How could I model this?

[enesoz]

I've been scratching my head trying to figure out how I could model this effect on a sphere for a project with no success. Has anyone got any ideas on how I could go about it?

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[Dave R]

The first step would be to find a wood grain material like that. And then apply it to the sphere.

You might find that setting the material to be projected will work. I got the following from the ash texture on the plane.

Or there are a number of texture related extensions that might be useful.

How precisely do you need to show the annual rings of the wood?

[enesoz]

Quite precisely because its to be 3d printed so the more detail the better

[Dave R]

Maybe you need to make a board the same way a tree would and then carve out a sphere.

Will a texture suffice or are you going to actually have to create the surface irregularities? If it's the latter, SketchUp is probably not the right tool for the job.