It’s been nearly a month to the day but the Enterprise E is finished. I even installed the plug in the base so you can plug in the power supply and remove it for transportation.

This was a very hard build in part due to its small size and trying to fit an elephant into a glove box. The other is the decals. So many. Hundreds. And many of them are in poor condition due to their age.

I did get the rest of the decals applied yesterday. And I painted on clear by hand with a soft brush. I have found in the past if you use an airbrush the decals will sometimes fly off never to be seen again.

The clear I used was Testors acrylic clear matt which is self leveling and looks the same both hand painted and airbrushed. I will miss this clear. I had one bottle in my stash. Now that the evil Rustoleum people have seen to its demise after purchasing Model Masters paints, Testors Model Masters no longer exist and Rustoleum’s paints suck!

With the exception of maybe a couple of paint touch ups this model is complete. Now I’m moving on to the K-7 Space Station.

BTW Mary had an old friend stop by the other day who is also a film studio electrician. Our old fluorescent lights started failing a while back and they completely died a month ago. He fixed all our lighting in the building with new modern LED lighting and the place is so lit up you’ll need sunglasses. A welcome change.

For the first time in ages you can make out what the monolith painting is on the wall with the EVA Pod from 2001.

Tonight we have a “First Friday” open studio and art exhibit with a guest artist displaying her work in our Gallery.

All day again I applied decals. I darn near got them all on. As I had my fair share of problems. As it turns out these decals haven’t been sold for years and they were old. They were slowly disintegrating on me and I had to work fast. Overall they look good but it was a bit stressful.

All I have left to do is place the markings that came with the kit. Those decals are fine so it should go easy. Once they are on Friday it gets a clear coat to protect the decals.

I’ll start painting the base tomorrow too. It should all be done Friday.

I had a minute at the end of the day where I had to wait on some of the decals to dry. So I painted Philips Spock ears he will pick up Friday.

It was a good day.

I was sitting having a nice cup of tea with Mary and the beautiful lines of our car caught my eye.

At our studio one never knows what might show up in the mailbox. I always check in the morning and when I opened my box the package key was in my box. So I unlocked the box for oversized packages and took out the contents. I haven’t ordered anything and lcearly judging by the box it wasn’t commercial.

I noticed the return address and name right away. It was my long time friend and customer Christopher Hunt who I have built models for and masks for. From time to time he sends Mary and I wonder things at random in the mail.

I opened the box and I first saw this.

As I unpacked it the first thing I saw was a thumb and then an entire hand. Thing! He sent me Thing. This is the version from “Wednesday” which Mary and I are fans of. In Fact we love anything Adams family. 

Chris to say we love this would be an understatement! We adore it. Thing is the studio mascot. He has tea and lunch with us at our lunch table. Thank you!!!!

The Enterprise continues. I managed to get more than half the decals on her hull yesterday and will complete them today.

Soon I’ll be able to turn my attention to new projects as early as next week. It’s been a long haul.

These Acreations decals are the best I have ever used. They are making my life easier and respond well to Solvaset, Microsol, water, and my pulling and tugging very well. Excellent decals!

The model it all gapped up and the hull color touched up. So I started putting on the decals. With the lights off you can still see the window locations well. no need to scratch them out. With the lights on you can see them glow very well.

I should have most of them applied today.

Thank you for our freedom from facism. And as it grows once more against us we pledge our lives to never let it rise again, so that your fight, that cost so many lives, will not have been in vain.

Steve Neill

As I walked into my backyard my dog was curious about something moving in the blooming cactus. It was a single beautiful bee. 

It was aware of me but felt no threa. We connected and it let me get my camera right up to within inches of him while he worked. 

I thank nature for moments like this. I feel so blessed.

Yup, more model building. I’m working on meeting the June 14th  deadline on the Enterprise E build and so far so good. I did manage this week to get her all buttoned up and ready for decals next week. There are a lot of decals that go on this model covering 90% of the hull. Currently all the clear parts and windows are covered to prevent over spray as I touch up the gaps and cracks followed by paint touch up.

Early this week I got the lighting all working and installed which was a big relief.

Here is a short video showing the first time I lighted it up all in one piece: 

I also worked in the evening at home on the Maserati and made the chassis, mounted the body, and test ran the car on the track. It took two nights of tuning but the car runs fast and smoothly. 

Then yesterday I sanded and primed the body and gave her a nice coat of red. Decals are on order and after they arrive they get placed and then clear coated at which time I can proceed with the finishing. I’ll be adding exhaust, wind screen, driver, etc.

Next I can’t wait to build this little beauty.

A package came from France yesterday. One of my Dad’s heros was the racing legend A.J.Foyt. And this car was my favorite and his. A.J. was my little boy hero and my dad was a friend of his. Back in the 60’s my dad built up a Stromberg Watson Roadster Sheraton Thompson for me. AJs winning car in 1964. I don’t know what ever happened to it but it was my wobbie and I took it everywhere I went for comfort. I was 12 years old.Now back into slot cars I wanted that car back and found a guy on Ebay that has resin bodies of the car. This will be a wonderful build full of memories of my late dad and all the fun we had racing.This is what the car looks like finished:

~Appropriate, considering this weekend is the famous Indy 500 race.

Mary’s Corner:

Mary has been painting and burning. Monday she painted a Red Betta with her alcohol inks

Wednesday she burned another trinket box, Bird song

Thursday and Friday it was time to dip into the wax and she painted her first encaustic abstract, Winter

In addition to all this, Mary and I spent some time doing some spring cleaning and arranging our studio starting with the office-showroom. We put up another shelf to elevate the masks so as you first enter the studio they are easily seen.

That’s it from us this week. Once I finish these models we’ll be back to the laser cutter and some interesting new products and creations! I’ve been posting fascinating articles on Buy Me A Coffee . There you can read and see more of the work that I do. The posts are free, you can visit the store when you’re looking for something fun or you can support the studio by subscribing. It’s all good. Love to have you with us.  

A big shout out to everyone who supports SNG, either through Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee. You keep the roof over our head during those months when we get very few orders.

This Memorial Day weekend we remember those who gave everything for our freedom. Thank you.Love you Bunches and Thank you for your continued support.

Steve and Mary

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You should see the other side.