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We have a hands on at Hershey to help folks learn the process.
Colors can be hard to get just right.
Not sure if I can post this photo but this can throw folks off. Lacquer can change base coats and ink colors bad over the years. Jdee

http://www.woodgraining.com/photos/137Ply.jpg

Wow. Quite a difference. Thanks for showing that. I've seen your "work shops" at Hershey and Philadelphia, and they're very well done.

So, JDee,
West is impressed, but I'm not getting it. I know the lacquer turns yellow over time. What does this photo show?

In the photo, on the left, darker yellow, is what?
In the center, lighter yellow, is what?
The rectangle in the very center (metal) is what?
The reddish brown on the right is what?

Here's what I had as a sample. What would this have looked like new?

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That piece really shows the difference in how much the lacquer changes and darkens & yellows with age, light and hand oils. Without seeing the undisturbed or protected areas, would never have guessed it could change that much.

Joe,

I've seen a couple of dashes and some mouldings done with the US kit, they look great. There are some pic's in my blog Wade's Workshop Page 70, Post #704 re '41 160 and Page 77, Post #777 re a '37 Super 8.

I must be really dense.
The metal area in the center is the original?
The yellow around it is from yellowing lacquer?
The left side is from too much UV?
The far right side from hand oil?

Also I don't doubt that this can be done and look great. I've seen articles where the car owner says 'I did the woodgrain myself' with a kit. I watched the videos.

I'm just relating what my experience is. 10 inches at a time on a 1.5 width moulding that bends and curves with raised areas for the heater air flow and depressions for the screws. At this point I don't really like the way it looks, but I am trying to finish the car. And I am reserving judgement. If it looks like a cheesy job after the urethane is down, then I will start over, change the colors to what is correct if I don't have that or send it out. I liked what was in there when I first got the car in 1959, but it was sunbaked and worn down, kind of green. I know the dealers didn't like it and it was changed to red-brown mahogany after Feb 1940.

But this is the kit I was sent, so I'm trying to make it work. I drove to the other side of town to get the Dupont paint and had the color mixed. I'll take pictures of my set up. It's kind of a wet, messy, tense kind of process for me. Just saying I'm reserving judgement. If the result is good, that will be great.

JDee's photo shows a two-tone dashboard from I'm guessing a 1937 Plymoth. The dark area on the right and left and over the top is a different type of grain and color. The center area is the lighter color. The really light colored area in the center shows the original color of the centerpiece. It looks like it had a radio delete face plate covering the area protecting it from discoloring.

The color change is what we are looking at. That is not metal its a silver base coat. Old lacquer can turn yellow, green and just about any other color, Did the driver smoke? Were the base-color/ tinted Primer that week in production different was the car parked outside a chemical factory?
Part of our video is how to select colors and patterns.
Do test panels and if you don't like the look tweak your base color and or ink or even select another pattern? We get our colors from old original dashes that are sent in for restoration, was yours different? And if anything we always are always happy to help with a project. We have many restoration shops that are always willing to help getting colors are patterns correct. I can make patterns from original parts. And colors can always be worked with.
Jdee

Oh and do a test panel. Woodgraining looks kind of bad if not real bad before its cleared. Its very muddy looking and kills the base color with a haze.
The test panel will help you see your final finish just in case you want to tweak your parts before clearing.
Jdee

OK Got it.

I could not find my correspondence with Grain-It. I know I made it clear about the difference in the early 1803s. I'm sure I have the right grain. It does look as I remember it and as it does in the black and white photo of Guy Noir's latest client. The color is elusive. Aspen itself is a white hardwood with not much grain. "Mottled" Aspen must be different. We have a hardwood mfg client in central Oregon specializing is the every variant of wood and grain. Maybe I could get a sample of mottled aspen and see what Packard was trying to emulate.

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