Switch to more Microscale prints?

[Corey]

Kursad, just curious, will the new tariffs lead to more Microscale prints than Cartograf for new decal sheets? 

[Dave Roof]

10 hours ago, Corey said:

Kursad, just curious, will the new tariffs lead to more Microscale prints than Cartograf for new decal sheets? 

 

I am absolutely not speaking for Kursad, but I know for a fact that another decal company got hit with a sizeable bill after receiving their latest shipment from Cartograf. I mentioned I was planning on sending my next sheet to them for a quote and he suggested I don't. While Microscale is leaps and bounds ahead of where they were 15 years ago, they're still not as crisp as Cartograf.

[Corey]

2 hours ago, Dave Roof said:

 

I am absolutely not speaking for Kursad, but I know for a fact that another decal company got hit with a sizeable bill after receiving their latest shipment from Cartograf. I mentioned I was planning on sending my next sheet to them for a quote and he suggested I don't. While Microscale is leaps and bounds ahead of where they were 15 years ago, they're still not as crisp as Cartograf.

thanks for the reply Dave!

[Charlie D.]

Been curious about this myself. I know Kursad has used Microscale a few times for various sheets. 
 

Caracal is the sweet spot for me price wise, hopefully this won’t change too much! I own more of their sheets than any other. 

Edited August 22, 2025 by Charlie D.

[potez]

Please, do not move.  I've got a set for early Sabres from Bullseye printed by Microscale and it's quality is do really low comparing to made by Cartograf. IMHO  Caracal is the best  choice because of the best quality, price is really less important. There is a lot of medium or low quality decals on the market with an upcoming wave of made with printers not screenprinted. It's sth like Eduard's dilemma - nice models with poor decals after coooperation with Cartograf were stopped. 

[habu2]

https://apnews.com/article/us-tariffs-goods-services-suspension-85c7b36b9e92c0e640dfe2ac418cd907

 

Most of Europe - including Italy - are suspending deliveries to the US on Saturday 

[Dave Williams]

2 hours ago, habu2 said:

https://apnews.com/article/us-tariffs-goods-services-suspension-85c7b36b9e92c0e640dfe2ac418cd907

 

Most of Europe - including Italy - are suspending deliveries to the US on Saturday 

Oh well. 🤷‍♂️

[lockheed2004]

5 hours ago, habu2 said:

https://apnews.com/article/us-tariffs-goods-services-suspension-85c7b36b9e92c0e640dfe2ac418cd907

 

Most of Europe - including Italy - are suspending deliveries to the US on Saturday 

Once everyone figures out how to handle the tariff situation, service will resume. The USA is hardly the first country to collect tariffs, it can’t be that hard. Luckymodel already figured it out.

[Dave Roof]

9 hours ago, habu2 said:

https://apnews.com/article/us-tariffs-goods-services-suspension-85c7b36b9e92c0e640dfe2ac418cd907

 

Most of Europe - including Italy - are suspending deliveries to the US on Saturday 

 

Cartograf ships via Fedex....

[KursadA]

I already had one shipment where I had to pay tariffs. Note that I already adjusted the pricing for new sets I released in the last couple of months - most new single-sheet sets will now be $16 and three-sheet sets $18-20.  As Dave pointed out, at the scales I am dealing with, all shipments go through companies like FedEx or DHL that take care of tariffs and customs in a straightforward fashion.

 

It is no secret that the price of everything has been going up since the pandemic. As you all know I use Microscale for some of my sets that will serve a limited interest, and I frequently combine Cartograf-printed stencilling sheets (where small details matter most) with Microscale-printed main marking sheets. But most of my new releases are printed by Cartograf.

 

I will stick with this setup for the foreseeable future and will have to increase prices only when really needed. Don't worry, I have been doing this for a while, and (I think) I figured out how to make it work.  The only somewhat controversial thing I am considering is going to digital instructions, but that is not going to happen until I think very long and hard about it and ask for feedback via surveys.

Edited August 24, 2025 by KursadA

[Corey]

4 minutes ago, KursadA said:

I already had one shipment where I had to pay tariffs. Note that I already adjusted the pricing for new sets I released in the last couple of months - most new single-sheet sets will not be $16 and three-sheet sets $18-20.  As Dave pointed out, at the scales I am dealing with, all shipments go through companies like FedEx or DHL that take care of tariffs and customs in a straightforward fashion.

 

It is no secret that the price of everything has been going up since the pandemic. As you all know I use Microscale for some of my sets that will serve a limited interest, and I frequently combine Cartograf-printed stencilling sheets (where small details matter most) with Microscale-printed main marking sheets. But most of my new releases are printed by Cartograf.

 

I will stick with this setup for the foreseeable future and will have to increase prices only when really needed. Don't worry, I have been doing this for a while, and (I think) I figured out how to make it work.  The only somewhat controversial thing I am considering is going to digital instructions, but that is not going to happen until I think very long and hard about it and ask for feedback via surveys.

 

thanks for the detailed reply Kursad!