David Foulkes

Can I please let everyone know that Black Beetles are in fact still in production.  Yes, Mr Mashima has stopped producing motors, but before he stopped producing and retired I was able to place a large order and, at current rate of production, have enough motors to last at least several years.  I can see, however, that when the last motor is used I will be left with a considerable stock of wheels in all sorts of sizes and profiles, as well as plastic components and gears, all of which will be essentially worthless.  For this reason I no longer sell Black Beetles at discount wholesale price, which is why you can no longer order a Black Beetle from e.g. Branchlines or DC Kits.  The good news is that Black Beetles are still available.  The bad news is that customers need to order direct from Australia, which means they will need to pay postage from Australia.  Price of a Black Beetle with 15:1 gearing is A$86.40 and with 27:1 gearing the price is A$110.90.  Air mail for a parcel up to 500g in weight is A$29.00, which includes tracking.  Up to about 9 Black Beetles could be sent in a single parcel and it would still come in under 500g.

David Foulkes

Steam Era Models