Hi Andrew,
10.6.8 is the last system which will work for Freehand. So officially the "Macbook Pro early 2011" will be the last one which will run officially with 10.6.8. But the "late 2011" can also run with 10.6.8. You need a installed copy of this system on en external disc. Then you can clone it to the internal disc / SSD.
But a "much faster" alternative will be a virtualized 10.6.8 System. There are ways to install 10.6.8 in VM-Ware fusion or Parallels. That way you can buy actual Hardware. Keep in mind thea with VM-Ware you can only use one screen (I've found no way to get FM-Ware to use both screens of my Macbook and the external 30" display
)