WWI aircraft modelling almost always requires wood grain simulation. I do it the way I learnt at Swanny's Models website. That is, spray a coat of sandgelb or similar, wait for a day and when dry, protect it with acrylic clear cote, like tamiya x22, wait for a couple of days, then take a wide brush and stroke brown artists' oil paint. When you lift excess of the oil paint from the surface, sandgelb from underneath will be visible, simulating a wood effect.
Check my 1/72 camel build and see if that's close to what you want. You can find a detailed explanation with photos on Swanny's.