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  • Michel de Montreal

    might i suggest waiting for the ink to dry before doing a double, then the tripple pass. Since the ink is sooo wet it appears to flow freely over the first pass….. just a suggestion ;)

    • http://fpgeeks.com/ Dan Smith

      These are exactly the kind of suggestions we’re looking for. Good thinking.

    • ArtJourney

      Yep, totally agree, the 2nd & 3rd passes on the swab tests should be done when the ink is dry. Also, would a swab with a cotton bud actually be better as the poster nib makes an extremely wet and, therefore, possibly unrealistic saturated colour.

      Personally I would also be interested in the “brush out” effect when the ink is washed with a water brush. Whereas the water test shows waterproofness for writing envelopes that might get caught in the rain, I like to know what an ink does when exposed to a wet brush. Some inks move a little; giving a light wash, others are waterproof; ideal for a drawing then watercolour, and others move a lot, ideal for mono pen & ink effects. So a swipe with a wet brush once dry would demonstrate this.

  • inkflow

    SBRE and FPGeeks, you deserve a big thumb up for this effort!

  • sbrebrown

    We do our best :-) . Indeed, interesting suggestions! The problem with the Plakat nib is that is lays down a WET line indeed. In fact, even the single pass line took almost half an hour to dry. I’ll give this some more thought: I heartily agree that double and triple passes on wet ink don’t work out too well :-) !

    • ArtJourney

      Definely sounds like the swab test would be better with a cotton bud then. Would also give a more realistic colour saturation.

    • Michel de Montreal

      Maybe in that case go for an off-camera ink swab test with the less imposing but still quite impressive Pilot Parallel 6mm nib?

  • http://www.facebook.com/sllong Susan Long

    thank you for this, great job!

  • ianmedium

    Thanks firstly for saying about other inks Stephen, great! One little point. Would it be possible to use plain paper as opposed to graph, lined of dotted? I think it would give the effects your presenting greater presence without the distraction of printed lines dots or squares. Other than that. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. It is much appreciated!

    • Maja

      I agree with Ian—wonderful job but perhaps switch to non-grid paper. Sorry to nit-pick; you’ve obviously put a lot of thought into doing these reviews. Keep ‘em coming, Stephen!

      • Stephen Brown

        You’re not nitpicking – this is the type of feedback we need. The problem is that the only high-quality non-lined paper I have is Clairefontaine, and that is very smooth; Eric and I had a discussion about that… I love that paper, but I’m not sure whether it’s well-suited for ink demos. However, next instalments will ALSO contain blank copier paper, so perhaps that helps a bit :-) .

  • Brenda (TonicLime)

    It is now on my list ! Great Vid!

  • http://www.facebook.com/shjon.sweet Shjon Sweet

    Thanks, Doc Brown. I think you’ve just sold a bottle of Apache Sunset. ^^

  • mrul

    Great and excellent work as usually. I agree with ianmedium – plain paper could be, propably, better for demonstration. And – veel dank

  • David

    Love the shading of Apache Sunset. What blue is a good shader, especially for a 1.3mm stub.

    Thanks, David

    • Stephen Brown

      Shading blues have been, for some reason, difficult to find for me. I don’t know whether it’s the colour blue that interferes with the shading or something :-) . I can tell you I like J. Herbin Eclat de Saphir and Omas Blue a lot, but don’t expect a whole lot of shading in those two.

      • http://profile.yahoo.com/PKBQEOQHOFNJKMYK6PIOGKKY24 Jim

        I’ve found Ecclesiastic Stationery Store Registrar’s Ink (ESSRI), a Blue-Black, will shade wonderfully. The issue is, will it remain blueish, or, depending on the paper, will it turn black over time. It is an iron gall ink, but remains one of my favorite inks; so much so that I bought a 2nd bottle upon my very first use. It’s very inexpensive, shipped only by the ESS, in 110 ml plastic bottles. I would like to see this ink in a future review by you, Stephan.

  • http://www.facebook.com/sthsenior Scott Senior

    Stephen, great addition to your video offers. I ordered a bottle of this from Goulet Pens this morning because of your report. Keep them coming.

  • Edu Almeida

    I never used Apache Sunset, but I think you may get some similar results with Private Reserve Orange Crush. It would be very interesting to compare them both. Anyway, it’s a very nice ink too, I like it a lot. And i fairly recommend it. Thanks for the video, congratulations, and I hope to watch another ink review soon. Bye.

  • Tamara

    Great review! I can’t wait to see more :)

  • Alex Hackmann

    Very nice review! I really love that ink and depending on the pen I get a more yellowish color on most of the letters with the dark orange shading shown here. It’s a must have ink along with the Orange Crush. I agree with the Plakate thing. For the next one I’d suggest the Orange Crush (I think you don’t have it, do you?) or the Lie the Thé. Thanks and still waiting for the next one!

  • Alex Hackmann

    Very nice review! I really love that ink and depending on the pen I get a more yellowish color on most of the letters with the dark orange shading shown here. It’s a must have ink along with the Orange Crush. I agree with the Plakate thing. For the next one I’d suggest the Orange Crush (I think you don’t have it, do you?) or the Lie the Thé. Thanks and still waiting for the next one!

  • Bluejay

    I would like to see more popular pens that are used for the testing. Like Lamy 2000 wet writer, Parker 51 (everyone has one) M200/400(for those who hate Parkers) , Pilot nibs. The different nib size doesn’t mean much if you can’t compare it to something you know.

    • http://fpgeeks.com/ Dan Smith

      I see what you’re saying but there are still problems with using even the most common of pens. For one, there’s no single fountain pen that every fp user is familiar with. Believe it or not, not everyone has or has even used a Parker 51. Second, just because you have a Lamy 2000 and I have a Lamy 2000 and they both have the same nib, doesn’t mean they both flow exactly the same. There’s also the issue of climate and type of paper being used and even the consistency between batches of ink.
      What we’re going to strive to do is describe the flow of each pen as accurately as we can so you can get an idea of how the ink will look and react in your own pen that has similar flow.
      Also, different nib widths do make a difference. In my experience, wider nibs usually have more tendancy to bring out any shading characteristics of the ink.

  • http://www.gourmetpens.com/ Azizah Asgarali

    Great stuff!! I very much enjoyed this review, and I am personally a big fan of this ink!

  • http://twitter.com/sakisaki6 SakiVI

    I just can’t bring myself to buy an ink that is called “Noodlers.” That’s just weird.

  • The Ruffled Quill

    Doc Brown Bravo! Great review and yes I’m off to buy a bottle!!!!!!!

  • Alan Crone

    How about a nice washable blue for school pens?

  • Breck

    You may have been “channeling” my favorite orange, Noodler’s Habanero. The two are quite similar in color and shading judging solely by your writing sample, which, admittedly, is a bit dark to see with the lighting used in the video. (I am learning that lighting is critical in really seeing what an ink is like). Anyway, as I’ve said elsewhere,

    You are getting drowsy – You feel very relaxed – You Will Review Habanero in the Future – You Will Review Habanero in the Future – You Will Review Habanero in the Future.

    Or maybe have a Shootout! betw. Habanero and Apache Sunset? Do inks shootout?