Trust me to post a few seconds before cclarry burried it beneath a zillion update announcments.
Anyway b-righetous on the NI forum camd back with an answer.
The parameter assignments are using VST host automation parameters. Kontakt does not have anything assigned to host parameter IDs by default. You have to open the Kontakt GUI and assign a knob to a host automation ID. You do this by opening the automation tab in the upper left and dragging a knob to an ID. Now it will appear as a parameter in KK.
This works. It has to be done for every NKI. Sometimes the parameter names are very cryptic but it seems like edit the display name in Komplete Kontrol, however something seems to be flakey with the renaming, its probably user error though.
I have started to get Indiginus Renegade done, in this case the parameter names seem quite sensible. For example the knob I have assigned to the pickup switch is labled PickupSw. I really like the way this text is displayed below the encoder on the Keyboard.
Oh - And I had better remember to backup the original NKIs before I mess with them!