The LNER Encyclopedia

No real secrets, gentle wafting with Railmatch Frame dirt, Sleeper grime and Roof dirt seems to do the trick.

The crispness of some of the features of that K2, and the general lack of dented or chewed-up edges tempted me to initially think that it might the LRM etched version, but I suspect the cab roof gives away Nu-Cast whitemetal origins. If that's right it looks vastly less "lumpy" than one or two Nu-Cast K2s that I've observed. How crisp were the kit parts "as received" and how much fettling up did you have to do? Is it a new-ish example or one of the older Nu-Cast products from a time when the moulds were new?

From Memory its quite an old Nu-cast kit (auction site find), There was a bit of fettling but from memory the castings were quite good. now I must have a go at a K1 & K3.

Thanks - it's interesting to hear that the castings can actually be quite good. I suppose one might argue that the smokebox door doesn't quite convey the character that it should. I was thinking "something not quite right" as I looked at it again, and I believe photos show that the hinge straps ought to be a bit closer together, and longer, as probably should the handrail. Am I right in thinking that it's a bit flat in the middle too, when it ought to be quite bulbous?

Yup, bit flat, and maybe one day I'll see to it but I have so much on It'll have to wait.

Here are some 4mm wagons I built some time ago.



I assembled these using Jidenco kits as a basis and then scratch built new chassis using brass channel and MJT/D&S/ABS detailing parts.

Very nice indeed.

Cracking picture, RN; that vehicle to the right is the GC fish van which Dan Pinnock used to do but which is now with ABS and unavailable. Do you happen to recall if the kit was dimensionally accurate and any build problems with it?

Going back to the K2. I think this was one of the first kits from Nucast which used Gerry Brown as a pattern maker, and although the chassis was still from the dark ages, the actual w/m castings (via Adrian Swain) were very good indeed. Gerry made several of the better Nucast patterns (V2 and NER 0-6-0s) and went on to produce the masters for the L1 and V4 for ECJM and later Adrian Swain.

I also have an early K2 but I am sure that, as in the photo, a new chassis was produced including brake gear which was not featured in the original kit.

As far as the fish van is concerned, the LNER build produced by Danny Pinnock went to Adrian and is I think still available, but I do not think that applied to the original GC version which involved plasticard slatting.

Hi Nick,

I saw Adrian at Telford last week and asked him about these kits. The LNER OF van (is that the one you mean with the plastikard inserts?) is available, but Dan's GC one - brass overlays on a cast side - isn't and he couldn't give an idea of when it might be.

I'm currently slightly puzzled by the steel underframe of the GC short w/b fish van with slats. I must go and look at mine again but I think they are timber. Maybe the brain-fog due to my cold is playing tricks again.......

Interesting info about the ancestry of the K2 kit by the way.

The GC one may have been timber, the Jidenco kit had the usuall steel channel set up and I went with it not knowing any different at the time.
The kit was a struggle and I scrapped the underframe and did my own. and from memory the body was a pain, Steve Banks explained this in one of his articles.
I do have one more of each of these to build.

My K2 has a brass chassis, I can't remember if the brakes came with it or if I used the ones from Mainly trains.

Following up, here is an ex K's van with the underframe rebuilt and detailed.

Johnathan - The OS Frame vehicle in Adrian's range is the standard fish van, based by the LNER on the GC design. The original GC van, or at least Danny's version of it, had a w/m frame side with plasticard slats which went behind the frame - I have recently found one at the bottom of a box and am building it now.

Back to K2s, I have attached a photo of my Nucast K2 completed some 30 years ago - had not realised how bright the lining was. It needs to be toned down! This had a scratch built brass chassis with Kemilway brake gear and Romfords (it was designed to be built with Hamblings wheels).

We are talking about the same kit, then, Nick. Dan reworked it to use etched slats. I have a couple built when they were still available. Adrian acquired it from him before the GCRS were able to stake a claim on the other GC kits.

We are / were all talking about the GC fish van ON THE RIGHT in the above picture aren't we? That is the one I meant. I know Jidenco did the long one, and that Steve Banks wrote of its shortcomings. Is it implied that there was also Jidenco version of the short slatted one?