¶ Kit Mask Introduction
kev , tell everyone why you started kit mask well , manually masking canopy sucks and somebody had to step in to save those countless kits from the shelf of doom and now we've got over 400 sets and counting .
We've got old kits , new kits , forgotten kits , you name it yeah , and if we don't have it , just ask yeah , people don't realize . We take customer requests and we even have a service that gets you canopy masks for free .
We do .
Our masks are precision cut . They fit well , they're easy to apply . Kevin cuts and tests every set .
Several times .
Yeah , precision is kind of his thing .
And Janelle . She does everything else . She cares about each customer and is the heart of our business .
If you ever reach out , you're talking directly to us . Real people , real modelers .
And if you don't love your masks , we'll refund or replace them . No questions asked .
Visit kitmaskcom , join the mailing list and treat yourself to easier , cleaner masking .
Kitmask made by a modeler for modelers .
Hey , what about me ?
You're not a modeler .
Oh , all right , kentucky Dave . I don't know what we're going to call this one .
I don't know , mask Mania .
Mask Mania . We can call it Mask Mania . There you go , we've come up short on our model show spotlight but we need to do a vendor showcase to talk about our latest sponsor that we've alluded to . In the last episode we brought Kit Mask on board . They had shown some interest in supporting Plastic Model Mojo and we sure liked those folks yes absolutely .
We took them up on it and we had kevin back for a little conversation about that and kit mass and heritage con and all the things around .
What's been going on with that , and well , let's just hear it from the horse's mouth , dave , well , dave , I'd hope to drop some of this content after HeritageCon , but when we recorded the session up there I had a lot of crosstalk from our adjacent podcast buddies over there on all our recorded channels and I really couldn't do much with the audio yeah .
That's the downside of recording live Well tonight with us is Mr Kevin Hedrick from Kit Mask . Kevin , how are you doing ?
I'm great . How are you guys ?
We're real good and we just were thrilled to meet you and Janelle up at HeritageCon in Ottawa at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum . It was just a lot of fun at HeritageCon and it was just a blast seeing you guys set up talking your talk to all the folks that were at the show .
Yeah , we had a really good time up there as well .
So now , that was your first time at HeritageCon . It was Now I know you were doing it mostly to try and become more visible and all , but it seemed like your table was fairly darn active .
We were pretty busy from the morning to the early afternoon and then everything just sort of tapered off . Sure , but we had a really good morning .
It was great , and luckily , with your product , you can transport it a whole lot easier than a lot of vendors can .
It's very easy . We don't have to worry about airplane-holding jigs or anything like that , just a box , yeah .
Well , for the uninformed or the folks not paying attention in the past , how about a quick rundown of exactly what Kit Mask does ?
We do canopy masks and marking masks for scale model airplanes . We do do some requests for armor and sci-fi , although mostly we've been focusing on airplanes .
Well , your products are really good and I know the folks I know who've seen them and tried them are really pleased with them . So that brings me to the next point .
Because of that , because of your style of business and your way of doing business and interfacing with the public , we're just really pleased to have you guys come on board as another sponsor for Plastic Model Mojo .
Yeah , it's our honor . We're really looking forward to the collaboration with you guys . Well , it's been great so far .
We've got a box of swag from you guys a couple three days ago , oh good , and looking for our next opportunity to hand out some info cards and some stickers .
Well , and count me as one of your satisfied customers . Of your satisfied customers . I got the F8F Bearcat canopy masks up at Heritage Con and just started using those and I'll post some photos in the dojo shortly . But really , really pleased with them , thanks .
That's great . Yeah , that's going to make your life easier , especially when you're doing a batch build . Yeah , I told you .
I am really to the point that I will not do an aircraft model without canopy masks . I don't blame you . It's so much of a time saver and you get such a better result With aircraft . Canopies are the first thing that you notice and if the lines aren't clean , it detracts from the whole model .
You tend to look at the canopy and if it's not clean , you sort of dismiss the rest of the airplane .
That's absolutely true . That's absolutely true . So , like I said , I'll post some photos on the dojo . What's your latest stuff ? Have you been focusing on any particular scale , any particular company , or I mean what's in the pipeline for you all right now ?
right now , basically , right now , it's just what people have sent us . There's a multitude of 72nd and 48 . We have some of the HK models parts coming in , so hopefully we can jump on that bandwagon .
Gotcha .
And just catching up on everything that's been sent to us . There's no rhyme or reason as to what
¶ Meeting Kevin at HeritageCon
is coming out . It's just what we get , and then that's what we make .
And that's why your business is a little bit different than maybe some other canopy mask manufacturers out there . You'll see the latest kit come out and then the manufacturers will announce a set for that kit , where you all tend to be .
I mean , you may do some stuff for some very recent kits , but then you do a lot of canopy stuff , canopy masks for kits that have been out 15 , 20 years , that may not have a mask set .
Yeah , most of our stuff is old , discontinued kits and just kits have been mask set . Yeah , most of our stuff is old , discontinued kits and just kits have been neglected mostly . We'd love to get some new kits .
I'm going to try to get hold of some manufacturers and maybe I can work with them a little bit , but I don't know if there's much I would have to contribute to them Right , whereas it would be definitely a benefit to me and not so much them . So we're going to have to come up with some creative ways to work on that .
Well , I'll tell you , what gives me a little bit of hope and encouragement is the fact that you are getting all these requests for these slightly older kids . That tells me that there's still a lot of people out there who are building them , even though they may not be the latest and greatest kit off the assembly line .
Yeah , there's a lot of old kits that people are building . It's kind of it's surprising in one way , because there are a lot of the subjects .
There's better kits out there , but I think a lot of people like the old nostalgia builds so they keep those kits around and now that they have masks they can tackle them mike did a nostalgia build with the little airfix armor piece and it is amazing how much a nostalgia build can kind of bring back the fun of modeling , so that , like I said , I find that
really encouraging .
Yeah , it's nice to see . Those old kits need some love too .
Yep absolutely .
Well , you say a lot of what you got going on is what people have sent . So is this the backlog of custom jobs ?
Yeah , there's a lot of backlog still . I'm still not caught up . We were setting it up so that I could have a little bit of time off in the summer , but not so much . There's just not enough time in the day .
Oh sure Is that something you're still pursuing , the custom stuff You're still adding to the pile , and if so , let folks know how that works again .
Yeah , what we originally started was I had my stash , I made a few off that and then I realized quickly that my interests were kind of one-dimensional . So we decided to offer people free canopy masks if they sent us their parts and that sort of basically launched everything . We just took off after that and people just keep asking to send parts
¶ What Kit Mask Does
and make masks for and it's mostly old stuff that nobody makes masks for anymore . And we did have to pause it late last year and we're going to open it up again in this September . I'm still just working through everything from last year still .
Well , that's the sign of a successful business . You obviously have touched a nerve when you get that kind of demand .
Yeah , I think so . Like most of the bigger manufacturers , they tend to do runs and stuff , so some of that stuff
¶ Material Supplies and Future Shows
that may have had mass before , I mean , you can't find that stuff anymore . So I kind of stepped in and filled a hole , which is nice .
Now , are you having any problem with material supply ? I mean , the material is the Oramask 810 , isn't it ?
We use Oramask 810 . That's really easy to get hold of . I mean , every everybody uses that stuff right . But we use tamiya tape right sheets right , because we can't really find a bulk supplier of of any other kind of kabuki tape like that right , plus the tamiya is . You know , everybody knows tamiya tape is really nice .
So every every few months we have a supplier hiccup where we're running dangerously close to being out of it , and then we're on a big scramble worldwide to find a supply .
Well , at least so far you've been able to keep finding it . I hope that keeps up .
Yeah , we just got hooked up with a wholesaler in Canada and it sounds like they're going to be able to help us out . Oh nice , so that's a bit of a stress relief there .
Well , good , that's good news . Now what's the next show you all are attending ?
We were supposed to go to Seattle for their show that they just had Right Everything was packed up ready to go . We had all our stuff . Grab our passports . I opened mine up and it has expired in February . Yeah , that can be a problem . That was a huge problem . That was basically oh my Lord , we're not going anywhere .
We've got some friends who had to pull the ripcord on a Bahaman vacation . Oh no , that's even worse Because of an expired passport .
Yeah , it was nice when we used to be able to cross the border with just our driver's licenses , but it's been a while since that was the case .
Well , my passport expired the month after HeritageCon , so I now have to get a new passport if I'm going to get to HeritageCon next year .
Our next show that we're going to be at is in Vancouver . Oh , okay , when is that ? That's Canadian Thanksgiving weekend in October , gotcha , I think it's right around the 8th , 9th or 10th somewhere around there .
Okay , okay , we're glad you're getting around there . Okay , yeah , well , glad you're getting out to another one .
Yeah , I mean Seattle , Vancouver and hopefully Heritage Con yearly are kind of the only ones we've been able to get to so far , but I really would like to go to the Nationals next year .
Well , the Nationals are very close to us next year . So , yeah , we're going to be in Virginia or Hampton this year and then next year it's up in what is it ? Fort Wayne , fort Wayne , indiana , yeah , fort Wayne Indiana . So that's super close to us . So , yeah , you'll have to come down . We'll have a good time Excellent .
That sounds like a plan . Well , kevin , to wrap this up , why don't you tell folks where they can find Kitmas and then explain a little bit how you got a family operation going on there , because your website's really nice . I'd like to know who's helped you out with that , and then we'll let you go .
So the website has been done . Everything has been done by my wife , Janelle . She is very talented . She's a stickler for detail , she loves talking to all our customers and she makes sure that everybody is looked after and responded to right away . So you can thank her for that and you can find us at kitmaskcom , K-I-T-M-A-S-K .
And for everybody listening , there is a discount code that you can apply to get a 15% discount and the code is MOJO15 , M-O-J-O 15 .
Well , I will say , having met your lovely bride at HeritageCon , she is definitely an asset to your operation . She was absolutely the star of the show , talking to pretty much everybody who was there . It was amazing . She has a real great personality .
Yeah , she's awesome . I mean I lucked out there . I was punching way above my weight class .
There you go . You only got to get lucky once man . Yeah , that's right .
Well , Kevin , we are really thrilled to be working with you folks on the sponsorship side of things Likewise , and look forward to the next time we see you at a show . I assume it's probably going to be Heritage Con next year , so a lot of water under the bridge before we get there , but we hope it works out .
But I'm sure we'll be in touch fairly regularly . Until then . Folks check them out . Kevin and Janelle are great . They have a great business and it's really going to help you out having some kit masks for those kits you didn't think you could find one for .
It was great talking to you guys again and , like I said , we're definitely going to try to make Heritage Con next year and we do have
¶ Missing AMPS and Future Plans
some loose plans in the works to visit more model shows as time allows .
All right , loose plans in the works to visit more model shows , as as time allows . Good , all right , we'll talk to you next time , kevin .
Take it easy you betcha , you guys have a great weekend , thank you .
You too , dave . It's going to be fun handing out the new swag from kit mass and plastic model mojo and looking forward to our next opportunity to do that , because unfortunately it wasn't an AMPS this week .
Yes , our consolation prize for not being at AMPS is sitting here tonight recording . Yeah not great , but life happens . You know , you and I both are still employed , still working . We got teenage kids and sometimes life comes first .
Life comes first and work comes first and all that stuff . So you know , like I told you in private earlier , just keep in mind the money we're saving .
Yes , that's right , although I am going to go out and buy a lottery ticket tomorrow and if I hit it , this all changes . You and I are retiring .
Oh , thanks for including me .
Glad to help .
You're going to be my driver . Okay , that's fine , as long as you meet my salary demands .
The salary is going to be awesome .
And I can wear flip flops .
Yeah , absolutely .
Absolutely Well , folks , we've talked to a lot of you leading up to Amps and it went right up to the bloody end and even when we recorded the last episode we had in our minds
¶ Working with Customer Requests
, we were still gone . It just kind of all hit the fan .
Fate is a B word .
That's right , it is .
And we didn't know what was , or at least I didn't know what was waiting for me at work , and work's got to come first , as much as I wish it didn't Well , and the apple basket got even more sour .
on my end . So it wasn't meant to be , I guess . But we got plans . We'll figure something out . We'll be out in front of folks again before too long , we hope .
Yeah , you and I have already discussed a little bit of planning .
Yeah , we'll see how that works out . Maybe we don't talk about it too much . No , that's right . Don't jinx . It Carved in stone , that's right . Well , I hope everybody's having fun either getting to AMPS or coming home when you listen to this or while you're there and send us lots of pictures on the dojo .
Yes , absolutely , and we're sorry we're not getting to see all those great models , all those great vendors and , most of all , all our great friends .
So , folks , in the meantime , check out Kitmas If you build aircraft , primarily a real time saver .
Yes , it is , wouldn't build without them .
Well , Dave , until episode 141, . I guess I'll talk to you later . Man , you got it . Bye .