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November 29, 2025 12 mins

Big news for modelers who’ve been waiting on cross-border orders: Kit Mask is shipping to the United States again, and the process is finally simple, transparent, and predictable. We sit down with Kevin to unpack how tariffs forced a pause, why Canada Post’s suggested “solutions” came up short, and how Janelle engineered a multi-service workflow that calculates duties at checkout so there are no surprise bills after delivery.

We walk through the hard lessons of cross-border ecommerce: why unclear rules make risk management nearly impossible, how horror stories from carriers shaped the plan, and what it takes to test, refine, and relaunch without leaving customers guessing. Kevin shares early results from the reboot—clean deliveries, happy customers, and order volume ramping back to where it left off. We also talk openly about capacity, production catch-up, and the real people behind the scenes who keep a small brand moving.

Looking ahead, we’re gearing up for HeritageCon with full stock and on-the-ground support at the booth, plus a spotlight on One-Man Army products. As the exclusive Canadian dealer for new One-Man Army releases, Kit Mask will bring sought-after detail sets and precision tools directly to local builders. To celebrate the shipping comeback and ease the tariff sting, we’re rolling out a December-long sale with a clear promise: no panic, no rush, just fair prices and time to choose. Use the code MOJO30 for 30% off throughout December and get your bench ready for a strong finish to the year.

If you care about reliable shipping, transparent costs, and quality masking solutions that make paint work clean and fast, this conversation is for you.

Subscribe, share with a modeling friend, and leave a review to help more builders discover the show—and the savings.


KITMASX  - Use Discount Code MOJO30 for 30% off your order through the month of December

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mike (00:13):
Dave, one thing we've learned in doing this for so
many years is how to pivot.
Yep.
We had scheduled to talk aboutuh some information that folks
had sent us about their localclubs, and we still intend to do
that, but it's not gonna happenuntil December now because our
good friends and sponsors at KitMask have got some news to tell

(00:33):
us, and we thought we'd ratherhave Kevin on.
And it's good news.
To tell us all about.
That is good news.
Kevin, how are you doing?

Kevin (KITMASX) (00:40):
I am doing excellent.
How are you guys doing?

Mike (00:42):
Man, we're fantastic with this.
This news is gonna help somepeople out, I think.

Kevin (KITMASX) (00:47):
That's right.
There's a lot more happy peoplethan there were a month ago.

Mike (00:50):
Oh, that's that's very good.
Well, let's quit being so vagueabout it.
Won't you uh start off bytelling us the big change?

Kevin (KITMASX) (00:56):
Well, since the tariffs went into effect, we
had to pause shipping because wehad really no way to work
around it.
It was almost impossible.
Canada Post really didn't helpus out.
They sort of got everybody touse a third-party app, which is
super expensive, not helpful,and and just terrible.

(01:18):
That's three good reasons tonot do it that way.

Kentucky Dave (01:21):
Wait a minute, you're telling me that the super
efficient Canada Post wasn't ontop of something 110%.

Kevin (KITMASX) (01:30):
Canada Post is not on top of anything, they
have lost so much money, it'sridiculous.

Kentucky Dave (01:37):
Mike and I have many Canadian friends, and not a
single one says anything niceabout Canada Post.

Kevin (KITMASX) (01:45):
No, I just I don't know how a company can be
run the way they're run and justget anything done.

Kentucky Dave (01:52):
Well, I'm glad you solved the problem.

Kevin (KITMASX) (01:54):
Yeah, Janelle spent so much time looking into
different shipping options.
We tried some different apps,we tried different services,
nothing worked, but we finallyfound a it's not really a
workaround, it's just we have touse a couple different services
to get stuff down across theborder.

Kentucky Dave (02:14):
Great.

Kevin (KITMASX) (02:14):
So a lot of the problem we had a lot of people,
not a lot of people, Ishouldn't say that.
We had a couple people complainabout us not giving others the
option to send the stuff toCanada.
We had a couple people thatwere concerned that it was a
political statement that weweren't shipping to the US,
which was absolutely not thecase.

(02:35):
Yeah, it was just it was justhard to get everything lined up
because nobody, I don't thinkanybody still really knows what
the actual guidelines are.

Kentucky Dave (02:46):
I can absolutely tell you that is correct.
That this whole stuff has beendone on the fly and with very
little advanced planning, andtherefore nobody knows what for
100% sure what the rules are.

Kevin (KITMASX) (03:06):
No, and as a business, you can't operate that
way.

Kentucky Dave (03:09):
Exactly.
That's the big problem.

Kevin (KITMASX) (03:11):
Yeah, and and we heard horror stories.
We went to UPS to try to dosome stuff, and they were
telling us the similar issuesthat some of their customers
were having, and it was justlike we have we we can't do
that.

Kentucky Dave (03:26):
Well, if you know what the rules are in advance
and have enough notice, and therules are gonna be set, any
business can work the problemand figure out what the new
process is.

Kevin (KITMASX) (03:39):
Absolutely.

Kentucky Dave (03:40):
When it all just drops on you and it creates this
kind of hiccup, and thank Godyou've got Janelle who's willing
to put in the time and make theeffort to try and figure out
the answer to the problem.

Kevin (KITMASX) (03:56):
She did a lot of work.
There wasn't a day that went bywhere she wasn't looking for
some kind of solution, fieldingquestions from from people,
assuring them that you know,we're not trying to make a
statement.
We we want to do business witheverybody, we don't care about
politics, we just care aboutother modelers, and we want to

(04:19):
be able to supply them with whatthey want.

Kentucky Dave (04:21):
You all supply a really good product and you want
to sell it to anybody, nomatter what location they're in.

Kevin (KITMASX) (04:30):
Oh, yeah.
I don't I don't care whatanybody's politics are.
That's their business, that'snone of my business.

Kentucky Dave (04:35):
Well, I am so glad that you all have figured
out a solution.
And so when exactly is the datewhere you're gonna be shipping
to the US?

Kevin (KITMASX) (04:47):
We started about a week ago, maybe a week
and a half ago.
Yeah, so I'm I'm not sure whenthis episode drops, but I would
say by the time this episodedrops, we'll have been shipping
for about a couple weeks.

Kentucky Dave (04:59):
Okay, well, that's great news.

Kevin (KITMASX) (05:01):
So far, no no issues so far.
Everybody's got what they paidfor, and and we haven't had any
surprises on our end.

Kentucky Dave (05:09):
Great, that's all good news because whenever
you're doing something new likethis, you're always worried that
there's gonna be some somethingthat that comes up on the back
end that you didn't know about,the customer didn't know about,
and the last thing you want todo is leave them a bad taste.

Kevin (KITMASX) (05:27):
We can't handle any surprises, and we certainly
don't want anybody that comesto our store to have any kind of
surprise on the back end aswell.
I mean, sure, it's not cool ifyou guys have to pay an extra
fee.

Mike (05:41):
That's not well, and if you do have to pay something,
it's better to know ahead oftime and get that over with up
front.
So yeah.

Kevin (KITMASX) (05:48):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Mike (05:50):
Well, uh, along those lines, what does that mean?
How is is you ordering fromyour website as you would normal
and it just all works itselfout?

Kevin (KITMASX) (05:58):
Yep, just plug in your cart information and
whatever whatever, and it doesthe duties and figures it all
out automatically, and then youjust pay it.
And we haven't had any reportsof anybody having to pay extra
yet, so good.
That's good.
As soon as we got that sort ofhopefully dialed in.

Mike (06:17):
We're glad to hear it because it just seems like when
we got this sponsorship thingoff the ground that the rug got
pulled out from under us withthis.
And yeah, uh, you know, we'vetalked amongst ourselves, you
Janelle and I and Dave aboutwhat's going on, how to handle
it.
We didn't know for the longesttime, so we just kind of we're
just gonna have to wait and seewhat happened to see if you guys
are gonna be able to resumeshipment back to the United

(06:38):
States at some point.
We we we hoped you would andknew you probably would at some
point.
We just was it gonna be fourweeks or four years, right?
We yeah, we just didn't know.
So glad this is have produced asolution here for you.
And and I'm sure the Americancustomers of yours are are glad
to be able to get your stuffagain because it sure is good
stuff.

Kevin (KITMASX) (06:58):
Yeah, judging by the response we've had in the
last couple weeks, I thinkeverybody's happy.
We're we're almost right backwhere we left off.

Kentucky Dave (07:08):
That's fantastic.

Kevin (KITMASX) (07:09):
Yeah, and yeah.

Mike (07:11):
If you have capacity, hopefully you'll you'll exceed
that soon.

Kevin (KITMASX) (07:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.

Mike (07:15):
I know you can get busy.

Kevin (KITMASX) (07:17):
Yeah, we're it's I did get I did have a
chance to get caught up on onsome stuff.
Um Janelle didn't.
I mean, all that just put herway further behind.

Kentucky Dave (07:28):
We know who we know who's actually the the
brains behind the outfit.
We're not we're not under anyillusion.
It's certainly not me.
Kevin, can you answer theimportant question for Mike and
I?

Kevin (KITMASX) (07:44):
Yes.

Kentucky Dave (07:45):
Are you gonna be at HeritageCon this year?

Kevin (KITMASX) (07:48):
Oh, I am so looking forward to that.

Kentucky Dave (07:50):
Oh, that's fantastic.
That is fantastic news.
That is great.

Kevin (KITMASX) (07:57):
I have been cutting sets.
We're gonna be completelystocked when we go up there.

Kentucky Dave (08:03):
Great.

Kevin (KITMASX) (08:03):
Um, we're gonna have everything we have we're
gonna bring with us.
We might even have to ship itout there before we before we
fly.
It might be too much stuff totake on the plane.
Sure.

Kentucky Dave (08:15):
And then well, and can you know Canada Post
will get it there right on timeand no problem?
Of course.

Kevin (KITMASX) (08:22):
Of course, yeah.
Yeah.
We're also gonna be bringingall our one-man army products
with us as well.

Kentucky Dave (08:28):
So that's fantastic.
I love their stuff.

Kevin (KITMASX) (08:32):
Hey, that stuff is absolutely amazing.
I you hear about it, you seeit, but once you actually have
it in your hand and and checkout the detail, it's it's
mind-boggling.
Yep, it really is.

Mike (08:44):
Yeah, that's some news too.
Now, for for Canada, you guysare the the go-to for that,
right?

Kevin (KITMASX) (08:50):
Yes, we are the exclusive dealer for one-man
army products in Canada.
So when he gets new releases,we are the only ones that will
have them available in ourShopify store.
That's great.
Yeah, there might be some otherstock in other stores, but like
I said, they won't be able toget the new products.

Mike (09:09):
All right, HeritageCon, shipping to the US again.
It's all sounding good, Kevin.

Kevin (KITMASX) (09:14):
We're we're excited.
We're we're trying to expand.
It's coming slowly, but we'rewe're working on it.

Kentucky Dave (09:19):
Well, that's fantastic.
I'm I'm happy to hear this newsfrom you, and I'm even happier
to know that you and moreimportantly, Janelle is gonna be
at HeritageCon.

Kevin (KITMASX) (09:31):
Yes, yes, we're definitely gonna be there this
year.
We're gonna have a a friendthat's been helping us out too,
Martin Chartran.
And uh he's gonna be man of thetables with us this year, so
that's that's gonna be a lotnicer for people if they have
questions or or need help withsomething.

Mike (09:46):
Unless you catch a breather every now and then.

Kentucky Dave (09:48):
Yeah, exactly.

Kevin (KITMASX) (09:50):
I'm hoping I don't have enough time to catch
a breather, but I would wouldn'tmind getting to walk around and
looking at all the uh all thebuilds.

Mike (09:58):
In celebration of this announcement with the return of
shipment to the United States, Ithink you and Janelle had a
surprise for listeners, maybe.

Kevin (KITMASX) (10:06):
We do.
We we have a sale going on allmonth through December for
everybody, just in time forChristmas.
Yeah, we didn't want to do thetypical Black Friday thing
because everybody sort ofscrambles to do stuff.
So we decided let's do a saleall month of December.
People can take their time,they don't have to panic about

(10:26):
I'm gonna miss the sale or not.
And so we're doing that allmonth of December.
And for the listeners, yourguys' listeners, when you hear
about this, use the code mojo30and you'll get a 30% discount
off of your order.
And oh wow, we're doing that totry to offset the amount of

(10:47):
tariffs you guys have to pay.

Kentucky Dave (10:49):
Well, that is fantastic.
That's a that's a gooddiscount.

Kevin (KITMASX) (10:53):
We don't want you guys to suffer and not be
able to get our products, sothat's what we're doing for
plastic model mojo listeners.

Kentucky Dave (11:00):
Well, thank you very much.

Mike (11:02):
How long will the discount code be active?

Kevin (KITMASX) (11:05):
I'll all through December.

Mike (11:06):
Oh, okay.
Well, we appreciate that.

Kentucky Dave (11:09):
Yeah.
Oh, speaking of which, go onthe dojo and post that on the
dojo as well so that people canstart taking taking advantage of
that right away.

Kevin (KITMASX) (11:20):
Absolutely, yeah.
Yeah, you guys need a break.
Everybody needs a break withall the pricing around here.

Mike (11:26):
Amen.

Kevin (KITMASX) (11:27):
Yeah.

Mike (11:28):
Well, Kevin, we're again glad, glad you could get that
worked out and sure lookingforward to your product being
available again.
And Dave and I at Plastic ModelMojo, sure appreciate the
support you and Janelle havegiven us.
And our listeners willappreciate this discount code.
And we look forward to watchingyour business grow, and we'll
talk to you again real soon.

Kevin (KITMASX) (11:47):
Yeah, it'll be a pleasure to talk to you again,
and that'll probably be inMarch.

Mike (11:52):
Probably will be.

Kevin (KITMASX) (11:52):
Please give our regards to Janelle.
Oh, absolutely.
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