I have a buddy who actually uses wood stains on plastic ship models of wood vessels. I have tried the method and find it quite difficult, but I assume if I stayed at it and practiced a lot I'd get the hand of it. What I do is use two "wood" colors, like two shades of brown. After a base color of one of them, I then put down a second very thin coat with a brush, almost a drybrushed coat (which means an almost but not quite dry brush). I usually use matt colors, and then apply either a dull or a gloss coat depending on the look I want. In that period, a lot of ships used oils, like fish oil, as a preservative to unpainted woods, which resulted in a gloss or semi- gloss coat. Semi-gloss clearcoats are possible with an airbrush by applying a thin or dry coat of gloss or a very wet matt clear.
Also, clear polyurethanes are available with a semi-gloss sheen.