Tariff Announcement

Posted on August 24, 2025 by russ@AHS

 Information reaching us today is that effective August 29th 2025, I will no longer be able to import product under the “de minimis” tax and duty exemption.  This exemption applied to packages under $800, and under the new rule effective August 29th, this drops to $Zero. 

Worse, packages under $800 are apparently to be hit with a flat $80 tariff, which is to be collected by the shipper – meaning the post office (or UPS, FedEx, DHL) of the sending country.  As most of my imports are around the $400 mark, this means I am to pay a tariff that is effectively 20% or more.  

For more information, see this article from The Washington Post published yesterday:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/countries-are-suspending-postal-deliveries-to-the-u-s-here-s-why

Quoting from the above,

“The extra charges on a package will depend on the methodology used to calculate it, according to the executive order. The duty rate will either match the level of tariff the U.S. has imposed on the country of origin, or a specific duty based on the following:

  • For countries with a tariff rate of 15 percent or less, such as Britain, each package will incur an additional charge of $80.
  • Parcels originating from countries with U.S. tariffs of between 16 and 25 percent will incur an additional $160.
  • Countries with a tariff rate of more than 25 percent will face an extra $200.

The new rules could also put the onus on senders to pay import duties before the shipment leaves for the U.S., according to Belgium’s bpost. It said in a statement the changes mean “import duties for all shipments with goods must be prepaid, regardless of value.”

(end of quoted material)

Note that the article says the $80, $160 or $200 charge will apply to ANY package under $800.

I can guarantee you that non of my suppliers are going to pay these tariff charges. They will be added to my invoice, and I will have to pay them, or I will not receive my order.

As my margins are already micro thin (my accountant says i earned less than $800 taxable profit last year), I cannot absorb them. Worse, if I am to replace sold product (which I generally do 1 for 1) without further investment, I have to apply the tariff to existing stock.
​
​Consequently, with great regret, and effective immediately, I am adding a 20% tariff surcharge on all imported product lines.  

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New Product Announcements, July 31st 2025

Posted on August 1, 2025 by russ@AHS

The latest AHS/JH decal is in stock! This is a screen printed decal (by Cartograf), and includes a set of silver/black Rolls Royce logos (that’s the tiny decal to the right of the main decal). It’s designed to fir the Zvezda kit. Yes, two sets of ‘America West Airlines’ titles are provided…. one set ‘all inclusive’ (our recommendation), and a set that you get to piece together (door frame with “W”, that is applied over a set of titles.

A4-320 America West Airlines (1986 – 1996 cs) Boeing 757-200

26Decal has released new sets for the recently re-released Bae 146-200 kit, and more British Airways ‘World Tails’ for the Zvezda Boeing 757-200 kit.

TS44-1327 British European Bae 146-200

TS44-1329 Capital Airlines (UK) Bae 146-200

  • TS44-1067 British Airways ‘Nalanji Dreaming’ Boeing 757-200

TS44-1068 British Airways ‘Grand Union’ Boeing 757-200

  • TS44-1331 British Airways ‘Wunala Dreaming’ Boeing 757-200

TS44-1332 British Airways ‘Chelsea Rose’ Boeing 757-200

TS44-1330 Princess Airlines (UK) Bae 146-200

8A144-896 8A200-896 Swiss Airlines ‘Wanderlust’ Airbus A.350-900

DRAW Decal has released a set for the National Airlines McDD DC-10 fleet in 1/144, 1/200 and 1/100 scale.

DW44-DC10-017 DW20-DC10-017 DW10-DC10-017 National Airlines McDD DC-10-10/-30

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The Latest Sergey Druz Resins Releases – Airbus A.380

Posted on July 10, 2025 by russ@AHS

Sergey Druz Resins has released three new sets for the Revell 1/144 scale Airbus A.380 kits.

SD4-380-RRT9 RR Trent 900 Engines (4), Airbus A.380

Posted in New Resin Parts, Sergey Druz Resin | Leave a comment

New Product Announcements, July 6th 2025

Posted on July 6, 2025 by russ@AHS

Academy Models continues to introduce airliner kits. Some are ex Minicraft, using the moulds acquired with the April 2023 buyout of Minicraft’s assets in bankruptcy. The recent Boeing 737-400 release with Columbian Air Force markings, is but one example. Then there are entirely new moulds, the recent release of a Boeing P-8A Poseidon. Yes, a sheep in wolf’s clothing, but if you want to build ‘one each’ of the 737 variants, it is rather important.

  • ACY-12635 Boeing P8A Poseidon, US Navy, RAAF
  • ACY-12635-DW Boeing P8A Poseidon, US Navy, RAAF, with choice of DRAW P-8A Decal

ACY-12639 Boeing 737-400 Columbian Air Force, Indonesian Air Force

Now, it appears that Academy has entered into an agreement to package some Zvezda airliner kits in their own packaging. Kit 12646 is the Boeing 737-MAX8, released by Academy with Boeing prototype markins (coincidentally the same markings as Zvezda). The kit has not yet arrived in the USA, so availability and pricing remains unknown.

Stay tuned for updates!

8ADecs released one more decal on June 18th, a few hours after our last post was published.

8A144​-893  Ethiopian Airlines Airbus A.350-900

  • 8A144-894 AeroMexico Connect (2024 cs) Embraer 190
  • 8A144-895 AeroMexico (2024 cs) Boeing 737-MAX8 / -800

26Decal has released a set for the Pan Am Boeing 757-200. No, it’s not a ‘Flight of Fancy’ set, the owners of the Pan Am brand have organised a ’round the world’ charter, and arranged to wet lease a fully painted Boeing 757-200 from Icelandair for the trip.

TS44​-1326  Pan Am Boeing 757-200

DRAW has released a set for the Delta Airlines A.350-900 in their 100th Anniversary special markings.

DW44-A350-007A DW20-A350-007A Delta Airlines ‘100th Anniversary’ Airbus A350-900

DRAW has formally announced their QANTASlink A.220-300 decal.

DW44-A​220-019 QANTASlink Airbus A.220-300

Posted in 26Decals, 8A Decs, Academy Models, DRAW Decal, Minicraft, New Decals, New Kits | Leave a comment

New Product Announcements, June 18th 2025

Posted on June 18, 2025 by russ@AHS

Academy Models has released two 1/144 scale Boeing 737 kits recently.

First, Academy released a new kit for the Boeing P-8A Poseidon, with US Navy and Royal Australian Air Force markings.

  • ACY-12635 Boeing P8A Poseidon, US Navy, RAAF
  • ACY-12635-DW Boeing P8A Poseidon, US Navy, RAAF, with choice of DRAW P-8A Decal

The second kit is the Boeing 737-400. This kit is the Minicraft kit, re-released from the moulds that Academy acquired when they bought the Minicraft assets.

ACY-12639 Boeing 737-400 Columbian Air Force, Indonesian Air Force

DRAW Decal has stepped up the release of new decals, so a few new ones to announce.

DW44-F​27-​003 DW72-F27-0​03 FedEx Fokker F.27

DW44-777-​0​98 DW20-77​7-098 Korean Air (2025 cs) Boeing 777-300ER

26 Decal has released the following new sets.

TS44​-1325 TS​72-280 Cameroon Airlines Boeing 707-320C

TS44-​1058 British Airways Boeing 757-200

26Decal has released three sets of new 1/200 scale 747 decals.

TS20​-113 El Al Boeing 747-258B

8ADecs has released three new sets for the Airbus A.321NEO kits:

Posted in 26Decals, 8A Decs, Academy Models, DRAW Decal, New Decals, New Kits | Leave a comment

Announcing A4-319 United Airlines (2019 cs) Boeing 757-200 / -300 Screen Printed Decal

Posted on May 23, 2025 by russ@AHS

My latest collaboration decal with JH has arrived, and it looks great !  As before, designed to fit the 1/144 scale Zvezda kits, and screen printed in Italy by Cartograf.

The current United scheme is quite complex. United has provided an illustration and two interesting articles introducing and explaining the new livery.

United 2019 Illustrated:

United Media Room Article

AeroCrewNews Article

There is also an article on the Norebo site that describes the new livery, however some of the color references don’t match what United advertises.

United by Norebo

The Decal:

JH designed the sheet to allow either a series 200 or 300 to be built (sorry, not both from one sheet).  Both fleets are ex Continental, so RB211-535E powered, and sufficient numbers are included to allow any airframe to be modeled. 

JH wasn’t sure how the tail logo would come out as a screen printed set , so he printed a second set by “offset”.  To my eye, they are very similar, though the blue inks used for offset aren’t quite as bright as the screen print inks.  Both will be included, you can decide which to use.  My suggestion is the screen printed tail for a newly painted aircraft, and the offset tails for one that has been in service for a while – the light blue being a tad lighter on this set.

As we couldn’t include the white below the curved fuselage stripes as decal (matching your shade of shade of white paint being the problem), I have commissioned a set of vinyl paint masks from Vintage Flyer to assist with masking for the grey belly.  These will be an optional extra, you’ll be able to select -200, -300 or both.

You will find this decal here:

A4-319 United 2019 cs Boeing 757-200 / -300

and the paint mask here:

A4-319 Paint Mask

Now, unfortunately as these decals were printed in Italy, a tariff has come with them.  Our first overseas sourced product to be so affected. 

Update to A4-318 / BZD420 Continental / United Boeing 757-200 / 300 Decal

We produced an addendum to the BraZ Continental/United 757 sheet that provides registrations for the ex United PW powered airframes. 

This set can be found here:

A4-318A United PW Regestrations

The full Continental / UA sheet is found here:

A4-318 Continental / United Boeing 757-200 / -300

BZD420 Continental / United Boeing 757-200 / -300

Enjoy !

Posted in AHS Decals, Boeing 757-200, Boeing 757-300 | Leave a comment

New Product Announcements, May 23rd 2025

Posted on May 23, 2025 by russ@AHS

DRAW has added a set for the MD-11.

DW44-MD11-018 DW20-MD11-018 American Airlines McDD MD-11

The Indian Government operates a pair of Boeing 777-300ER as VIP aircraft.

DW44-777-095 DW20-777-095 India (Government) Boeing 777-300ER

DRAW has also released a set for the TWA Boeing 757-200. As previously announced, AHS commissioned a similar screen printed sheet (by Cartograf) last year. The AHS set comes with bonus artwork (not shown here).

  • A4-316 Trans World Airlines Boeing 757-231

DRAW also released a pair of sets for teh Piedmont and Piedmont / US Air hybrid Boeing 727-200s.

8ADecs has released the following new sets.

Posted in 8A Decs, DRAW Decal, New Decals | Leave a comment

New Product Announcements, April 22nd 2025

Posted on April 22, 2025 by russ@AHS

Two recent Revell Germany kits have finally arrived in the US.

The A.340-300 kit is the same kit we’ve seen for years, now released with Lufhansa’s current livery. Decal is designed by Daco Skyline, printed in Italy.

  • RV3803 Airbus A.340-300, Lufthansa (2018 cs)

This is the most recent A.321 kit, but with CFM56-5B3 engines, and hence a “CEO” kit. Decal is designed by Daco Skyline, printed by Cartograf.

  • RV3788 Airbus A.321-200, Condor

DRAW Decal kicked off April with a much anticipated new set for the Airbus A.220-300.

DW44-A​220-018 Breeze Airways Airbus A.220-300

DRAW added to their Lufthansa offerings with a special scheme for the Airbus A.330-300.

DW44-A330-​028D DW20-A330​-028D Lufthansa (2018 cs) ‘Diversity Wins’ Airbus A.330-300

DRAW has released a series of four Korean Air Boeing 777-300ER decals, depicting variations of what is now their previous scheme.

26 Decal has released a new set for the Daco Skyline Boeing 737-300 kit. Sorry, no, the kit has not been re-released.

Also released is a nice ‘retro’ decal, this time it’s for the Transavia Holland Airbus A.321NEO that recently appeared. The decal is designed to fit the Revell kit.

  • TS44-1324 Transavia Holland (retro cs) Airbus A.321NEO

8ADecs has added a set for the QANTAS Airbus A.321XLR in 1/144 and 1/200 scales.

8A144-​883 8A20​0-883 QANTAS Airbus A.321XLR

8ADecs also released a set for the Baltic Airlines A.220-300 that carries special ‘Laidy in the Clouds’ markings.

8A14​4-884 Air Baltic ‘Lady in the Clouds’ Airbus A.220-300

BOA Agency has released two new decals for the Mark 1 Models BAC 1-11-500 kit.

And… two new etch brass details sets.

  • EX-14441 Etch Brass Details, Airbus A.350-900
  • EX-14442 Etch Brass Details, BAC 1-11-500
Posted in 26Decals, 8A Decs, DRAW Decal, New Decals, New Detail Parts, New Kits, TwoSix Decals | Leave a comment

New Product Announcements, March 13th 2025

Posted on March 13, 2025 by russ@AHS

Druz Resins has released a revised set of their PW JT9D engines with pylons specifically designed to fit the Eastern Express kit.

SD4-747SP​-JT9D PW JT9D engines (4) for Boeing 747SP (Eastern Express)

DRAW Decal has released a new set for the Hughes Airwest (the ‘Flying Banana’ airline) fleet of Boeing 727-200s. Included on the sheets are the “Republic” markings added when Republic Airlines bought the airline in 1980.

DW44-72​7-036 DW20-727​-036 DW10-72​7-036 DW25-72​7-036 Hughes Airwest Boeing 727-200

DRAW added to their Delta Boeing 757 options with a new set that models the aircraft that had extra ‘Atlanta Where You Belong’ titles applied to the nose.

DW44-75​7-048D DW20-757​-048D Delta Airlines Boeing 757-200 ‘Atlanta Where you Belong’

DRAW added to their Canadair CRJ lineup with the release of a set for the series 200.

DW44-CRJ-013 DW72-CRJ-013 Air Canada Express (2017 cs) CRJ-200

26Decal released another set for the Mach2 Hawker Siddeley 748, for an early BKS scheme.

TS72-2​68 BKS HS.748 (for Mach 2 kit)

Also a set for Skyways London.

TS​72-270 Skyways of London HS.748 Srs 2

… and for Skyways Coach Air…

For Emerald Airways….

TS72-​273 Emerald Airways HS.748 (for Mach 2 kit)

26 has also released a new set for the Altair (Italy) Se.210 Caravelle III, to fit the A-Models kit.

TS44-1​319 Altair (Italy) Se.210 Caravelle III

26 also updated their Transavia Caravelle III set for the A-Models kit.

TS44-​1321 Transavia Holland Se.210 Caravelle III

8ADecs has released two more sets for the 1/144 scale CRM Boeing 727-200 kit.

8A144-8​82 All Nippon Airways Boeing 727-200

Finally, our first batch of CRM 1/144 scale Boeing 727-200 kits have just arrived in the US, and should be in our hands within a week. Our “Pre Order” price expires the day they get here….

CRM144-900 Boeing 727-200, JAT Jugoslav Airlines

Posted in 26Decals, 8A Decs, CRM Counting Rivets Models, DRAW Decal, Sergey Druz Resin, TwoSix Decals | Leave a comment

CRM 1/144 Scale Boeing 727-200 is coming soon!

Posted on March 6, 2025 by russ@AHS

Our first batch of the excellent CRM (Counting Rivets Models) 1/144 scale Boeing 727-200 kit is on its way.

This is an all new kit, receiving excellent reviews from all who have already purchased one (or more….). Excellent parts fit, superb crisp detail, head and shoulders a better kit than the Airfix and Minicraft kits that came before.

I anticipate that our first batch of kits will be here at the end of March, and we are accepting pre-orders.

https://www.airline-hobby-estore.com/product-p/crm144-900.htm

For those who have not yet seen the kit, here are some photos:

Fuselage halves. Note the indentation where the clear cabin windows are inserted. The cockpit windows and roof are also provided as a clear part, and a detailed cockpit is provided.

The upper wings. You are seeing the upper surface of the left wing, and the inner side of the right wing. The trailing edge upper and lower surfaces are on this part, providing a thin trailing edge. Note the static discharge wicks along the trailing edges, and the notch at the wingtips for the navigation lights.

This is the one piece lower wing and center fuselage.

This sprue provides the fin, stabs, cockpit floor and bulkheads.

Here are the #1 and #3 engines and and “S” duct for the #2 engine. Also on this sprue are parts for the rear airstairs and nose gear well.

This sprue provides landing gear parts, flap track fairings, and a host of small detail parts.

Here is the clear sprue, providing cockpit windows & roof, and the clear inserts for the cabin windows. Also on this sprue are clear wingtip and fin marker lights.

And finally, the decal. CRM has provided both solid black and clear cabin and cockpit windows.

An excellent booklet is provided that illustrate the assembly process.

After market decals have already been produced by 26Decal, DRAW Decal and 8ADecs. Vintage Flyer will be updating their sets for this kit shortly.

26 Decal: “TS44” are laser, “STS44” are screen printed.

  • STS44-423 Lufthansa or Condor Boeing 727-200
  • STS44-424 Thy Turkish Boeing 727-200
  • STS44-425 Dan Air London Boeing 727-200
  • STS44-426 Braniff International ‘Flying Colors’ Boeing 727-200

DRAW Decal:

8ADecs:

Posted in Boeing 727-200, CRM Counting Rivets Models, New Kits | Leave a comment