I found this thread that shows some examples of the Nichiha Sierra premium. We'll be using this for our house so I hope you get some good answers. From the thread, it looks like the spaces between the "shingles" are just wider lines, but since the Nichiha is a thicker product than the Hardie counterpart, the lines can be deeper and provide a better shadow for more realism. It looks like when they come stained from the factory, they introduce some color variation to make it look more like a wood product. I'm sure a creative house painter could do something similar but it will probably increase the time and labor costs since it will probably be done by hand, with a brush.

Owen,

We are going with the Nichiha Sierra Premium Shake as well with our new build. We have heard only good things about the product. If you would like to see more samples, go to https://nichiha-samples.tbistores.com/. Nichiha sends you samples at no charge and they are nice sized samples. I also had alot of questions about the product and spoke with one of their reps and he was really informative and helpful.

To get the variation in color like the photo you posted, I believe that would be factory finished by a company like Carolina Colortones. [This house[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/lakefront-residence-i-the-reserve-at-lake-keowee-traditional-exterior-phvw-vp~4502462) has a similar look to your picture and it was done by Carolina Colortones . We are wanting a stained cedar shake look and are planning to order through Custom Home Specialists in SC. They are less than a mile than where we are building so it works out. They have the same type of equipment that Carolina Colortones uses and can apply a stain to the primed fiber cement board.

I looked into ordering the Sierra Premium Shake in Hazelnut or Terra but found it was way more expensive to do that than to order through a company like Carolina Colortones and have a custom color applied.

I don't know if where you live doing something like this would be cost effective.

I have also noticed the factory finish shine you mention and have heard this fades over time.

I was also worried about chipping but then I realized the installers will be cutting the boards anyway. When I asked Carolina Colortones about this they said they ship some stain out with the product as well.

But I know you are wanting to apply the paint after installation so all this information may not help you any.

I got a sample of Carolina Colortones charcoal and it's very nice. I'm not sure why you'd want to paint them after they are up because I'm not sure you can recreate this color. Get in touch with the guys there, they are very nice.

Yes you buy the shakes through them. When I was quoted a price from Carolina Colortones it included the primed shake and their factory stain. I found it to be competitive pricing. But again, I didn't ask about shipping the finished product because we are going with someone closer to our build.