I recently purchased 2 DUX 612 pens from Ray in England... a burgundy and a dark green...
If you are not familiar or did not get around to reading about them.. Ray bought a bunch of these back from Pakistan.... they are rather inexpensive pens over there..
The pen emulates the Parker 51 but is a slimmer design..
The pen measures 5.375 capped, 5.75 posted and is approx .437 diameter and very light in weight...
It features a hooded nib that is definately an oriental fine.. but surprisingly for the price of the pen a very nice wet writing nib on this pen... the burgundy wrote a bit drier, but also had Noodler's RedBlack in it.
I looked at the nibs under magnification and they had a good size iridium nib... however the iridium was not evenly ground... but then again remember we are discussing a $8 pen and that included shipping from England.
The aerometric filling system was a joy and holds a good amount of ink and has a clear sac. It also filled almost to the top of the sac. The threads on the section are clear plastic so you can see when you are getting low on ink.
I decided to write with this pen for a couple of days before giving a complete report. To say that I am very pleased with this purchase would be an understatement. This is a very nice writing pen... I borrowed an Hero 100 to test against it and it perfomed as well or better than the Hero with the same ink.
I don't know if Ray has any more of these available, but if he does and you are looking for a decent pen to bang around with, this is it. I will state, however, that I don't think you are going to want to bang around the cap... it is thin metal...

Nice review! It perfomed as well or better than the Hero 100? That's impressive for an $8 pen. My only experience with Hero pens are with a Hero 100 gold and a Hero M616. How's the overall construction of the Dux compared with the Hero 616 or Hero 329?

Hi Tom,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and pics of this pen! Much appreciated, and nice review!

Warm regards, Wim

I think the Hero pens are better constructed. I mean we are talking $16 including shipping for 2 pens here as compared to the cost of a Hero 100 at about $25/ea. I don't have a 616 or 329 to compare it too... the ones I had have been passed on.

The cap is definately not as substantial as the Hero and as noted the body is thinner and while light the body plastic feels strong.

The filler mechanism is where this pen shines... the spring is strong and works well.. the sac is clear and responsive.. and fills well...

The nib, while not exactly what I would call perfectly formed, writes beautifully and smoothly.

Thanks for the info, Tom. Again, thanks for the review and cool pics.

Tom,

Great review, and I'm delighted you like the pens so much.

Folks, I still have plenty of these left. Details can be found in the Marketplace, or just PM me and I'll let you know the details.

Ray

Another very nice review, OldGriz! (and nice handwriting, too, I must say! )
I'm not a big fan of pens with hooded nibs but for that price, I can't argue....