So I have sprung for both Kremsegg collections and although I have no idea where to start in my quest for the perfect GG 1895 Chickering emulation, I am in awe of these collections.

I believe that if Mr Gould were alive today, he would heartily apply his inimitable seal of approval

A good start could be the J.B. Streicher 440 with condition slider about 0.95.
After that, you need to emulate the cabin's reverb and...learn to sing off key as he does...

I believe that if Mr Gould were alive today, he would heartily apply his inimitable seal of approval

GG's restored Chickering piano... I was thinking I'd buy the new historical models but not sure if that's what I need for this sound... ah well I guess I'll buy them anyway, can't have too many pianos

If shiny new Steinways could not meet these demands it is no surprise, for the piano Gould always had in mind as an ideal was a baby grand made by the Boston-based firm Chickering (once a great rival of Steinway) in 1895. This extraordinary instument, he said, "is quite unlike almost any in the world, an extremely solicitous piano with a tactile immediacy almost like a harpsichord's. It gives me a sensation of being so close to the strings and so much in control of everything". With its crisp, feather-light action, tightly focused bass sonority, and unusually dry, refined tone in the upper registers, the Chickering was useless as a concert instrument in Lizst or Rachmaninov, but for that very reason suited Gould's fingers and temperament and repertoire perfectly. It gave him, he said, "the illusion of complete premeditated control and rapport".

As Pianoteq 5 does for me

I'm hoping to get close to emulating this piano for a project I am working on. Any suggestions on which model to begin with and which parameters to play with would be greatly appreciated.

PT5 Standard btw.