I got the hair laid up on Nancy yesterday and her teeth are in. There’s a tear under one eye that happened with the epoxy glaze I didn’t catch until it cured. I left it as an easter egg because I thought it was appropriate considering the sadness of her character. Only people who know their Star Trek well will know what I’m talking about and that’s the fun of it. We owe Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek a great deal.
These all ship today. 2 talosians and a Saltvampire. Let’s see. Two Talosians and a Saltvampire go into a bar…I’ll stop there.
Also today I’ll make up a rocket kit, paint Spock Ears, and get an Orangutan and a Talosian ready to paint tomorrow. Oh and pour another Talosian order I just got!
I can’t say it enough! thank you all for the orders and keeping SNG Studio alive and well!!!
Yesterday Mary and I took a drive to Hollywood for a private party and screening given by my dear friend Todd Masters. If you aren’t familiar with Todd and his company Masters FX look him up on google.
And if you don’t know who Dick Smith is, he was literally the best makeup artist that ever lived. A wonderful man that inspired my generation of makeup artists. As one example of his work, if you’ve seen the “Exorcist” then you have seen his work.
He is still inspiring the latest generations of makeup artists. I had the pleasure to know him and he was my gateway of inspiration to my long career.
We did get home from the long drive until 12 midnight so we are getting a late start at the studio today but it was important to pay our respects to this great man we all owe so much.
The film by Ken Russel “Altered States” was screened in a beautiful theatre at Harmony Gold theatre on Sunset. There were many giants of the visual effects community there to honor him.
Here’s a couple of pictures from the event.
It was a long week of interviews, podcasts, visits to our studio and it all ended with Dick Smith’s birthday event last night. We get back to business today.
No matter what happens in the world it seems that our little bubble at SNG Studio remains a happy, positive, safe haven for joy. As Adam Savage says, “I reject your reality and substitute my own”. Wise words from a fellow crazy man I know. Making and creating art saves lives and promotes good mental health. Because having a purpose is supreme. As Gary Hughes says, “Life just makes sense again”. The makers and artists that are my friends keep us inspired and we keep them inspired. It’s an endless cycle of joy, imagination and magic.
This entire week has been a series of daily interviews by book writers, podcasts, and live video-stream shows all focusing on my career. It would seem my past and present are catching up with me. What I learned from these interviews was the difference I have made in people’s lives as a result of my work in films. I have been so busy that I never gave it a thought before.
It was heartwarming and down right emotional. All these movies, TV shows, and commercials have changed people’s life paths and set many of them on careers of their own as well as giving them joy and enriching their lives. Never discount the fans, be open to them and listen because they are an important part of who we are.
Yesterday was the last interview for this week. Alan Holzman came to interview me at the studio. Allan and I hadn’t seen each other since the wrap day of the movie “Forbidden World” 40 years ago. He was the director of the film and he had kept a journal on making the film which is now a book. It finishes with interviews with all the people that worked on his crew. It was a wonderful meeting. And the questions he asked and the memories they brought back were amazing. He is still that calm and wonderfully kind man he was 40 years ago.
I was in charge of making all the stages of the alien creature. What an experience it was making this film.
Also this week I got a call from the Academy of Model Aeronautics https://www.modelaircraft.org/ . They are the largest and oldest organization for model aviation in the world. They had interviewed me for both their magazine and live stream. I spoke of a much needed film about the importance of model aviation. And how it needs to be made. A film that expresses how model aviation changed the world we live in. Everything from the air buses we fly in to our landing on the moon all started with the gateway of model aviation. They asked me how I might envision such a film and I told them a talking heads point A to B documentary is not the way to go. It’s been done and it never engages an audience that isn’t already into aviation. I also talked about the lack of interest by our young people. We need new pilots, astronauts, engineers, rocket scientists and more. We need to engage the public with the hopes they will involve their children in this wonderful hobby that will lead to great careers of great opportunity. Their children can change the world. At the end of the interview they said they would get back to me about this and they did. They are very serious about making such a film. So this is all very exciting for me as this is a film I really want to make. Something that might continue to inspire people to change the world and set it on a correct path of discovery, exploration, and enlightenment as we touch the stars.
I didn’t paint this but I wish I had. This is where it all begins. That first moment when you’re young and you see this airplane fly over that fills you with wonder and captures your imagination. This is what I want to bring to the screen and peoples’ hearts. I didn’t get much hands-on work done this week but we will return to our regular schedule next week of painting and finishing masks that await their new homes.
These masks all await hair and some paint. In between the lines, I found time to work on this beautiful structure of a Heinkel HE. 112 free flight WW2 fighter being built for a contest in October. It has to be super light to fly well enough to be the last plane to land in the mass launch. The last one down wins.
It needs final sanding, covering, paint and bits but it’s well on its way. It was one of the more difficult builds I have ever made.
Mary is working on a new bird series of chickens. No blog post from her this week but here is sneak peek of a chick she is working on:
As always, never stop looking up
(and no, the sky is not falling) and having love and joy in your hearts. This is the strongest force in the universe and it cures all.
SNG Aero – Rockets by Steve Neill …and Mary on the web As always, feel free let us know if you want to be removed from our newsletter by emailing us. Share with friends if you think they would be interested in what we do. Comments and suggestions are encouraged. We love hearing from you!
She is a finalist and needed help to make this video answering 7 important questions on camera and the deadline is next Monday.
We donated our time, equipment, and the studio in the hope that this will make her dream come true of being part of the Star Trek family and working on a series. I know how important this is to someone that loves Star Trek as much as we do. I was very fortunate myself to be part of the family and work with the original cast, and Gene Rodenberry.
I pulled Lou’s mask out of the mold yesterday and both his planet of the apes mask and Talosian get finished next week. I will also be finishing the Salt vampire and Spock ears Monday. The first two Talosians ship Tuesday.
I have another interview today with Allan Holzman the director of the Roger Corman film, “Forbidden World”
I headed up the alien creature shop on the film and did a lot of puppeteering on the film. I haven’t seen Allan since 1982 and he’s coming to our studio to interview me and see the studio.
The last couple of weeks have been busy with many interviews and visits to the studio. There has been a surge of interest in my career and work as of recently.
I also got a call yesterday from a prestigious organization about producing and directing a documentary on a subject near and dear to my heart. As this develops more I’ll write about it here. It’s very exciting.
And yes I did get some more work done on my free flight Heinkel 112 for the upcoming event in Arizona this October. It’s amazing to see this jem come together. Next I’m building the vertical stabilizer.
I spent the entire day painting masks. With the exception of glazing the eyes the two Talosians are done. The Salt Vampire needs teeth and hair. Spock ears are out of the mold and so is Lou Dalmaso’s Orangutan.
We have another mask week. I spent most of the day yesterday pouring rubber and prepping masks for painting today. When masks come out of the molds there’s always bubbles and seams to remove. Sometimes patching of bubbles with cabopatch filler. Or Bondo as we call it. All this takes time and it’s important to make the best possible mask.
I poured an Orangutan for my dear friend Lou Dalmaso(look him up on the net he does fabulous modeling making!) who’s quite the collector. I’ll be pouring him a Talosian today as well.
I poured up a set of Spock ears to fill an order.
Busy times at SNG. But I suppose it always is. I have a number of interviews this week for books, shows, and podcasts.
We are having a rocket launch this week for the kids. We are also helping a young lady to achieve their dream of working on a Star Trek series by shooting and cutting a video for her. We aren’t charging her but rather paying it forward. Mary and I look forward to it.
And we have a special event in Hollywood we have been invited to to attend Sunday.
All this keeps one going and staying sharp at any age. I am so grateful.
I put the painting Vance on Fine Art America and to my surprise people have been buying prints, coffee mugs, iPhone covers, and more. You can see it here.
I am planning another painting I hope to start this week. This one will be on the art of flight. I plan a series of airplane and free flight model paintings.
Speaking of which bit by bit I’m getting this free flight plane built up. Last night I started on the wing. With no instructions and only plans you have to solve a mystery. And I did. She will go up quickly now. I have 3 more planes to build before the big event in October at WestFACS.
A bit more progress between the lines this weekend. For those of you just tuning in this build is from an old Golden Age Reproduction kit. It’s a printed wood kit so you do have to cut your own parts out. Thus the golden age. But it’s fun to do and I rather enjoy it.
The fuselage is almost there and I’ve just started building the wing panels. I’m drafting up in Photoshop today the correct scale horizontal stab. Nice build so far.
My next build for the mass WW1 launch will be a GAR Fokker DVII which I also have.
I’m building these days not at the studio but at home in my hobby room adorned with hanging model airplanes, my flight sim setup PC, and slot car track. It’s a tiny area but the ambience is wonderful compared to work at my large studio where I’m often distracted by my work there. Nice thing about free flight models is that they don’t take up the room my larger RC builds do.
I also went flying RC Sunday. I flew the Rebel jet 2 more times. This jet really hauls the mail and is a joy to fly. I also Flew my 100 inch span AWS 28. The Sun was shining, it was comfortably warm and it was a bit windy. It was a glorious day of flying for all there.
This never gets old. What a wonderful thing it is to build and fly.
What a wonderful creative week at SNG Studio!We painted, weaved and I poured orders and took a break from sculpting. Mary finished her study of the Australian Splendid Fairy Wren. You can see her work on her blog here: https://marycacciapaglia.wpcomstaging.com/2022/06/17/splendid-fairywren I finished a painting I started last week of one of the most amazing and prolific builders of free flight model airplanes on the planet Earth. Vance Gilbert. https://vancegilbert.com/
Vance is an inspiration to us all in the Flying Aces Club. http://flyingacesclub.com/I’m planning another painting next week as a series of paintings related to this wonderful silent and graceful hobby.
Our local group for en plein air painting is going to Oxnard Heritage Square today. They have a very interesting water tower that I am intrigued by. I have an event in Arizona in October for a free flight model flying in a huge 600 acre sod field. So I’m building several planes in the background of the day’s work to be ready for the event.http://www.westernfac.com/
The bare bounds of a fuselage for a Heinkel 112. A WW2 German fighter plane.I am also working on this Fokker DVIII from the WW1 era. This is a radio-controlled plane to add to my fleet.I’m trying to decide what’s next for a new mask and I hope to do something new, soon. Feedback from the fan base has been low and I can only figure this lack of enthusiasm is a result of out-of-sight gas prices and inflation caused by just plain old corporate greed, as I see it. I’m doing my best to keep my prices down as I tighten my belt. Thank goodness for the orders that come in. I just cast two more Talosians and a Salt Vampire. There’s a joke in there somewhere or maybe a song.LOL Here they are fresh out of the mold un-trimmed. I was asked to do more interviews for podcasts, streaming shows, and books. There’s been a lot of this lately. In fact, I had a live show interview yesterday with the Academy of Model Aeronautics with Jay Smith. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yiOTkc44VA&t=1578sNext week I have more. Allan Holzman, a film director I worked with in 1982 on the movie Forbidden World https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083959/reference/, is coming to our studio to interview me on his show. I did the creature work on this film. I headed the department. That’s me in my Nostromo hat and Mork and Mindy shirt behind the huge monster we built. Additionally we will be shooting a part three of Steve Neill’s Hollywood for those of you following along on the stories of my career.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDkdh7N-TuUfUNL3bUuzWoKG3kaWKW-M3 It’s been a great week. I hope you have all had a great one too. The weekend is upon us so do something fun, relaxing, and creative. The world needs you and your joy very much!Love you all,Steve and MaryThe Art of Steve NeillSNG Studio on Patreon Fine Art America – Steve NeillCollectors’ Mask StoreSNG Aero – Rockets by Steve Neill …and Mary on the web As always, feel free let us know if you want to be removed from our newsletter by emailing us. Share with friends if you think they would be interested in what we do. Comments and suggestions are encouraged. We love hearing from you! Attachments areaPreview YouTube video Model Aviation LIVE with Jay Smith – 6/17/22Model Aviation LIVE with Jay Smith – 6/17/22
I wrote this a couple of years ago and it’s been on the Short Stories Website. I thought I’d share it here.
This story is under construction still. I have many pictures from my years at the field to go with this story to add still. This is a true story. One near and dear to my heart. Although many will see this as a story about toy airplanes they are hardly that and true aviators realize the importance of model aviation as being the gateway to our future in aerospace. The first plane ever to fly was a model. Neil Armstrong started with model airplanes at age 3. It is an important hobby and one that all of us involved have a great passion for. To fly!
Ghosts of the Apollo Field
It wasn’t a day like any other. Today was a day that I would visit and experience my past in the present. 34 years ago I discovered the radio controlled model airplane. Although I had been aware of them since the 60’s I had always just admired them from afar, hoping one day I would get a chance to indulge in the hobby.
It was 1985 on a Christmas day and my late wife; Gilly had several mysterious presents under the tree for me. When I opened them to my utter delight she had given me my first Carl Goldberg Eaglet trainer RC model airplane kit. As I opened the other gifts one had an engine, another was a radio control system with servos and everything I needed to build this plane. I was ecstatic. I knew I had a great adventure before me and I was filled with wonder.
Over the course of a couple of weeks, I built the plane and took many trips to my local hobby shop for advice. The hobby shop was called Robin’s Hobby. The kind owner there and I became friends. He would teach me to fly.
Robin and I with my P40
Robin had served in WW2 on B-17’s as a gunner. He also worked on the Apollo Program machine parts for a spacecraft that took us all to the moon.
Later on, he took me to the field for lessons. It is called the Apollo Field in the Sepulveda Basin in Southern California. It was a beautiful place with green lawns, paved taxiways and a long paved runway. Apollo Field had bleachers and a paved pit area. It was, in fact, a miniature airport.
Robin introduced me to one of his friends, George Lane, who would keep an eye on me as I progressed in my training. I’ll never forget the day I was on my knees working on my plane when I heard a voice ask me if I was Steve. I looked up and saw this tall thin guy who wore a western belt buckle with a big “G”.
George was another WW2 Vet and was a pilot in the war. This man could build a model airplane from plans so clean and beautiful the ARF’s of today could not compare. He was a great pilot too.
There was Kit Ken, as they all called him, who was another WW2 vet who loaded ammo into the magazines of the great P-51 Mustang. He built kits, built and flew radio controlled gliders and taught people at the field how to fly. His actual name was Ken Boucher and he taught me to fly a glider which helped me to become a better pilot. I still fly gliders to this day.
We with my Royal P-51 and my 1/5th scale P-51
There was Tony Naccarato, who was brilliant modeler and contributed so much to the hobby that he was honored with awards from the community and the AMA. He and his mother Addie owned a once famous hobby shop called “Tony and Addie’s Hobby Lobby”. I spent long afternoons there in the old hobby shop that smelled of balsa and dope. His mother was an avid builder of model airplanes in the stick and tissue style. Whenever I went in there she’d be building something amazing, while holding court with a bunch of older gentleman, many of the WW2 fighter pilot vets. I was in awe to be in the company of these amazing people. They became a wealth of friends I could never have imagined.
For years we built planes and jets and flew together. I scratch built planes I loved but no one else modeled. One of my favorites was the Bell X-1. It was the Rocket plane with which Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947. I scratch built that plane. I made my own plans and built it from balsa wood and powered it with a K&B 60 gas motor in the nose with a small prop. To my amazement it flew very well. This was a gateway project for me.
Over the years I made more scratch built airplanes. It was about 2004 when I decided to make the ME P. 1101, a German jet that was built but never flown by the time WW2 ended and the Americans caught the jet. You’ve all heard of the ME 262 but this was a single engine jet fighter ahead of its time.
I made the masters, made hard epoxy glass molds, composite kits, an epoxy glass fuselage, foam wings sheeted with balsa and fins and tails from balsa. It was powered by an electric ducted fan or EDF, as they are called today. In 2004 EDF jets were in their infancy. This was a plane way ahead of its time and the first flight at the Apollo field was amazing.
This led to my building the F-104, and the WW2 German TA-183 kits. And there was more and everyone of them were test flown with my friends at the Apollo Field.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Another great friend I met there was a crazy talented Polish man born and raised in Poland. Chris fought against our enemies, the Russians. He was in the resistance but escaped to America to save his life.
Chris and I both loved the German planes. His favorite was the BF-109 G and made many a model of the great plane. His last build was composite, super scale and one of the best I had ever seen. He passed early in his life falling off his bicycle. A freak accident and a terrible lost. I always think of him and he was loved by the community.
I could go on and on about the people I have known and flown with there. Most of them have left us.
I was the youngest in the group. Everyone else, with the exception of Chris, was much older than me and served in WW2 or Korea. Some were pilots and flew amazing planes. Some were engineers and worked for NASA, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
These men and woman told me so many amazing stories. They shared with me their life and great moments in their lives I felt like I was there with them.
One day, when I was in a parking lot of the Marriott at LAX in 1992, I was at a convention being held at the hotel. Little did I know there was an Edwards Air force Base reunion happening at the same time.
I was in the parking lot to get a few things from my car when I saw a man walking towards me. He had this walk that seemed to suggest he owned the world and had both feet firmly planted on the ground. As he got closer, I could not believe my eyes it was Chuck Yeager himself. In a split second so many thoughts ran through my mind. Because I worked in Hollywood it wasn’t my policy to gush over famous celebrities or bother them for autographs. I decided this was different from any actor or film director; this is Chuck Yeager, the man that broke the sound barrier and so much more. I had to stop him and shake his hand. So I mustered up my strength and said, “General Yeager, sir.” He stopped and looked at me, “Who do you say you want son?” He stooped down and acted like some old man hard of hearing. “You’re General Chuck Yeager”. He says “Who?” I said” Chuck, I don’t do this shit but I have to make an exception with you.” He sort of stared at me and reared up standing up tall, “I’m a wing nut. I eat sleep and dream airplanes”, I said.
At that moment ole Eagle Eye Yeager looked me straight in the eye and he said,”OK son, you got me. What do you want to talk about, I have time”.
We leaned against his car and talked for a good hour or more. He asked me if I had an interest in WW2 and I told him I did. He told me about some of the amazing things he did during the war. He was very proud of his service. His talking about the X-1 seemed less interesting to him. He told me it was just his job and what the army paid him to do.
I told him about my RC planes and the X-1 that I built and flew. We talked for awhile longer and shook hands.
Later on that day I was in the parking lot again and he saw me and came over. He asked what I was doing here. I told him I was selling alien busts I made of the famous grey aliens at the UFO convention. He chuckled about it and asked if they sold well. I told them they did. We talked more and he asked me what I did and I told him about my film career and the effects work I do. We shook hands again and as he walked away he stopped, turned slowly looking back at me and said, “Oh and son…I never saw anything I couldn’t identify”, and with that, he gave me a wink and walked off.
Later that year I wrote to him, donated money to his young pilots program and he wrote back remembering me. He sent me an autographed picture signed to me wishing me the best of luck. I cherish that photo today.
There are so many more stories to tell about the field and the friends I have and had there. I could fill a full book with them, so much history, some many amazing people now mostly gone.
So here I am. It’s December 7th 2019 and I’m at Apollo Field for the Valley Flyers’ Toys for Tots event. Attendance is low, it’s raining and we have cloudy skies. It is kind of lonely and sobering day. As I stand on the runway alone in the light rain, the wind stops and I push the throttle forward on my J-3 Cub and take off down the runway. There is a calm, a feeling and a presence. As the plane climbs into the air, all these thoughts come into my mind. All my experiences at this magical field are moving through me and I can see the faces and the smiles of the people I once knew. I see all the good times and experiences flash by me. They are still with me, flying with me. It is an eerie and yet wonderful moment.
After a beautiful flight, I made a nice landing and taxied back to the pits. I stopped and look at the field that I have spent so many years. I was a young man when I first came here but from this vantage point I could be back in 1985.
This moment is a frozen in time, like something that would happen in the Twilight Zone. They are all there with me and always have been. Every time I fly, every time I build a plane I feel their presence in my heart.
I taxied back to the pits and parked. I talk to new younger friends that I have met. Now I am the older gentleman that is known and was trained by the great names and pilots they have only heard about as legends. I feel truly blessed.
Now I’m the one to have the pleasure of passing on the stories of the Ghosts of the Apollo Field.
After spend ing of the day yesterday on this painting I’m calling this done. I just had to walk away before I overdid things. I made a lot of subtle adjustments and additions and signed it.
Also I got one Talosian out of the mold yesterday and I’ll have a second this morning.
I did a little more work on the DVIII and added some more wing spar support and started sheeting the fuselage. Today I’ll have on the side sheeting.
Today I have a interview on the Academy of Model Aeronautics “AMA Live” video stream about my career and involvement in model aviation. I have been a member of the AMA for 35 years. I have never lost interest is this most amazing of all hobbies. Flying.
I’ll also be pouring up a Saltvampire today which will come out of the mold on Monday. I’ll have three masks to paint on Monday.
I’ll be sculpting a new mask soon I just need time to think about what’s next. Star Trek? Outer Limits? Mac Tonight? Or some famous monster like Frankenstein? I’ll sleep on it until then.
for those of you following along on the stories of my career.
The Art of Steve Neill 