plywood sheets?

[white knight]

It may cost a few cents more but it can be easily cut and sanded and takes paint or stains like a dream.  It's available in dozens of different sizes of precut strips and sheets and you can even get some fancy sidings like clapboard or board & batten.

Linky? 

[thejammedgatling]

What you are looking for is plywood veneer, used by furniture makers to make pine look like oak etc. Just ask a furniture maker/ factory if they'll sell you some or let you rummage in their bins for scraps! I use the stuff to make weatherboard houses and shingle roofs. I'm just completing an AWI church at present.

Hope that helps.

Alternatley you could buy 3mm ply sheets and let them soak for a month, dry our, soak again etc until they start to delaminate.

[redzed]

what about Hobby's

lots of useful bits and bobs.

[archangel1]

Here are some links to the major North American suppliers of strip/sheetwood.  Don't know of any European connections, I'm afraid, but you can get an idea of the huge variety of materials available.

http://www.kapplerusa.com/y2k/kp-main.htm

http://www.mtalbert.com/lumber/index.html

http://www.northeasternscalelumber.com/

http://www.midwestproducts.com/