One of the most important accomplishments of the human race and we still don’t have a holiday to celebrate it. We landed on the Moon this day in 1969. I was still in high school. I stayed home for the entire mission and watched every step of the way there and back.

Since that time we haven’t done enough with manned exploration of space because some people have their priorities all wrong. We should have had a base on the moon and been to Mars already.

Go Artemis. Go NASA. Take us there.

Today is a holiday to remember and dream about returning to the Moon and beyond. It’s Moon Landing Day. Make it so.

Yesterday I cast a Talosian and made up a X-15 Rocket Kit.

Tomorrow I’ll paint the Talosin mask and ship the rocket kit.

Today we are taking the day off in remembrance of this most important day.

Mike Tenney bought all three of my Star Trek masks. The Talosian, Salt Vampire, and Balok. He did such a great job displaying them.

All these masks are still for sale in the mask collectors store.

It was an amazing weekend. From Kayaking, flying and visiting friends it was very full. I even got a little more time on the free flight airplane build. 

It was a great day at our local field Sunday. Everyone flew their stuff and had a great time. I flew my P-51 again. It was amazing to watch this Pony in the sky. I throttled back and just flew at scale speeds. I took pictures of this rather large Pit’s Special a guy was flying there.

I flew to other planes. My Silky Sky and an E powered glider I forgot I owned that was hanging at the studio.

My kit winder arrived in the mail this weekend. This will be used to pull light weight free flight gliders and small RC gliders up and into the air. Once released they fly on the lift.

Today we are back at the studio working on personal projects and one rocket kit order.

We are open for all orders from our store and this is a good time to order as we are caught up and you can expect a short turn around for your orders.

Officially this month of July, is SNG Studio’s  9th Anniversary. We’ve been in Ventura nearly a decade. (Yes, we are planning a Ten Year Anniversary Party for next year) 

So many things have been made at our studio from the Enterprise to the  Captain’s chair,the space station from 2001: a space odyssey , Moon Watcher, the Star child, and numerous models and masks. Even a replica of my famous Laserblast gun.

We have had many famous visitors such as D.C. Fontana who wrote some of the best TOS Star Trek episodes ever, Gary Lockwood. Dan Richter, Doug Drexler, John Savage, Ve Neill, and countless others.

Me with the great writer of Star Trek DC Fontana.

Here’s Dan Richter wearing the re-creation of his famous mask from the movie 2001: a space odyssey .

We even had the writer that wrote Inner Light. 

Morgan Gendel.  People from NASA and others from aerospace have graced us with their presence. So many I can’t name them all. The studio has been a magnet for amazing people.

And I have made amazing things for fellow makers such as my friend, Adam Savage. To say we have been blessed would be an understatement. I can’t think of many studios like ours that have remained in one place and their doors open so long.

We made movies and used the bay of our studio as a sound stage.

Presently, we are in a summer slump. The last two weeks have been pretty quiet for us. It’s not unusual as summer often brings a lull for us. Then it picks up again around September. During this time we are cleaning up the place and making changes and adding shelves for masks and so on. A matter of fact, anyone who was to place an order for something would get it lightning fast because it would be the only thing on the order and idea board. 

Last Saturday we were at Channel View Park near the Rudder Room painting En Plein Air.

Mary finished a 10 inch round weaving this week, a Garden.

I’ve been building some new RC and free flight airplanes. 

I’ve nearly finished The WW1 Fokker DVIII. Lovely little 30 inch span plane is nearly finished  and will  fly  next Sunday.

I’ve been sifting through non-RC model kits that I have and plan to start a new build. It all started with kit builds so I’m building one for old times sake. Steve Neill’s Garage was named by Doug Drexler 12 years ago when I started building models for hire and documented it on video. That old YouTube channel had over a million subscribers. I posted daily. To see what they were like you can go to this link where I uploaded 47 videos of me building the very first original series Star Trek Enterprise that started it all: https://vimeo.com/showcase/6042148
The scratch build of the Enterprise was started during some rather rough times for me. My late wife, Gilly, was fighting cancer and money was tight. Doug Drexler came over one day to see my progress on the large model and asked why I wasn’t getting more done on it. When I explained my situation, Doug asked me how much I needed to complete the project. He then got out his checkbook and wrote me a check. He gave it to me with no strings attached or expectations other than seeing the model finished. That’s the kind of man and friend Doug is and a day doesn’t go by when I don’t look at that model in my office and thank him for it.

And then there is you. You who have supported the studio in your friendship and contributions. Yes, we are truly blessed because of your friendship.

We love you a whole bunch
Steve and Mary

The Art of Steve Neill

SNG Studio on Patreon

Fine Art America – Steve Neill 

Collectors’ Mask Store

SNG Aero – Rockets by Steve Neill
…and Mary on the web
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“We were told that we would see America come and go. In a sense, America is dying, from within, because they forgot the instructions of how to live on earth. It’s the Hopi belief, it’s our belief, that if you are not spiritually connected to the earth, and understand the spiritual reality of how to live on earth, it’s likely that you will not make it.

Everything is spiritual, everything has a spirit, everything was brought here by the creator, the one creator. Some people call him God, some people call him Buddha, some people call him Allah, some people call him other names. We call him Tunkaschila… Grandfather.

We are here on earth only a few winters, then we go to the spirit world. The spirit world is more real than most of us believe.

The spirit world is everything. Over 95% of our body is water. In order to stay healthy, you’ve got to drink good water. … Water is sacred, the air is sacred.

Our DNA is made out of the same DNA as the tree, the tree breaths what we exhale, we need what the tree exhales. So we have a common destiny with the tree.

We are all from the earth, and when the earth, the water, the atmosphere is corrupted, then it will create its own reaction. The mother is reacting.

In the Hopi prophecy, they say the storms and floods will become greater. To me, it’s not a negative thing to know that there will be great changes. It’s not negative, it’s evolution. When you look at it as evolution, it’s time, nothing stays the same. You should learn how to plant something. That is the first connection.

You should treat all things as spirit, realize that we are one family. It’s never something like the end. It’s like life, there is no end to life.”

~Floyd Red Crow Westerman

Borrowed from All Natives United

“We are all connected; we all belong.”

All this year it’s been non-stop busy at the studio. And the last month and a half I’ve been behind on orders. Now I’m all caught up. Everything is finished and sent. For the first time in months you can hear a pin drop.

There were a bunch of interviews, live streams, podcasts and more. Book interviews, magazine interviews and visitors to the studio durring that time.

Now it’s quiet and it’s kinda nice.

I have so many personal projects that have been hanging in the breeze. There’s shop clean up that’s badly needed. I want to make some more paintings and plan to start a new one this week.

I got to put in nearly a full day on the DVIII build and got the basic paint scheme accomplished. Next I’ll do the iron cross marking on the wing, tail, and fuselage.

And then there’s that “what’s next?” thing. The phone could ring. Or I get an email and the SNG universe reality changes again. I guess that’s the real joy and beauty of being a working, successful artist. You never know what the future will bring and when it does it’s always fascinating and enjoyable.

In closing i’d like to thank James Cawly of the Star Trek Set tours https://www.startrektour.com/ for placing my large 66 inch TOS Enterprise in such a place of honor among the sets there and other tresures from the original series.

I painted both Seemores but unfortunately forgot to take pictures. I thought I had. They weren’t on the phone. So Monday I’ll get pictures and post them. They came out great. Also the ship Monday.

Being sick all week this is all I got done. But I caught up with all my orders and I’m going to rest up this weekend. See you all on Monday.

After the Dick Smith Birthday celebration it was three days later I started to feel a bit sick. I tested for covid and came up negative. Still I got something that made me pretty sick and miserable for 9 days now. It’s much better now and I’m sure by tomorrow I’ll be out of the woods.

This was my mistake for not wearing a mask at the event. I started wearing one but then noticed knowone else was. Many people got close to me and I could feel their breath on my face. They all seemed healthy enough but nevertheless I caught something from them and paid the price. a price that was considerably higher than the discomfort of wearing a mask in a movie screening theater. 

I will never in the future go to any event or public place with large numbers of people without wearing a mask again. I don’t care what people think of me or say to me. A person in the grocery store recently banged into my shoulder and called me a Maskhole. Little did he know by definition the word is defined as someone who denies science and refuses to wear a mask. How very sad.

So to make a long story shorter this is why I have been delayed and behind the last couple of weeks. Moral to the story. Wear a mask when out and about. It’s a cheap investment in your health and couldn’t hurt. And  wash your hands constantly especially after using the gas pump! There’s all kinds of things you can catch besides Covid out there and you can give it unknowingly to your family and friends. Not cool.

Back to our regular program schedule we worked on prepping two Seemore masks yesterday for painting today. They needed bubble removal, patching, and grinding the seams off.  Both these masks should ship Monday. Sorry for the delay.

Next week the Laserblast mask sculpture begins.

This Sunday I give this beautiful airplane its first flight. It’s a 22 year old epoxy glass fuselage and balsa built Japanese kit called the “Silky Wind”. A rare find I owe to Dave at Smith Brothers Hobby Center for finding. It came from an estate sale.

I have been for the last several days. I took the weekend and Monday off. I went into LA yesterday and visited Burman Industries and picked up more rubber for mask orders.

I also visited Smith Brothers Hobby Center and picked up some supplies and a model airplane new in the box from 2001 called a Silky wind. Wonderful large park flyer that’s relaxing to fly and beautifully made with an epoxy glass fuselage and balsa built up wings and tails. These are rare these days and I thank Dave at Smith Brothers for giving me a chance to get one.

These are pictures I found on the net of a compLeted model. I should have it flying by the weekend.

I’m back at the studio today to pack more orders and clean up the two Seemores for painting tomorrow.