In the Beginning--Climax Build
Class A Climax build
At some point, I want to have a working Class A Climax on my future HOn30/HO railroad. I’ve never scratch-built anything other than a boxing ring and punching bag in HO, and done a few kitbashes. Hence, I hesitate to use an expensive working locomotive, and currently lack the funds to buy the Mark Rollins kit, or the desire to risk ruining one until I polish my skills. So, to freelance scratchbuild a small Climax, both to have something parked on a siding, and to practice scratch-building.
I started with Mark Rollin’s pdf plans for a Class A Climax, found here: http://mrollins.com/climaxpix.html, an assortment of Evergreen styrene, brass wire, miscellaneous other stuff, and some old n-gauge freight cars with metal wheels—purchased to become HOn30 rolling stock. I can tell that some Archer Transfers rivets, bought at Springfield, will be VERY useful.
Progress on Climax A #1, March 29, 2013
After comparing the wheelbase on Mark Rollin’s plans, I chose the caboose as my first victim. Victim chosen, I cut a piece of styrene to the size of the deck—then another one, as I failed to get the sides paralell. Success there; I put it aside. (I might not use it in the end; I might go with a real wood deck. But—best to get cutting plastic instead of planning forever—this is an experiment. I did the deck first because everything must fit on it. If she sizes of other pieces are a bit off, well, there were different variants of the Class A—but they have to FIT.
After cutting the deck and putting it aside, I went on to the next step—the tank. I brought the plans with me to Ace Hardware, and bought a piece of PVC pipe a bit smaller than the tank. I made the tank using the boiler techniques in Kenneth Rickman’s article, “Scratchbuilding a Steam Locomotive, Part I in the June 2012 issue of Model Railroad Hobbyist.
Not having the article in front of me, I didn’t boil the plastic quite long enough, but it did the trick. I then layered another identical piece on top, and repeated, to get the correct thickness. Plastic glue between the layers held them together, though tape was definitely needed to keep them together until it was set—boiling for the recommended 5 minutes likely would have made it easier. I also discovered that my ACE hardware has brass and aluminum tubes, strips, and sheets
I superglued a quarter to a sheet of thin styrene, and let it dry. I then uses a hobby knife to cut around the quarter. I removed the quarter and glued the resulting disk to the top of the water tank. 400 grit sandpaper sufficed to smooth it down nicely.
At this point, I have the basic tank and the deck. I bought a dowel the correct diameter for the boiler (about ¼ the price at Michaels compared to at ACE)
I cut it to length, and will try using that as the boiler bottom. (I want to experiment with different materials.) If this fails, I’ll try another way—brass (expensive) tubing, perhaps. There’s no PVC in the correct size, or even close. The stack will be brass tubes I already have.
I’m not sure how I’ll do the place where the boiler tapers to become the stack—perhaps hunt up a tiny funnel or an Estes rocket nosecone.
Any thoughts for a novice scratchbuilder will be MUCH appreciated. (Also, any thoughts on how to make this blog easier to use.
Too much detail? Not enough?
(Hopefully, this discussion will be intense, and build to a grand Climax!)