi?bo ... hread=3858
This is very useful for me as I am having this problem with my upcoming mosin nagant. I got shop bought wood effect, and hope it will look decent 
A technique I've used on a few stage props is to sand back the stock till it's a uniform brown colour then take a wire brush (the heavier the better) and use this to scrape a woodgrain effect into the surface. Once you're happy with this use some darker brown gelcoat and paint it over the entire surface. Leave to set and then buff it back till the woodgrain is exposed to your liking. Tough as nails too!
Thanks for all the ideas guys, I think I'll have to experiment on some scrap plastic first but I'm drawn to one of the light undercoat/dark stain methods over sanding/graining.
Cheers
Martin
"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" Helmuth von Moltke
Toys: AGM MP40, Cyma M1A1, TM M14/G43/SVT40, TM VSR/K98, SnS No. 4, ASG Sten, Ppsh.
Arnhem3,Gumrak,Campoleone
wood stain looks very good if you can get some different shades and create the "blend" effect
GUNS: (ww2)
AGM sten mkII
Classic Army Colt 1911A1 GBB pistol
ARES PPSh-41
Deact Mosin M38
