HOn30 Shorty Class B Climax

Here is another simple and beginner friendly HOn30 Freelance Climax, this time though it’s a Class B. This model was designed to be printed on an FDM printer with a standard 0.4 mm nozzle and uses the inexpensive and readily available Kato 11-105, 11-106, or 11-107 chassis for power. 

Tips for printing:

Print each of the files making sure to orient them correctly. I find it best to print the frame, stack, and domes upside down, the cab upright with support, and the rods and pilot steps on their backs. I printed the roof on its side sticking upwards with surprising success. Support is needed for the boiler, cab, and the ends of the rods. I also recommend brims for the domes to help them print.

(I’ve attached a picture of how I orient my parts for the “best” surface finish.)

Print 1 of each file and print 2 sets of the Pilot Steps and Domes (you’ll need 4 steps and 2 domes in total). 

If there is enough interest, I may design some additional stacks/funnels, let me know your thoughts.

Assembly:

What you’ll need: Printed components, Kato chassis, paint, super glue, small file or sand paper (just in case of fitment issues or), and any additional detail parts you want to add,

Start by dry fitting the frame, boiler, and cab to the chassis. They should slide down over the top of the chassis without forcing them (they are a snug fit and can be a bit fiddly, sand or file the openings to your desired fitment. Also check the fitment of the roof on the cab and adjust if necessary. Once satisfied with the fitment you can paint the parts first or just glue them together. For me it was easiest to glue everything together except for the roof, paint the model, then glue the roof on.

To assemble the model, I like to use the chassis for alignment, use glue sparingly on the bottom of the cab and boiler slide them into place. The rods glue onto the sides of the frame (the rear is notched to help with alignment and the ends of the rods stick up into the cylinders). The stack and domes have pins to help with alignment (the holes on the boiler may need to be drilled out slightly depending on your printer and settings). The roof has a guide built in for alignment and should fit snuggly on top of the cab. Finally glue on the pilot steps to the front and rear of the frame, there are notches to help position these. The chassis can be secured with some Blu-tack or a small drop of hot glue but I just leave mine loose for easier maintenance. Add your fuel of choice to the rear (coal, wood, or leave it empty for oil) and you’re ready to go!

Final notes:

I wish there was a way to make moving side rods for this but alas any kind of mechanism would be way too complex or defeat the purpose of making this a budget model. At least the static ones are quartered!

Interesting fact: this model was inspired by seeing a picture of Aspen Models’ N scale brass Climax, you should check it out, it’s pretty neat looking.

For couplers, you can use the standard Rapido style couplers, but I switched mine to Kato 923500 knuckles with minimal fuss using Kato 923524 cover plates. Roundhouse and Fox Valley Models also make nice more straight forward conversion knuckle couplers (but I only recommend the coupler swap for more experienced modelers doing it at their own risk).

The models pictured are an early iteration, and my personal model that has been painted.

If you have any comments, questions, suggestions, or funny remarks feel free to reach out to me. My goal is to offer a decent selection of FDM friendly HOn30 locos (and maybe even some rolling stock) for beginners or those that don’t want to mess with resin printers (and some models for those that do!). As always, I hope to be sharing more of my models in the future including a small diesel critter and some other Hon30 locomotives designed for Resin Printing.

Best Regards,

Dr. Fixet