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From the Editor – July 2025
The actions of Agent Orange (aka the Tangerine Tyrant, the MAGA-Monster, the Mega-Maggat or whatever) have passed far beyond the bounds of “normal” political misbehavior into the sphere of undisguised totalitarianism and unpredictable irrationality. The members of his ICE organization are no longer pulling any punches – free from restraint, they’re behaving like street thugs as they victimize families, children, senior citizens, valued members of the workforce and innocent tourists alike. No sign of any humanity or morality. We outsiders view them as the Mega-Maggat’s Blackshirts. Regardless of how you view the anti-immigrant policies currently being pursued, their tactics are extremely disturbing. The MAGA-monster’s flagrant over-riding of State authority through his illegal, unconstitutional and unwarranted deployment of US military forces against American citizens in Los Angeles who opposed his policies, as the First Amendment allows them to do, amounts to an open declaration of war against his own people. It accomplished nothing apart from inflaming the situation. He’s apparently encouraging US armed Coupled with his June 14th military parade, hearkening back to 1930’s Nuremberg in Germany, can Kristallnacht and Reichstag Day be far off? I just watched the classic 1982 Rutger Hauer TV movie “Inside the Third Reich”, and the blindingly obvious parallels were deeply troubling. With the initiation of targeted political assassinations in the USA (the Minnesota killings), just how “great” is the MAGA-Monster’s America?!? His use of that human tragedy as an excuse to publicly insult the Governor of Minnesota without any reference to the victims is beyond shameful. His demand that Canada “grovel” at his feet says it all about his view of the conduct of international diplomacy and his view of his own omnipotence. No kings ........?!?. As if this wasn’t enough, the credibility of his earlier boasts about his ability to bring peace to the Middle East is now in tatters – his unilateral involvement of the US military in acts of undeclared war against a nation against whom war has specifically not been declared (J. D. Vance, June 22nd, 2025) precisely emulates the undeclared Japanese strike of December 1941 at Pearl Harbor which has always been referred to as the “day of infamy”. It also makes a mockery of his earlier “peacekeeper” boasts as the region teeters on the brink of WW3 while the civilian death-toll continues to mount. Both America and the world are in deep trouble …………and it’s mostly due to the irrational, illegal and unconstitutional actions of one seemingly deranged megalomaniac with the attention span of a three-year-old for whom the words “truth”, “integrity,” “morality” and “law” clearly have no meaning.
Doing this reminded me that I had yet to test the fine example of the J.B. Atomglow which was recently restored to a superb standard by my good mate Dean Clarke of Cre8tionworx Engineering in New Zealand. I’ve now remedied this omission, adding the results of my test of the Atomglow Having read last month’s article on the Aurora Mills 2.4 replicas, my Aussie mate Derek Butler was kind enough to send along some links to YouTube videos of his examples of the Aurora Mills replicas running. Both 2.46 and 3.46 cc examples are included. Two of the videos highlight the engines’ R/C throttling capabilities, which are actually quite impressive! I’ve added those links to the Mills 2.4 comparison article. Well worth a look! Big thanks to Derek for sharing this material. While on the subject of the Mills engines, I heard yet again from my good mate Maris Dislers, who shared some new insights into the design origins and influence of the However, the entirely circumstantial combination of these components unexpectedly turned out to result in a very significant performance boost. It seems to have been the identification of this unplanned performance enhancement which led directly to the development of the much-improved Mills 1.3 Mk. 2 Series 2 variant. Maris’s article on the Mills marine models has been updated to reflect this new understanding. I recently acquired the nice illustrated example of the D-C 350 diesel from my good mate Ken Campbell. It was pretty well gummed up solid, forcing me to take it apart to clear out the grunge. Doing so drew my attention to the oddest design feature of this engine – the strange undercut in the external diameter of the cylinder liner behind the external cooling fins. This well-known feature is clearly visible in the accompanying cutaway view extracted from Peter Chinn’s July 1951 test of the engine in “Model Aircraft”.
Given the above comment, Kevin speculated that the idea may have been to promote a quick warm-up to an elevated operating temperature. His example of this engine has been well used, incorporating a cylinder liner which is (to quote Kevin) “black as the hobs of hell!”. Despite this clear evidence of extremely hot operation, the engine remains in perfect mechanical condition, still starting and running very well indeed.
My very good friend Luis Petersen from Denmark recently re-read my article on the HGK range from Japan. He noted that he had never sent me an article which he wrote following an October 1978 visit to the HGK manufacturing facility in Tokyo. That article appeared in the May 1979 issue of the Danish model magazine “Modelflyvenyt”. Luis very kindly sent me a scan of his article, which was easily translated into English. It added a number of interesting details to the HGK story which have now been incorporated into the original text. Many thanks, mate!!
And now for the Procrastination Page! Some readers may dimly recall that way back in December 2014 I published an article about the mega-rare Atsuta 19 glow-plug motor from early Fast forward 11 years to June 2025 ……enough procrastination! I finally allowed my curiosity to get the better of me, going boldly where no man has gone before into a bench test of the Atsuta 19. I reasoned that if I didn’t do this, no-one else would! The test provided a few adventures, but in the end it all turned out well – the engine survived. Have a look at the updated Atsuta 19 article to see how it went!
My first all-new article for the month represents an unusual twist among the articles for which I’ve been responsible – it’s a comparative multi-brand review. Most model engine enthusiasts are familiar with the various clones of notable engines produced by others, often in such places as China, Taiwan and Russia. A key issue has always been how well these clones stack up against the originals – what kind of value for money did they represent, and how did they affect the fortunes of the original designers and manufacturers?
The second article for the month takes us once more to the USA to look at what I consider to be one of the better early post-WW2 spark ignition motors regardless of the country of origin – the 1946 Pacemaker 59 from New York. This well-designed and competently-constructed engine is one of my favourite sparkies, handling extremely easily and performing at a very high level by 1946 standards. I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I enjoyed writing about it and testing it!
That’s about it for this month, fellow enthusiasts. All being well and assuming that WW3 doesn’t engulf us and that my neighborhood remains free from the sound of tramping jackboots and gunfire, I hope to return in August with a few more reviews for your reading pleasure. In the meantime, I really appreciate all the expressions of support that I’ve continued to receive from so many of you! Adrian Duncan British Columbia, Canada (the NATION, not a state!)
___________________________________ Note regarding material to be found on this site - unless specifically otherwise noted, all images and text which appear on this site are my own work, and I hereby assert my right to be recognized as the originator of this material except when expressly otherwise stated. For the record, this material is made freely available to all upon two firm conditions:
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Greetings once more to one and all! Firstly, I’m happy to report that I’m continuing to do well after my recent gall bladder surgery. Moreover, present indications are that the earlier removal of my stomach tumor appears to have been completely successful – no indications of any complications or carry-over other than the incisional hernia which unfortunately developed following that surgery. I’m now awaiting the return to work of my namesake surgeon Dr. Duncan from maternity leave. Hopefully she’ll get the incisional hernia sorted soon after she returns – it’s on her back-to-work to-do list. After that issue is sorted, I should be pretty much back to normal for the first time in almost 2 years! It’s been quite a ride…………and one that I don’t care to repeat! 
forces personnel to violate their enlistment oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States” – indeed, their appearance in arms in LA in clear contravention of the Constitution was in itself a violation of that oath. His threats to arrest elected State officials for the “crime” of opposing his actions were extremely disturbing.
OK, on to far happier things! I heard from German reader Thomas Pompe, who sent along some images of an interesting 2.74 cc four-stroke engine that he had acquired. This unit is missing its timer and carburettor – it seems to be a home-built engine which was never completed. It looks to me like a very praiseworthy attempt to build a model of a classic motorcycle engine. The use of castings suggests that it may have been constructed from a kit. Can any reader provide any information regarding the origins of this engine? If so, please get in touch!! Full details on the 
Over the past month, I’ve been able to learn a great deal more about the previously obscure life and times of Jack E. Ballard of E.D., AMCO and J.B. fame. This is due entirely to the efforts of my good friend and fellow researcher Marcus Tidmarsh, to whom I’m extremely grateful. I’ve added the updated information to my article on the 
to the article. This is the first time that any test results for the Atomglow have been reported. Check out the 
I’ve often wondered why Hefin Davies included this clearly intentional feature - he must surely have had his reasons, since it involves an additional machining step. Seeking enlightenment, I approached my valued mate Kevin Richards to see if he had any ideas. Kevin commented upon the well-known fact that within limits, I/C engines operate best at higher temperatures provided lubrication remains adequate. This is because high-temperature cylinder components extract less heat from the internal combustion process due to the lower thermal gradient, leaving more of the generated energy stored in the combustion gases to drive the engine’s working components.
Kevin’s suggestion appears to me to have considerable credibility. However, I have to ask – does any reader have any better ideas? If so, you know who to contact……………
1950’s Japan. Reports from Japan implied that one of the reasons for this engine’s very short market tenure was a certain tendency to fail catastrophically due to seizure of the very long crankshaft. Heeding this warning, I refrained from following my usual practice of testing the engine, persuading myself that this decision was based upon conservation considerations. 
OK, on to the new articles for this month! Given the continuing uncertainties which define the troubled times in which we live, I’m trying my best while I still can to make every edition count. Once again, I’ve managed to assemble what I hope will be an interesting selection of articles for your reading pleasure.
To provide some answers in one well-known case of competitive cloning, I’ve undertaken a comparative evaluation of one of the better-known examples of this type of design appropriation – the various 
The third article this time completes my series on the Hope range from Tokyo, Japan. I began with an article covering the 
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