This has been specified on a property I am working on, at was to
cover Cedar V groved panneling. I have now been given the go ahead to
use softwood instead, don't know wether or not to ask to use ordinary
paint as well!

Personally, I'm going to be doing my exterior woodwork in acrylic (water
based) paint. It is used almost exclusively in the US. Most importantly, in
five to ten years time when it is time to recoat, it is much easier to lay a
new layer of acrylic than sand/strip everything back, like you need to do
for solvent gloss. It is also better for the environment, less likely to
give you health problems and can be recoated in a fraction of the time.

Christian.