I had a win on eBay a few weeks back, picking up 3 LNER CCTs from the Chivers stable already built from the USA for the right price (compared to a new kit - and that included very quick by US Mail standards, postage). I have been hoping to get a few more of these to go with the one example I have from when Chivers was still producing the whole range of their N Gauge kits (unlike the current situation where they seem to drip feed one shop in Preston, UK - I obtained 2 GWR Pythons from their eBay store following a tip off on the 2mm VAG a month or so ago).
When these landed the first thing I noticed was the paint job looked better in the pictures! Not a problem, as I was thinking of BR era (57 were built in 1950) rather than LNER so into the stripper they went. The clean up was pretty easy and then I had a closer look at the build.
A few issues need to be resolved. The Chivers kits are probably the best for minimum flash going around and these are no exception. There was the odd bit in the window apertures so I sorted that out and a bit on the roofs. Closer inspection of the roofs showed that while the vents had been fitted, only 4 out of 24 were aligned correctly so I have chopped them all off and will replace them with spares that I have - although I am leaning towards putting Ultima torpedo vents on instead because they are bigger and while possibly not to scale, they look "right" compared to the Chivers option.
On reflection the paint jobs will be three - one is going to get LNER teak to join the collection of LNER vans I have - and I will put 2mm replacement W irons on so I can put it on the 2mm track easily. One is also going to be painted BR Blue - although possibly not as weathered as the photos on Paul Bartlett's wagon site (link to the right). The third I am not sure about. I have one in Crimson so it may be painted maroon to give me the fourth option. Time will tell.
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