Thanks! This summer has been so relentlessly hot and humid that I'm accumulating a whole queue of stuff projects I can't paint until it lets up, with 4061 at the front. The only thing I've done while I wait is to bend some new coupler cut levers, after realizing that I'd stashed the original ones somewhere 'safe' and will thus never see them again
The humidity finally let up just long enough to move my paint queue along a little. In addition to finishing some weathering, I was able to get a coat of primer on 4061: There are a few funky spots on the end of the hood that I'll need to address and prime again. Not to mention priming all of the remaining details. I've got my fingers crossed, but the long-term forecast doesn't look super promising.
The weather and my ever-busier schedule finally aligned briefly to let me paint again. I managed to rush 85% of 4061, some weathered rolling stock in need of clear coat, and half a building through the paint booth before supper. This time I remembered to leave the bottom part of the nose red, but the decal edges will still need some touch ups to blend in seamlessly with the red paint.
I put 4061 together enough for a test run on the club layout. It runs even better than 4075, which has intermittent pickup issues despite my having repeatedly inspected, adjusted, cleaned, and polished every point of electrical contact between the track and the decoder. But they both generally run great. I will never get over how these these humble GP20s can creep like the hour hand on a clock. Now 4061 is apart again getting a light weathering. Photos of these locos taken only months apart in the 70s show that 4061 was downright clean by SP standards.
The one and only perk to my second bout of COVID is that it's given me time to finish up 4061. A few last paint touch-ups and I can move on to the next locos in the queue!
