IAN KIRK Coaches

[Matador]

Can anyone give opinions on IAN KIRK Coaches.

David

A Brit in the USA

[mikeg]

I've built 5 LNER coaches from Ians kits and very pleased with the results, although not yet finished, only a full brake painted I found them easy to make providing you take your time and ensure evrything is flat and square. I have used the bogies that came with the kits, as they made up OK and I could not justify the cost of brass kits, as I generally model the Southern, and the LNER ones are only for club use behind my A4 & Deltic, both to large to run on my loft layout due to under 5ft rad curves.

 

I have seen some midland coaches made from Kirk kits at the club and they looked very good and the chap who made them said they went together very easily.

 

hope this is of use

 

mike g

[davec.hh]

Hi,

 

I've a couple to make up and bought a couple that were built. They seem to be quite reasonable. Have a look at the Sheffield 0 Gauge group web site under projects (http://www.sheffield23.fsnet.co.uk/) Tales from Barlow Works. This shows A number of projects written up by the current Chairman - Mike Cawthorne. There are some photos in the material. They do look good and were currently (last Friday) on the club layout.

 

They certainly work out cheaper than a brass kit.

 

Hopefully that will be useful to you.

 

DaveC

[HSB]

HI,

I've built a couple of LMS non-corridor coaches and am quite pleased with the results. They, did, however, require some carving to reduce the height of the ends and the instructions should be viewed with a certain amount of scepticism. Basically you need a decent drawing and photographs before you start rather than rely on the instructions.

To be fair, he does say they are for people who are used to scratch-building.

 

Howard

[glo41f]

Hi

 

I have made several of both the LNER types and some LMS ones. They go together well with care and are in my opinion really good value for money. It is also possible to cut and shut the standard parts to make other vehicles. The LNEr and LMS coach drawings books are invaluable to get the details right.

 

Regards

 

Martin

[66C]

Hi David

 

If you are a member of the Gauge 0 Guild you can search the Gazette archive for articles and reviews. There are several that you will find useful.

 

Bottom line - Ian's kits are great value for money and easy to improve upon by adding additional detailing.

 

It is well worth investing in appropriate reference material - the historic carriage drawings series of books in particular are most useful.

 

Here is one of mine:

 

 

Regards.

[chaz]

Here's a diag 67 - non-vestibule brake van which I built from a Kirk kit.

 

 

IMHO the panelling on the sides is more convincing than many etched brass kits. the second snap is a close-up which I took to illustrate a weathering technique that I used on it (completely overpaint with a filth colour and then clean it off again).

 

 

I thought the Kirk parts easy to use, given a little care. On a van like this, where there is no internal detail to bother with (at least I didn't bother - being firmly of the "If you can't see it, don't model it" school of modelling) it's a fairly quick build. A passenger coach would take rather longer, of course.

 

Incidentally some years ago there was a short lived magazine (a forerunner to MRJ?) which was edited by Iai Rice and Mike Peascod called RailModel Digest. Issue No 3 contains a useful article on building a pair of Gresley suburban coaches. A copy of this might be found on the net.....?

 

hope that's some help?

 

Chaz

[RedgateModels]

Thanks for this topic, as a result I've checked out what is offered and am quite tempted to an outside framed Syphon for Fourgig East

[Jon Fitness]

Thanks for this topic, as a result I've checked out what is offered and am quite tempted to an outside framed Syphon for Fourgig East

Just built one. Very nice kit but early pattern bogies supplied with the kit. Later Pattern ones will need to be sourced seperately.

I must admit it was a "spur of the moment" purchase and doesn't fit the era I bought it for and I should have got an inside framed one instead. I was thinking of a weathered blue one to go in my parcel train but they were all withdrawn by the late 1960's .

I've therefore painted it GW brown but I'm waiting to see if a couple of friends will go shares on the HMRS transfer sheet as AFAIK they do the only yellow GW transfers. It'll be appearing on an "auction site near you" shortly afterwards!

Nice kit nevertheless.

JF

[daifly]

 

I've therefore painted it GW brown but I'm waiting to see if a couple of friends will go shares on the HMRS transfer sheet as AFAIK they do the only yellow GW transfers. It'll be appearing on an "auction site near you" shortly afterwards!

Nice kit nevertheless.

JF

Bill Parker (WEP Models) also does yellow ones. They are listed on his paper catalogue but not online. I'll be getting some from him at Telford next week I hope.

 

Dave

[Jon Fitness]

Bill Parker (WEP Models) also does yellow ones. They are listed on his paper catalogue but not online. I'll be getting some from him at Telford next week I hope.

 

Dave

Cheers, I'll look out for them.

JF

[Phill Dyson (onslaught832)]

I have one of those outside framed Syphon G's too which I converted to the inside framed version, I also have one of Ian's Gresley Buffet kits to do. These kits offer excellent value for money & make into very nice models IMO .

 

Cheers Phill

[Vin]

These are great little kits. The main notes are they have no interior detail. The underframe components are basic and the bogies are slightly too narrow. The modular side panels are a good fit, but the roof can be a bit of a pig. This is because it is a vacuum form so needs a bit of fettling to get right. I've built a couple now (the only one on this forum is the blue/grey buffet coach) which is a interior design project than an out the box kit.

 

Vin

[peejay]

Matador

 

The Kirk kits are what they are, cheap 'n' cheerful but with care make a decent representation of the prototype. I have found the moulded parts for the underframe to be not as good as the body parts. If you intend to build bow-ended Gresley coaches, cutting the roof moulding requires a great deal of care to achieve a good fit. Overall if you want to build an exhibition model then look elsewhere but for a working layout they are good to go.

 

HTH

[Buckjumper]

Useful topic; in all the years I've been taking commissions I've never built a Kirk kit before, but I've got a Gresley Dia.65 to build next month. At Telford picked up some Sidelines 8' 6" Lightweight bogies to go underneath, and will be detailing it with castings from Sidelines and any other appropriate sources. It's got to hold its own against a Sidelines Dia.338 and spruced-up CRT Dia.265 so will make an interesting comparison.

 

Chaz - I like your Dia.67 very much.

[DOCJACOB]

I agree regarding the comments about the roof, though to be fair the brief instructions suggest building upside down and using the strenghtening strip to rest the built body/ends and roof on the coach floor. I agree look at the Sheffield site and also the Gauge o guild site as very helpful suggestions. There are also some ideas for a jig to build the sides up, I took the cheap option and used sone L shaped metal strips on a flat piece of wood set parallel and apart at the appropriate distance to make the full side up from the modular sections provided. Tiny bit of work and they look very presentable. Some suggest changing the bogies for metal but follow Sheffield instructions and OK. Finally think as a "scratch aid" and should be OK, as they represent good value. His own website as some images of built examples to encourage.

[Markeg]

Hi, I am new to O gauge and am planning a 12' end to end layout and have been looking for a LNER Push Pull coach and came across the Ian Kirk site. The items are reasonably priced, so I may buy 2 and these comments are helpful. I have built 2 00 gauge Ian Kirk coach kits and have 2 more on order. I have also built a Silver Jubilee set too and have the Coronation set t build.

 

I see there are no details about payment or posting overseas. I will check out H&A models and Invertrain.

Mark in OZ

[brossard]

I'm resurrecting this quite old thread.  I just received three Kirk LNER 7mm coach kits and now trying to climb the learning curve of detail bits.  I got my kits from Invertrain who at least have a proper web shop making purchase easy.

 

My other issue is that I've modelled LMS in 4mm for eons but thought I'd have a go with LNER for a change.  Of course I know very little about the details of the coaches.  I have queried British Railway Books to see if I can get Historic Railway Carriage Drawings for LNER by Nick Campling  (I have the other 2 volumes which are super), but no response yet.

 

So, obviously wheels are the first thing and Slaters 7125 3' 7" plain disc seem the thing.  That's solved then.

 

Next are buffers.  The coaches I have are gangwayed and I notice that there are two types of buffer - clipped and round.  From research I've done so far, I'm concluding that gangwayed coaches use clipped buffers.  Can someone confirm?  Invertrains list C014 from Northants which do look good.

 

Couplings - screw link obviously.  Invertrains list DA2 screw links from JPL but maddeningly provide no information or picture for them.  What do the experts out there recommend?

 

Gangways - there's a DAB16, again from JPL.  Any comments on this?

 

If there are any other things I should be aware of, I'd be grateful.

 

One thing to note is that I am in Canada so I'm not keen on traders that don't do PayPal or require me to leap through hoops to buy from them.

 

Thanks

 

John

[Mallard60022]

I'm resurrecting this quite old thread.  I just received three Kirk LNER 7mm coach kits and now trying to climb the learning curve of detail bits.  I got my kits from Invertrain who at least have a proper web shop making purchase easy.

 

My other issue is that I've modelled LMS in 4mm for eons but thought I'd have a go with LNER for a change.  Of course I know very little about the details of the coaches.  I have queried British Railway Books to see if I can get Historic Railway Carriage Drawings for LNER by Nick Campling  (I have the other 2 volumes which are super), but no response yet.

 

So, obviously wheels are the first thing and Slaters 7125 3' 7" plain disc seem the thing.  That's solved then.

 

Next are buffers.  The coaches I have are gangwayed and I notice that there are two types of buffer - clipped and round.  From research I've done so far, I'm concluding that gangwayed coaches use clipped buffers.  Can someone confirm?  Invertrains list C014 from Northants which do look good.

 

Couplings - screw link obviously.  Invertrains list DA2 screw links from JPL but maddeningly provide no information or picture for them.  What do the experts out there recommend?

 

Gangways - there's a DAB16, again from JPL.  Any comments on this?

 

If there are any other things I should be aware of, I'd be grateful.

 

One thing to note is that I am in Canada so I'm not keen on traders that don't do PayPal or require me to leap through hoops to buy from them.

 

Thanks

 

John

You may find that the Isinglass drawings are useful if a little expensive for 7mm (I believe). I'm sure someone might loan the drawings to you for postage fees only, or at least copy some details from the relevant books for your personal use?

I could try to do the latter if you need something and get no response from a proper LNER modeller that knows what's what (not me.......  )

Phil

[brossard]

Thanks Phil, if I can get the book it may provide the info I need.  I'll keep you in mind.  I am a bit of a brake gear nerd.  The kits do include the main underframe parts so I'll have to see if I can make sense of it all. 

 

John

 

Just want to say that I took at the Isinglass site and found it easy to use.  The drawings that I need are annotated with the Kirk kit number which made selection simple.  Payment was PayPal -

[Mallard60022]

Isinglass drawings are mini art works IMO. I'd frame them and keep them in the 'railway den'.

P

[brossard]

I thought about it and decided that the book I was after might have cost something not far removed from what I paid for the drawings, given some of the really silly prices on Amazon for out of print books.

 

John

[Mallard60022]

I thought about it and decided that the book I was after might have cost something not far removed from what I paid for the drawings, given some of the really silly prices on Amazon for out of print books.

 

John

Which book were you after? I have a few. PM me if you would rather discuss electronic communication of said book sections there.

Phil

[brossard]

Hi Phil, thanks.

 

This is the book I was after:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Historic-Carriage-Drawings-Vol-Constituents/dp/1899816046/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474379813&sr=1-3&keywords=historic+carriage+drawings

 

I've got the other two volumes and used them extensively in my model upgrades.  Note the price is about the same as 3 Isinglass drawings - and that's the cheap one.

 

John

 

Edit:  For clarity I have:

 

#7101 Dia 25 Corridor 3rd

#7102 Dia 41 Corridor Brake 3rd

#7103 Dia 111 Full Brake

[9430]

Hi David

 

If you are a member of the Gauge 0 Guild you can search the Gazette archive for articles and reviews. There are several that you will find useful.

 

Bottom line - Ian's kits are great value for money and easy to improve upon by adding additional detailing.

 

It is well worth investing in appropriate reference material - the historic carriage drawings series of books in particular are most useful.

 

Here is one of mine:

 

LMS period 2 non-corridor brake third coach in BR maroon.jpg

 

Regards.

Hi,

Lovely model, I have seven Stanier's to do.

 

Could you tell me how you did the hinges please?

 

Regards, Tim.