HOn30 Electric Steeple Cab

Fresh off the Mad Doctor's operating table is my version of ubiquitous steeple Cab designed for HOn30. I've made steam and diesel engines, so why not an electric loco? This model was designed to be printed on an FDM printer with a standard 0.4 mm nozzle and 0.12mm layer height. All parts are designed to be printed with no support. Also, this model is designed for use on the inexpensive and readily available Kato 11-105, 11-106, or 11-107 chassis for power.

Tips for printing:
Print 1 of each file and two sets of headlights, catenary poles, and pilot ends. I recommend printing the body right side up, the frame upside down; and the headlights and the pilot ends on their backs. Finally I recommend printing the roof on its side sticking upwards. (I’ve attached a picture of how I orient my parts for the “best” surface finish.)

(A plain roof has been provided if you want don't want to use the trolley poles.)

Assembly:
What you’ll need: Printed components, Kato Chassis, paint, super glue, small file or sand paper (just in case of fitment issues), and any additional detail parts you want to add.
Check the fitment of the frame and body on the chassis and make any adjustments necessary. 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 body and adjust if necessary. The catenary poles glue to the roof and the headlights to each end of the body, the pilot ends and body glue to the frame, and the roof glues to the body.

Final notes:
The catenary poles have a compliant mechanism designed into them in the form of a "hinge" to allow them to be position-able. With the right print settings these should move up and down and stay in which ever position you set them to.

I was experimenting with print settings and this one came out looking pretty rough so I decided to weather it to hide the bad print job and not waste the parts.

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).

If you have any comments, questions, suggestions, or funny remarks feel free to reach out to me. As always, I hope to be sharing more of my models in the future and if you have any suggestions for models you’d like to see in HOn30 let me know.

Best Regards,
Dr. Fixet