Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Hello, again to all. I am to the point on my '37 120C where I need to touch up the paint and then polish everything out. While I'm waiting for good weather to do so, I am looking at the woodgraining on the dash and window frames. I have a woodgraining technique that I learned a couple of years ago, but the final product, to me, seems a bit too dark. All of the applique type of woodgraining materials on the internet that i've found contains a bit too much red, so, I was wondering if any of you might know of an alternative woodgraining product or technique that might not give me such a dark texture. What I have now is a light brown base coat and then use a dark brown rubber based printer's ink for the actual graining. Do you think that a lighter base coat might produce lighter results? My paint is Packard Cream, so the darker graining would look pretty good with that, but I am open to all suggestions. Thanks in advance for any help.

You might give the people at GrainItwoodgraining.com a call or check out the website and see what they can suggest. I used their Carpathian Elm burl along with a straight grain on the 47. There are 4 different base coat shades that are suggested with that pattern along with many others for the other patterns.

Looking at photos I sent of the original on the 47 they though the CE1 basecoat which is the darkest was best but as you can see from the paint chips and some of the finish photos, by changing the base coat a shade or two there are different effects.

Here is a photo of my formerly owned 115C Convertible Coupe's instrument panel. It is two-toned with the upper part being a solid dark brown and the lower portion being a dark wood grained. I don't know if this scheme holds for all models, but am providing it for your reference and consideration. Good luck! JWL

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Mr. Ambassador; Again I am in your debt. I will definitely check out that site, for I do not remember if I had looked at it earlier or not.
Home Away from Home: Thanks for the picture for that graining looks extremely close to what I experimented with on one of the pieces. I then do not think what I am doing will be too far off.
Again, thanks to you both for the information.