Just tried a very cool fake wood grain with a simple and cheap wood graining tool. You can get them anywhere (paint store, on-line etc) and usually for under $10 USD!!
I did a simple red-ish colored foam stain then after glassing the board and applying the first sand coat I painted on some darker brown paint and then used the wood graining tool to simulate the look of real wood. After the paint dried I applied a second sand coat to seal the paint job completely . The cool thing about this is that even if you sand through the final coat (like on the rails) to the point of removing some of the brown pain it doesn't matter... it still looks like wood. I'm very happy with the end result (customer too) and I really think it looks cool. I see endless possibilities with this simple little wood grain tool.
Here is a link to a great video showing the tool at work - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcENJpHYYqc&t=17s
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