Clapboard Siding (1,0 x 0,75)

Overlapping siding, not a groove

The pattern differs from grooved sheets in its profile. The boards here are not laid edge to edge but run one over the other like shingles laid flat, so a regular step arises on the surface and with it a sharp horizontal shadow. It is exactly this shadow that turns a flat sheet into a dwelling, because this is how American country buildings, porches, sheds and station buildings were clad. A spacing of three quarters of a millimeter puts this item at the finest end of the group.

Primer and paint

Bare styrene takes paint but does not hold it firmly, and it rubs off the edges during handling. It is therefore worth spraying a thin primer first, which evens out the surface and brings out any shortcomings in the joints before the covering shade hides them. The essential thing is to apply little and often. A thick coat runs into exactly those steps and fills them, and with that the one thing a textured sheet is bought for disappears. Once dry, drybrushing in a lighter tone suggests itself, which pulls out the edges of the boards, and conversely a dark glaze washed under them deepens the shadow. Anyone painting with a brush should lead the strokes along the boards, never across.

Which scale it suits

In 1:72 scale the spacing gives a board just under five and a half centimeters wide, in 1:87 scale over six. It therefore serves best for buildings in smaller railroad scales and for small structures in dioramas, where a surface with a distinct but not exaggerated texture is needed. For large scales the pattern is too dense and would read more like cladding of narrow slats.