Teak veneer substitute

[MESSIS]

Cant find teak... so please any advise on with what I can replace on my model the teak deck planks and the window frames of the original Malcolm Miller yacht . 

[Jaager]

I looked up Teak on the Wood Database.  A light colored wood that takes aniline wood dyes well and treat it with a light concentration of Walnut.

Some of what is sold as Walnut in Europe looks similar to Teak, but is too open pore to scale down effectively.

What we usually mean by Walnut in the US = Juglans nigra  is much too dark.

[Bob Cleek]

Properly maintained bleached teak decks are practically "white." (a light cream color) If left to weather, they turn grey. Any fine grained "white" wood will portray teak decks on a model. Teak, if varnished, has a somewhat varied color spectrum, ranging from light tan to dark brown, depending upon the subspecies and age, so pick your preference or match the prototype, if you have that information. As with all unpainted wood on a model, coarse grain is out of scale.

[Gregory]

A lot of teak veneer shows up on Amazon.. Most are somewhat pricey..

This seems reasonable..  

 

Teak 2" x 25' Edging

 

The grain, as others mentioned will be way off for most scales.

 

I would go with a fine grained wood, and some stain to achieve the look you want..

 

[MESSIS]

 @Gregory  &    @Jaager thank you very much. You are very informative both of you. I guess thats what am going to do. Look after different Walnut grains. And play a little with stains maybe.

 

@Bob Cleek yes I do have that information. The ship (prototype) its here in the port of Limassol in Cyprus and I have free access to and on it. So first I will take a lot of pictures in combination with the different changes of the light. Though it doesnt look white.... it more looks dark brown. It is very well maintained.Thank for all the helpful knowledge shared with me.

 

[Jaager]

You should consider the following in your process of coloring the wood:

a stain is a form of paint, sits on the surface - semitransparent - so some of the wood shows thru.

a dye penetrates into the wood - not on the surface  - it enhances the natural grain.

two types of dye - alcohol and water -

alcohol has shallow penetration - dries quickly - does not affect wood surface.

water penetrates more deeply - takes longer to dry and the first exposure to water can swell surface fibers - needing a sanding or scraping before finish.

a way to fix this is to first apply just water - with 10-20% PVA  to swell the fibers that will swell and the glue to lock them. sand or scrape after 24 hrs and then apply the actual dye solution.  no more swelling, so no need to abrade the dyed surface.

 

If you use crap wood, using a stain is  a good choice.  If you use expensive or attractive wood, use a dye so as not to hide what you paid for.

[MESSIS]

@Jaager thank you. Its a wonderful piece of knowledge which I wasnt aware, even that I wasnt aware of😀.