Thanks chaps.
The prop was actually quite quick (about 15 mins total), I just painted the light colour overall, when dried I drew the laminated layers directly on to it in pencil, then freehand painted the darker layers over the pencil, painted the lighter layers in between again to neaten up, then the darker layers again, then the lighter layers again, and when dry just gave it a good coat of satin varnish. It sounds complicated but was just one ongoing process done in one session as the paint dries so quickly, and each repeat of painting the layers refined the edge of each laminate layer.