View attachment 113120
You're build looks fantastic. It's coming along very nicely.
I noticed in the photo above that the grain is very pronounced- I'm not sure if that was the effect you were trying to achieve or the camera/light makes it look that way?
Years ago I had a similar result and found it to be very frustrating as it wasn't the look I was after. I prepared the parts very well; sanding them to a fine finish and then, after I applied my first coat of acrylic paint, all my hard work was ruined when the grain raised.
I later found that the water in the acrylic paint raised the grain giving this look.
Now I sand the wood to final finish and apply a very lightly dampened cloth over the wood which will raise the grain, I let it dry (the grain will remain raised after drying) and give it a final light sand that gets rid of the raised grain. Only a few short sanding strokes is required. The grain will only raise once.
Or you can give the wood a coat of paint, let the grain raise and sand the first coat of paint after it is completely dry- it should remain smooth after that.
You may already know this, just thought I'd mention it so as to prevent others from going through the same frustration I went through.
I hope you do not find offense with my comment- my intentions is only to give help to others where I can.