EFNIR: Diplomat Caramel

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Diplomat Caramel

This is review #252 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:


Post-recording notes: This is a nice burnt orange or brownish orange color. Shading is very paper-dependent. The sheen is everywhere, but it's only visible when you angle the page to the light. I never saw nib crud, but I wouldn't expect to given that I use the pen every day, the cap seals well, and the ink was only in the pen for a week. Cleaning was easy with plain water, but did require a few extra flushes - lots of dye in this one.

As usual, dry-time was strange - in testing, some of the intermediate hashes didn't smear where as some at both ends did. In filming, the 1m mark was the last to smear, so I chose half way between that and the hash that didn't smear and called that the dry time...

Sorry about the constant hum - I think maybe someone was doing some kind of yardwork nearby (or maybe there was a microphone issue, I'm not sure - I wasn't aware of the sound while recording).

Zoomed in photo (Shading is harder to see and the text is darker in real life.)


Screenshot (Best representation of what the ink looks like!)


Scan of Completed Review (Very close in color, but not quite enough orange.)


Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (Both: The text is darker and browner in real life - camera seems to amplify the orange element.)


Line width (One of the lines used for dry time. Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. The line width for this ink is roughly 304µm. With 252 inks measured, the average line width is 296µm.)


Microscope image (100x. Colors are less-vibrant and darker than reality.)


Microscope image (100x. With cell phone camera. Colors are closer to reality.)


Other (Sheen on original 52gsm Tomoe River paper (esp. the word "Pilot").)


Previous Review: Rohrer & Klingner sketchINK Klara.

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

Want to influence the inky sequence? Take the "next ink" poll. For those interested, I added these 21 inks (samples gifted to me by a generous FPNer) to my poll:

* Aurora Black
* Diamine Aqua Blue
* Diamine Aster
* Diamine Bilberry
* Diamine Blaze Orange
* Diamine Flamingo Pink
* Diamine Pumpkin
* Diamine Wild Strawberry
* Diamine Winter Miracle
* J. Herbin Violette Pensée
* J. Herbin Éclat de Saphir Ink
* Jinhao Sunny Orange (cartridge)
* Koh-I-Noor Document Blue
* Organics Studio Nitrogen
* Pilot Iroshizuku Ajisai
* Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-guri
* Rohrer & Klingner Königsblau
* Rotring Brilliant (Black) (cartridge)
* Sailor Blue
* Sailor Manyo Nadeshiko
* Sailor Shikiori Kin-mokusei

View a list of my inks, complete with review results in a google sheet.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh? Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[Yazeh]

Great review @Liz Ef
Had to listen to sound effect in surround stereo. This must be some neighbourhood with lots of heavy machinery
Never though I would see dead skeletons, but I guess if the Mummy had it, why couldn't Quin and Makhabesh.
I like how Quin's character is becoming more nuanced and layered
Thanks for making Tuesdays so special

[Sailor Kenshin]

Wow. For once I didn't forget it's Tuesday!

I love this kind of color… but not this one's properties. By sheer coincidence, last night I scribbled with some red-browns, which I will post later.

Thanks once again, Liz, for the Tuesday Treat. Missing heads? Could The High Wizard be turning evulz? Or are we being diverted from the real culprit?

And I see The Earl's been traipsing around the realm again! 😹

[LizEF]

Great review @Liz Ef

Thanks!

Had to listen to sound effect in surround stereo. This must be some neighbourhood with lots of heavy machinery

Well, there's an airport (and military airfield) nearby. And there are folks who think mufflers are for grannies. And one kid recently mounted a lawnmower engine on a bicycle (as near as I can tell) and can't get enough of zooming up and down the street. I'm trying mightily not to wish him ill... (Seriously, he has nowhere to go, he just zooms up and down the street.)

Never though I would see dead skeletons, but I guess if the Mummy had it, why couldn't Quin and Makhabesh.
I like how Quin's character is becoming more nuanced and layered

Thanks for making Tuesdays so special

Happily!

[LizEF]

Wow. For once I didn't forget it's Tuesday!

Congratulations on achieving temporal awareness!

I love this kind of color… but not this one's properties. By sheer coincidence, last night I scribbled with some red-browns, which I will post later.

Saw your post. Lovely colors. Yeah, the long dry time and lack of lubrication aren't the greatest. I wonder if it wouldn't do better in a broader dry nib - though you'd lose the sheen, probably.

Thanks once again, Liz, for the Tuesday Treat.

You're very welcome!

Missing heads? Could The High Wizard be turning evulz? Or are we being diverted from the real culprit?

Tune in next week (and the one after that, and the one after that....)...

And I see The Earl's been traipsing around the realm again! 😹

I never considered that the orange field might be created by the Earl. That's a thought. I hadn't considered who / what created the orange field, and the Earl's only magic to my knowledge was draining the color from everything around him. But you may be right... Hmm... ETA: Maybe when he drains the color, he channels it into the orange field, hence its crusty powers... Hmm.

[Yazeh]

Well, there's an airport (and military airfield) nearby. And there are folks who think mufflers are for grannies. And one kid recently mounted a lawnmower engine on a bicycle (as near as I can tell) and can't get enough of zooming up and down the street. I'm trying mightily not to wish him ill... (Seriously, he has nowhere to go, he just zooms up and down the street.)

As long as he doesn't mount a Jet engine to his bike, though in retrospect that might be better

[mizgeorge]

Goodness - Tuesday already! I don't know what happens to my weeks at the moment.

Thank you as always for an excellent review. I don't think I like anything about this one - it's not a colour that appeals (I'm very much not an autumn colours sort of person), and the properties certainly don't redeem it!

As for them skellies - I think they're better headless - but I can't help wondering if the skulls are really in the sack...

[LizEF]

Goodness - Tuesday already! I don't know what happens to my weeks at the moment.

Alas, time accelerates for all of us.

Thank you as always for an excellent review.

You're welcome!

I don't think I like anything about this one - it's not a colour that appeals (I'm very much not an autumn colours sort of person), and the properties certainly don't redeem it!

I'm happy to use up your share.

As for them skellies - I think they're better headless - but I can't help wondering if the skulls are really in the sack...

Tune in next time....

[dneal]

That’s a really nice terracotta, my second favorite shade of brown; and not what I was expecting.

Good review.

[LizEF]

That’s a really nice terracotta, my second favorite shade of brown; and not what I was expecting.

Good review.

Thanks! I like it as well, though I'll try it out next in a fatter nib, perhaps a stub, and see how it goes there - I'm hoping for more shading.