K4/3 and K37/2 Leyland Tippers

[Ewan]

This will be my last SuperKing posting for a while, the fun vouchers have all gone

The K4/3 Leyland Tipper was one of the models which made the transition from King Size to SuperKing, and consequently has it's own page on Nick's site so I'll try not to duplicate too much. The colour scheme does not appear to have been altered too much with the change, the orange cab and chassis are lighter and the tipper body seems unchanged in metallic green although the King Size version has a few shades of green and I don't know if this is the case for the SuperKing. There is also a blue and silver version which was released in one of the Big M-X Sets, this is quite an attractive livery but unfortunately, being a Big M-X model there is a plastic plug protruding through the grille which ruins the appearance for me. Given that the Big M-X sets were a bit of a flop I'd love to think that there are some blue and silver models out there with normal grilles, can anyone enlighten me?

Some sources give the SuperKing K4 the designation K4/3 (same as the King Size) whereas some use K4/4 - I have no idea which is correct/preferred. The model was replaced in 1974 with one of Lesney's own creations - the K4 Big Tipper. By the late 1970s the whole range started to become more realistic once more and one result was the K37/2 Leyland Tipper. This was an updated/reworked K4 in attractive red and yellow Laing's colours and I think came out in 1979. Both versions are quite easy to come by, like many tippers they seem to generally lead hard lives and are frequently seen with bad paint (especially the K4), missing tailgates and bent axles. There also seem to be many K37/2s on ebay still in their boxes. One of the main purposes of this thread is to highlight the differences between the two castings which are at first glance pretty similar.

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The most obvious differences are at the front of the cab. They reflect Leyland's updating of the 'Ergo' cab. The cab was fitted to many Leyland models, I think the K4 is a Comet / Super Comet and the K37 is a Lynx

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There is another easy to see difference at the rear. The part that sticks out under the tipper body has vanished from the K37. I have seen things like this on trucks - can anyone tell me what it is? Main purpose on the model seems to be a tipper stop.

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Moving underneath, you can see the space between the rear wheels has been completely filled in and a simpler axle clip used. The diagonal chassis crossmembers have also been smoothed over.

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Moving back again, now that the protruding bit has been removed the ends of the chassis legs have been lengthened slightly and reshaped, presumably to stop the tipper going too far back. The SuperKing wheels changed every now and again and in this instance I prefer the later ones - more truck-like.

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Finally the artwork on the rear of the box. I don't have a box for my K4, but there is an excellent photo of one in the section on Nick's site. The K37 box was still art rather than photo, which must make it one of the last new boxes for the SuperKing range before the move to photos.

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When you look at all the differences between the K4 and the K37, only the tipper body and front half of the chassis rails remain the same - was it an extensive reworking, or a brand new casting?

[Moyboy]

Would love to find one of those all lime green Wates trucks !

[Wolfie Ginsburg]

In my pinion it was a reworking of the K4 casting - firstly to MBX and then to K37

The first K4



The special issue that was produced only for the Wates construction company of South London



The SuperKings on general release also had Wates liveries




Then the blue BMX Leyland. I've never seen one without the BNX nozzle on the front grill

[Ewan]

Thanks again for the photos Wolfie. The all green Wates is very nice, and I see I have an orange and silver SuperKing to look out for.

[Ewan]

One of the thoughts to cross my mind on the K37/2 was that it was a shame there weren't more variations. I have subsequently obtained this example in silver and red, a variation I've never seen before. As I've seen loads of yellow and red K37s I assume the silver one is not as common and would love to know the story behind it. Bearing in mind my 'newness' to the SuperKings range it could well be quite common?

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The only other difference of significance I have found is that the glazing in this one is clear - is that commonly found on the yellow/red examples too?
Unfortunately the screen is rather damaged.

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And the decals on the front are a bit worn too

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It's funny how looking over a model again reveals details I've missed before. The tailgates are numbered on both the K4 and K37 (top right) and can be fitted either way round. The silver one has it on the outside, the yellow one on the inside

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And finally, the differences at the rear of the tipper body between K4 and K37/2. Less brackets on the K37

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[just_lesney]

Pre-production/cross-over model

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[SMS88]

Great to see pre-pro Big MX thanks just-Lesney
The cast block removed from the rear end appear to be an aborted tow hook mounting. This would have been a superb replacement for the deleted GMC twin tipper

[Ewan]

Pennies sometimes very slow to drop with me

I see from the pre pro photos that the 'sticking out bit' on my K4 is Big MX connected. I also see from looking at other K4s that they do not all have this.

Does this mean that the K4 casting was altered for the Big MX and used for all K4s from that point, or does this mean that surplus Big MX castings were used up by painting in standard colours?

[Ewan]

Latest addition to the growing tipper fleet is this pre Big MX K4 in Wates livery. Not mint but not bad either!

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It's a darker orange - noticeably lighter than my first one, is this the shade referred to on the site as 'burnt orange'

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The most obvious casting difference is at the rear

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And there is another difference, presumably related to the Big MX mechanism, behind the cab

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Finally, the floor of the tipper body is slightly different, with a small raised rectangle on the model with the Big MX style chassis

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All this leaves me wondering if there are dark orange tippers with Big MX style chassis and light orange tippers without Big MX style chassis....................

[nearlymint]

Picked up this unusual K37/2 with an unpainted base/raw mazak. Really wierd as the front of the lorry/bumper is painted silver, also the windows are amber on this one and not clear.
Must have missed the base painting process?

K37/2

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K37/2

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Jason