Lightship Neon

Yesterday (January 2nd) marked 2 years since we've launched Lightship Neon. Right after we signed the lease and received the keys, I created a walk-through video (left) showing the blank canvas of our new shop. The video on the right was created last week. Can't wait to see what 2026 brings us!

The end of the year is always a time for reflection, and we're looking back not just at this year, but at the past two years since we've launched Lightship Neon!

The attached image is from one of our new postcards, which are now available in our online shop: lightshipneon.com/store/p/souv...

We're also including a shot of the sign in our workshop, where it's a bit easier to see the tricky coolness that allowed us to stack the glass tubing for the animation. The feet and lower jaw are static, and the two states of the upper jaw, eyes, and hat are made up of separate units of neon.

Here's another look at Capital Pizza Box's new animated pizza monster sign. We loved collaborating with Anthony Guerra & Paul Tuorto on this project, taking the little mascot from the Oakwood Pizza Box website and bringing him to life in neon tubing, three feet tall.

If you're driving up Wake Forest Road in Raleigh this week, you might spot our newest installation: Capital Pizza Box's takeout window has an animated pizza monster!

We've stacked two layers of clear glass pumped with red neon gas, allowing each part of the animation to show through when it's lit.

Google Maps Explore a place through a 360° photo.

I've long said that you really have to see our shop in person to fully appreciate neon's unique glow, but if you're unable to make it out in person, we recently had some 360º photos captured and uploaded to Google Street View so you can visit us virtually: maps.app.goo.gl/YqS59bopoDgU...

Last month, ABC11 came to visit us at Lightship Neon and feature us as part of small businesses in Raleigh. While they were here, we made a neon yellow "11" to show off how we bend and process glass.

If you missed us on the news on November 18th, check out the replay here: abc11.com/videoClip/18...

Doing neon repairs isn't always glamorous, but it keeps the doors open and the lights on. And every now and then, we see something really out of the ordinary, like this 4 foot tall Rolling Rock sign, which came in with a broken tube on the right hand column. We bent a replacement out of new tubing.

We're still lighting up Smoky Hollow in Raleigh! Last week we put up this new neon border at Madre, a complement to the neon we recently added at Moon Room. This shared design language encourages visitors to have dinner at Madre, then shift over to Moon Room for some live music & cocktails.

From the crew at Lightship Neon, we want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving holiday. We're extremely thankful for everyone who has ordered a sign, taken a class, or brought in a repair this year, your support makes it possible for us to keep neon alive in Raleigh!

We love helping local businesses make an impression! Trophy Brewing has been working for the past year to open their newest space in Raleigh's Five Points neighborhood, and we had the opportunity to create a large version of their iconic neon logo for the new space.

Our friends at Owl's Roost Brewing had us up to Franklinton to create a new neon sign for their marquee, designed to be lit when they have live bands playing in the beer garden. If you see the neon on, stop in to grab a drink and listen to the music!

We recently partnered with Rebuild Fabrication of Raleigh to create this double-sided steel and wood sign for St. Pierre Wine Bar. Featuring warm white neon and an animated wine bottle cork, this eye-catching display at Raleigh Iron Works is sure to lure patrons into St. Pierre for a glass!

We're really pleased with how this direct mount, citrus orange piece turned out! Foundry Commercial came to us with a request to add a neon accent to the cafe in their new office space. We were even able to place the power supply on an adjoining wall to keep it out of view.

The end result is simply stunning! The new blue, yellow and wihte tubes glow brightly, the paint is rich and deep once more, and the triple stroke neon letters were retained from the original sign, still pumping out their light every day just as they did 32 years ago.

We partnered with Kemco of Burlington to provide on-site service, working at height to remove the neon and transformers, clean and repaint the sign, and reinstall all new power supplies and tubing. We also worked with SPCLSIGNS to recreate the hand-lettered sections of the sign.

Before & after comparison of the blade sign. New paint, new glass, and new power supplies brought a fresh life to this Durham gem.

We're so excited to share pictures of the restoration we completed on The Carolina Theatre's 32 year old neon sign for their cinemas wing. In preparation for the theatre's 100th anniversary in 2026, they hired us to do a full overhaul and restore the sign to its 1994 glory.

In our last post, we mentioned how neon can be repaired - today's post showcases a letter "T" from a laundromat sign. This was a tube with neon gas, so the repair could be done just by splicing on new electrodes and reprocessing it. This step flushes the tube with helium prior to filling with neon.

Have you been by the Krispy Kreme in Raleigh lately? We worked with McCorkle Signs to provide a bunch of new neon tubing to help bring this iconic sign back to life.

One of neon's best features is that it's just glass tubing with inert gas inside, and if it gets broken, a replacement can be made.

Today we're showing off some of the recent creations in our Neon Workshop. This is a four-hour event where you'll learn the history, art, and science of how neon signs are made, and then get hands-on time in the fires to work on a design of your very own!

After spending years as one of the tenants at Transfer Co Food Hall in Raleigh, Benchwarmers Bagels has grown to the point where they're opening their first standalone location at the Rockway development on S. Saunders Street, and we were thrilled to add some neon to their new space!

"It's German for 'The Cinemas, The.'" Do we have any classic Simpsons fans following us? Who can name the reference?

All kidding aside, we're going full steam ahead on the restoration for the Carolina Theatre blade sign in Durham. We can't wait to show you the final, finished product.

We started the ruby red neon and green-pumped-red orange tubes across the awning, turning down the face and in toward the entryway, and then continued them on the ceiling of the foyer, creating a near-seamless transition from outside to inside.

We promised there would be more to come from Moon Room: this week we finished up the exterior install on their awning at Smoky Hollow in Raleigh. Bryan came to us with a bunch of inspiration photos of clubs in Europe featuring outdoor, angular neon border tubes, and we worked to match his vision.

Showcasing some halloween neon designs today! The pumpkin was created in one of our neon workshops, and the candy corn has been hanging in our front window all month!

It's almost the weekend and we wanted to share this picture of some neon we recently installed at Moon Room in Raleigh - more to come in this space, too, so keep an eye on our social channels!

Earlier this year, we created some small window signs for Mala Pata in Raleigh; neon doesn't have to be big to make an impact, we love getting to create accent pieces just as much as making spectaculars!

We finally had a chance to stop by Elliott's Barbecue Lounge in Florence, South Carolina, and check out the sign we made earlier this year - looks great!

We had the owners leave it with us during the carnival quiet season (November - January) and we were able to give it a much needed servicing. All new tube supports, new housings where necessary, and all new green glass for "New York Style." We also cleaned up the clear acrylic cover.

Continuing our State Fair-themed posts; last year, at the conclusion of the fair, we were given the opportunity to overhaul the neon on one of the the traveling concession trailers. This New York Style Pizza wagon had broken glass, missing tube supports, and some sketchy wiring connections.