Finishing options to tie different oak colours together

[Si Peace]

I'm coming to the end of a carved oak rocking horse project and still can't decide what finish to use.
The oak planks are all slightly different colours, and I'd like to colour the horse to make him come together as a single unit.
I've considered the following:

A: Briwax Dark Oak wax, but I'm worried that the grains of the planks may have different levels of "openness" and so exacerbate the differences. I'm also worried that wax might not stand up to being played with by children.

B: Wood dye and varnish, more hard wearing and the colour will go in deep, but I'm worried the dye will look patchy with the complex shapes and varying levels of end grain all over the piece. Also I like the colour of oak and want to highlight the grain, so I don't want to go too dark.

On the rockers I used Colron Medium Georgian Oak dye (the water based one) followed by yacht varnish, which actually looks good. Not too patchy, but it's darker than I'd like to go with the horse itself. Also, even after wetting and sanding, the grain raised on application of the dye and needed plenty of varnish to smooth it out.

I'll try to post a picture to let you see what I'm on about.

Am I wishing for the impossible?
What would you guys do?

 

[Si Peace]

Here are some pics...
I have a full photo-story of the project if there's interest.

 

[Chrispy]

Hi Si
That's a fab looking horse you've made (you don't make it easy for yourself do you)
I think I would use weak solution of Van ****, a water stain, the first coats will raise the grain but can be sanded back again, I find water stain is so mild that you can go over again and again to build up the the lighter bits until you are happy with the result and then you can seal it in with what ever you like really.

 

[Si Peace]

Thanks for the response Chris. Would that be buying van **** pigment powder and diluting it in water?

And sealing... just use polyurethane varnish? Or shellac or something? I'm not sure on the pros and cons here.

 

[Si Peace]

Any other opinions out there?

 

[Chrispy]

Sorry I didn't see your reply.
The Van **** I know comes as crystals you dissolve a small amount (tea spoon) in hot water (pint) to make a kind of tea (some will use cold tea) I got mine ages ago from John Mylands but any good finishing supplier should stock it. and yes seal it in with any of your above.