The Arden spark ignition engines appeared almost immediately following the conclusion of WW2, immediately becoming very popular. As model engine history records, designer Ray Arden did not stand pat with his very successfule .099 and .199 cuin. sparkies, proceeding top render them obsolete through his late 1947 introduction of the s commercuial miniature glow-plug. 

Prior to that game-changing event, American modellers had been engaging in a serious flirtation with compression ignition (diesel) engines. This led several companies, including D-E Model Products of Rockville Center, New York to develop and market diesel conversion kits for the Arden engines. Although the engines performed well in this form, they were really too lightly built to withstand long-term operation on compression ignition. Crankshaft failures were a particular problem. As a result, the diezelised Ardens failed to make much of a mark - modellers quickly gravitated to the glow-plug versions, which ran even better.

A full description and test of the D.E. diesel conversion kit for the Arden .099 may be found elsewhere on this web-site.