Wheathering dark boards

[1213brett]

I need some advice on how to go about weathering the boards on the hull of my San Juan galleon from Artaesania.  I want the ship to look really old but still sea worthy.  The type of wood used is sapelia.  its kind of dark and I'm not shore how it would age in color.  also like most ships all the board are supposed to be sanded smooth together like one peace.  Should I just sand them just a little bit?  so each board picks up the stain independently and not soak it all up as a hole?  what I was going to do was sand the hull just so each bard sticks out just a little meaning the space in between the bards is still showing then go over the each side of the ship with age-it-easy from micro mark its a dark gray wash type substance. also can I just go over the acrylic paint with the age it easy to make it look old.  Or is that a bad thought.  Thank you for any help. 

[bluenose2]

Hello Les here. Sapelle is a wood similar to mahogany. If severely weathered it may turn a greyish colour if you used it on your deck or siding at home, the sun would bleach it out. Maybe not so much under sail. Captains were fairly fastidious about maintenance. If you want to make your ship look a little grubby, scuff up any painted surface that would be exposed to wear and tear. Unpainted wood surfaces would be scratched from anchors and loading of articles aboard and off board.  Any paint below the water line be susceptible to worms etc. So weathering could be sanding and pealing of paint. 

[bluenose2]

Hello Brett, Les back. When a model of this scale is built, gaps in planking would be extremely small. A hull could be sanded smooth. If for what ever reason you decide to stain the hull consult the records for this ship to see where it went and was decommissioned, so you can get it right. Look at the box art and decide what you want to do. Where do you want to go with this ship?