# 13 Ton Climax Steam Engine



## Carl (Feb 19, 2012)

With a little bit of time during the evening hours, I have been cutting, gluing and painting my attempt at a derelict 13 ton Climax steam engine, without trucks or motor.

This will be placed on the layout near an abandoned rail line. All material is styrene. 

The car is based upon a drawing of a Class A Two Truck I found on the Internet.










I have found that a photo of the item, especially in the smaller scale is a great way to find things on the model that need to be fine tuned. As you can see, a little more work with the paint brush is need


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

Great work, but because I'm too dumb to know yet, it just looks like some kind of small shack to me. But again, that's my lack of knowledge.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Here's what he's building, X...










...just missing the mechanism.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Shay, that kinda' looks like a shack with a smokestack!  I think he's doing pretty well with his model.


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

shaygetz said:


> Here's what he's building, X...


Not trying to be a tool - but except for the roof - it hardly looks like the engine you posted.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

You can see the boiler under the roof and the stack peeking through....:thumbsup:


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

shaygetz said:


> You can see the boiler under the roof and the stack peeking through....:thumbsup:


Some parts look OK, others do not.

Again, I don't mean to rain on his parade, but parts of it don't match up to your posting shay.

I hope you all do not only want positive reviews around here.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

X, he's actually being true to form and real life, Those shay's were almost all on-sight hand built units not clean picture perfect units like the rest of the production units! 
Logging companies would just whip up what ever they had around or could make to get the job done!

Carl,
You get :thumbsup::thumbsup::wood: from me and :knock_teeth_out: :smilie_daumenneg: to X!


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

Oh OK, from now on, I'll only give positive reviews! No criticism! It's all good!

Yay!


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

:laugh::laugh::laugh:
You really don't like it?


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

NIMT said:


> :laugh::laugh::laugh:
> You really don't like it?


I LOVE IT!

I wouldn't change a single thing!

Everyone get's an A+ on this forum no matter what!

:thumbsup:Yay! :thumbsup:


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Carl,

OK ... I'm stumped ... 

How does one get styrene to look exactly like old, weathered, dirty wood? Paint work, I guess, but the weathering is excellent.

That said, did you consider fabricating the model from actual wood, where the wood grain could absorb stain/weathering more readily than non-porus styrene?

TJ


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## Xnats (Dec 5, 2010)

Carl said:


> I have found that a photo of the item, especially in the smaller scale is a great way to find things on the model that need to be fine tuned. As you can see, a little more work with the paint brush is need


I'm laughing with you Carl. So many things I've sit here and was like " not to bad :thumbsup:" then go take a picture to post online and  "crap how did I miss that" :laugh: Looks fantastic though, your off to a great start. TJ is right about the paint, I guess you already knew about sanding the sheen off styrene. I just learned that one this week, what a world of difference doing so.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Someone once said if you can't say something good... how did that go again?


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Someone once said if you can't say something good... how did that go again?


OK john, let's get the policy out front.

Does this forum only want positive criticism? Everyone get's an "A"? When I put up my track plan I got criticism and used it to make it better - I didn't complain. IMHO, you shouldn't be trying to prevent criticism of other's work, because that criticism only makes it better, if they take it in stride. 

If you see it different let's hear it.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

If you've read my posts, I will disagree with opinions regularly.  I tend to take it easy on newbies until they get past my gruff exterior.


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> If you've read my posts, I will disagree with opinions regularly.  I tend to take it easy on newbies until they get past my gruff exterior.


OK, so why are you jumping my a** here?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

xrunner said:


> OK, so why are you jumping my a** here?


Gee, I didn't think I was jumping you, did it seem that way. Besides, you're not a newbie anymore.


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Gee, I didn't think I was jumping you, did it seem that way.


You and others - yep, it sure does.



> Besides, you're not a newbie anymore.


It appears that there is some kind of unspoken "newbie" policy here, which I've run across before, I think Tankist got hammered by a group a while back for criticizing.

Let's just stop that policy how about it? In the rules (by the way - where are the rules of this forum?) we should have a notice that if you post up your work, you need to be able to handle both positive and negative criticism, and other members should respect your right of free speech and not try to prevent or stifle constructive criticism. If you don't want any criticism, do not post up your picture.

If the guy is confident that his model replicates what he wants, all he has to do is ignore me, explain why it is correct, or just say thanks for the observation but I like it. Makes no difference to me what he tells me. He is free to read both the positive and negative and take what he will from it all. But first and foremost - do not try to stop others right to criticize. Doing that or implying it's impolite or unwarranted is worse than the original criticism, by a long shot.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I'm just another poster here, I don't make rules. If something I say offends you, my advice is to simply pass the post by.

Since this isn't the place for this kind of dialog, this will be my last post here on the topic.


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> If something I say offends you, my advice is to simply pass the post by.


Yet when you saw my criticism, it was OK for you to make this comment -



gunrunnerjohn said:


> Someone once said if you can't say something good... how did that go again?


I guess you don't practice what you preach eh? Why didn't you pass my post by ...



> Since this isn't the place for this kind of dialog, this will be my last post here on the topic.


Where is the right place then?


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

OK, guys ... 'nuff said, or take this elsewhere (PM's).

In short: members should be polite and helpful. Criticism is OK, as long as it's done politely, respectfully, and helpfully.

Moving on now ...

TJ


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## flyvemaskin (Nov 19, 2011)

You have to know about these old logging railroads to appreciate what he's doing. Few realise that the vertical boilers were indeed a part of the old time logging locos. Carl is doing a nice job on the loco. You guys may not know it but a fellow N scaler named Randy Gustafson makes a kit of a loco just like Carl's, and it's just like Carl's loco. Randy's loco uses a Kato 105 powered chasis for the tiny little loco.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

They apparently come in all shapes and sizes.


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## flyvemaskin (Nov 19, 2011)

They do, and I doubt anyone would ever find two that are alike unless some outfit built a couple using the same materials, that's what makes these old logger locos so much fun, anything goes as far as their construction went. When someone is curious because they don't have knowledge of something because they don't model that particular, it's always fun to let them know what you do and help them learn a little about it. I'm a logging fan big time, and have researched this stuff for years. These old loggers are a sorta special interest type deal. but fun as all get out.


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

xrunner said:


> Does this forum only want positive criticism? Everyone get's an "A"? ...


of course not.



> OK john, let's get the policy out front.
> ...


that's the thing, there is no written or implied policy. as long as your point is substantiated and conversation done politely you are good. be prepared to have that point discussed however. 


to the topic. i do like what OP is shown so far. he did demonstrate level of workmanship and attention to detail. at least in my eyes it does looks close enough to the possible prototype AFAIK (I'm not a logging/narrow road SME either). 
and it is obviously work in progress , lets see it how it turns out .


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## Carl (Feb 19, 2012)

Lets see if I can answer some of the questions raised.

Prototype:

Mr Randquist has produced a kit of a 13 ton Climax with a vertical boiler. His kit is focused on a operating Climax. My goal was to cobble together a Climax that had been taken out of service and left for the scrap yard. The kit is excellent and could be considered be considered by the serious modeler. Mr. Randquist site is found here...http://www.randgust.com/prod02.htm

The drawings that I used, with a little bit of license, was from this site:
http://www.gearedsteam.com/dunkirk/images.htm

My further research told me that that was not a clear standard set and that many of the logging railroads made their own, as stated by one of the above posters. This gave me the license to slightly deviate. 

Materiel Used:

Styrene versus wood......I typical use wood but for this project, I thought I my try styrene, knowing that the end product was to look like an engine that had been negelated over time. Before cutting any of the styrene to size, I subjected the stock material to a sanding, using a medium grade sand paper and the application of Floquil Primer paint.

I used FolkArt Barnwood acrylic paint with a washes of acrylic Black paint. Rust look for the boiler and stack was attempted using combines of Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna.

Thank you for the comments.


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

If you will review what I said, I started with this -



xrunner said:


> Great work, but because I'm too dumb to know yet, it just looks like some kind of small shack to me. But again, that's my lack of knowledge.


Here's the original pic -










Then I was presented with a pic by shaygetz that was meant to show what he was modelling, here -



shaygetz said:


> Here's what he's building, X...


That does not look much like the model Carl presented, to me, except for the roof. All I could infer by your posting that was that his model was meant to model that machine, at least parts of it, and it doesn't match up in quite a few areas.

After I got home I did my own research on climax engines and found this -










If the latter picture or others that show how different these were, had been presented as a comparison, it would have made a lot more sense. I am not sure how many people looking at it would understand it was part of an engine, to me it needs more parts to put it into context, like part of the boiler or a few wheels - I still see a small shack when I look at it, but the main point we all end up emphasizing is that it's your layout and you know best in the end what makes your layout work.


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## Carl (Feb 19, 2012)

To set the record start. Logging railroads would strip boilers, trucks, valves, piping, etc. before they would set the Climax aside.


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## turducken34 (Nov 1, 2011)

Nice work. That's something I don't think I could ever do, especially with styrene. I know nothing about old logging RR's, but that looks great!


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## Xnats (Dec 5, 2010)

Great run down on the painting technique Carl :thumbsup: It would pretty cool with some broken trucks on a abandon side all overgrown. Maybe some of the boiler parts close by, and the crew still working on striping it down 
I keep looking how straight your ripped pieces are, are you using a chopper? I keep telling myself it is worth the 35 bucks to get one.


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