V12 engines have been around for over a century. By the time World War II began, V12’s were the go-to platform in aviation — with a variation being found in almost every bomber and fighter plane at the time. But, due to the introduction of turbojet and turboprop engines after the war, the V12 was quickly phased out of the aviation industry and left to the marine and heavy equipment market.

With only 100 made, you will have to look deep into the model engine and model plane market to find one. But, the late Stefan Gasparin (1937-2015) a professional model engine builder from the Czech Republic, built what he believed to be the world’s smallest CO2 powered V12 engine, the Gasparin G63V12.

The G63V12 is a 90 degree V12 with a bore of just 4.0 mm, a stroke of 5.0 mm and stroke volume of 12 x 62.80 mm³. Weighing in at 108 grams, this model engine weighs less than an iPhone. The V12 works by using sewing machine oil as a lubricant and connecting a charged tank of CO2 to its regulator.

The CO2 is pressurized to about 850 PSI. This causes the CO2 to liquify, it is then injected into the cylinders where it expands into a gas moving the piston.

Using a small peg on the top of each floating o-ring piston, this peg opens the valves and allow the pressurized gas in by the use of a steel ball on the inlet valve. The exhaust ports are exposed when the piston approaches BDC.