Mystery Ink #20

[FredRydr]

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MI20 does like to feather!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Ok, so long as I haven't missed anyone this is the contingent of testers / reviewers for MI #20

Internationals who already have the ink:
Sammyo
Chrissy
suzy01

Domestics who need ink:
Spants
Sailor Kenshin
FredRydr
azkid
ShugPug
Kulprit
mulrich

I will send private messages requesting mailing addresses if I don't already have one for you. I should be able to get things mailed out on Saturday.

I'm a domestic!

Hazel or Danvers?

Thanks, Scooby. Looking forward to the inkage.

[Kulprit]

Being the goldfish that I am, I completely forgot this was coming, so when I found a package in my mailbox I was perplexed. I only have two incoming packages and this was far too small to be either. In a way, this was the ink equivalent of finding forgotten money in an old coat pocket!




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[suzy01]

Mystery Ink 20 - Hulk Green

This time I wanted to try the ink in a pen with a bigger nib than my usual Xxxf because I felt like I was missing out on some properties of the ink that everyone else were seeing for ink #19. I've had a JinHao X750 Fountain Pen*sitting in the cupboard since March so filled it with Mystery Ink 20. I started with some quick portraits from pintrest references (I like to draw my fellow passengers but in the morning there wasn't many around me and in the evening the trains were busted so everyone looked in a bit of a mood, best not to aggravate them! Plus it was super busy). Both the pen and the ink were surprisingly nice to draw with, although after 4 portraits the green colour was getting such that I could only see the Hulk. So I drew him instead I went back and added another portrait after getting that out of my system.

I didn't see any of the feathering that others have seen. Maybe it's my paper? I'm using my seawhite of Brighton square sketchbook which is 140gsm of fairly smooth white paper. The ink smeared a bit on my fingers but the drying time isn't really too bad considering this is a much bigger nib than I'm used to I just put it down to that.

With my bigger nib I was able to see some shading in the letters when I wrote. It didn't really mix well with water, with the lines neither disappearing nor remaining solid, sort of a wishy washy in between which isn't great for ink wash. Overall I found this to be a nice smooth ink in Hulk Green colour. Looking forward to the other reviews. Thank you for letting me play again

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[azkid]

Really glad to have the chance to try another ink!

I do want to find myself a green 'go to' but, sadly, I don't think Hulk Green (lol) aka MI#20 is the one for me.

I like the color and shading well enough and is slightly water resistant, but this ink transforms my perfectly decent, medium-flowing pens into dry, draggy, unfun writers.

I conclude, therefore, that this ink flows very dry and/or lacks lubrication (behaving similarly to MB Black and Bordeaux). Yet it gives the impression of being thin and watery-- because it is fairly unsaturated, I guess?

Detailed review below ...









The color seems a bit wrong to be MB Jonathan Swift but it is too light to be Racing Green. I guarantee it definitely isn't J. Herbin Liere Sauvage; I have a sample vial of it right here

Edit: I will guess Diamine Beethoven for similar color, shading and behavior per a couple reviews I've seen.

[Sailor Kenshin]

MI # 20

Green is the opposite of dry, right? Green fields, green leaves, mint-green liquor drinks with green umbrellas and a pineapple spear.

This is green. This is dry.



Ink flower chroma:



Hana no inku shows a teeny bit of a yellow halo. And maybe even a hint of red center? I like it.

Paper was Rhodia Ice.

Shading? Maybe the nib wasn't broad enough. And I keep waiting for the ink to get dark. Because in the bottle, it looked dark.

As to guessing the brand and color.... NO idea.

[FredRydr]

My guess is: ... With the latest hint, I have no idea!

[Chrissy]

I think it looks reasonably similar to Diamine Emerald, but for me it's lighter.

MI#20_0001.JPG

[ShugPug]

Work finally stopped kicking my backside enough today (or rather I have enough time during my reset to tomorrow's 1400-midnight shift) that I've managed to get two things achieved - playing with my new Desiderata Precession, and using MI#20.

The only green inks I have tried are MB Irish Green and Sailor Rikyu-Cha (which I struggled to spell whilst writing...) This ink sits neatly in the middle of those two.

It was a little hard starting in this pen, but that could have been me not cleaning the nib thoroughly enough. But when it got flowing, I had no issues with railroading or skipping. Again, probably my set up of the pen, but even a very gentle shake saw ink dropping out of the section / feed interface.

Overall, a very pleasant ink to use. I didn't experience the dryness that others have, but then I am using a very wet pen...

Thanks again Scooby for your generosity!

[Chrissy]

I decided to clean out my pen completely and refill it with Diamine Emerald just as a quick test to see if the dryness I experienced was due to the pen.

Absolutely not! The Waterman Hemi with it's Preface nib writes beautifully with Diamine Emerald. So I'm pretty confident that MI#20 isn't that ink.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I swapped my cart into a different pen: a very wet UPS-logo model of unknown make. Same dryish line, but y'know... Hulk Green is growing on me.

[Kulprit]

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[Scooby921]

I need to get pictures taken and added to this post, but my experience is like most others. It's a fairly dry ink which is not well lubricated. I love greens and had high hopes for this, but I'm quite disappointed. There is something about the color that strikes me as unpleasant. The writing properties and experience are not nearly as good as other readily available, cheaper greens. I bought it to share and I'm glad I did. I'd feel much worse if the entire bottle sat on my shelf for the next decade. Now only half the bottle will sit there unused. If one of you really loves this ink I will happily sell and ship the remainder.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I had an 'inkling' about the brand, but seeing that it MAY be 'spensive and uncommon, I'm probably wrong.

[Scooby921]

I'm pretty sure this is another ink none of us has ever used before.

[mulrich]

Sorry I haven't posted anything yet--busy work week and not enough time to play with pens.

[FredRydr]

I had an 'inkling' about the brand, but seeing that it MAY be 'spensive and uncommon, I'm probably wrong.

Ditto.

[Spants]

I've finally managed to get a pen cleaned out and have gotten to write with it. This is my first thoughts with it. I feel like it's similar to Private Reserve's Avacado. I have a writing sample of that and a few other greens that I need to find and test it out nest to them. Even though it's dry I kind of like it.

Hopefully the photo isn't to bad and my handwriting isn't too crap. Also thanks for the sample it's so cool to get to do this!

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[Chrissy]

I wish I had a hosepipe pen I could try MI#20 in, to see if it felt any more lubricated, but my nearest contender for a hosepipe is currently being used for testing a new ink.

If it's an expensive and unusual ink that's dry then maybe I just don't have any inks from that manufacturer?

Scooby, I like the colour, but not the dryness. What brands of pens have you been able to try it with?

[suzy01]

I wasn't really getting the dryness that everyone else was, maybe my JinHao X750 is a secret gusher but this is the first ink to try in it. It only costs me about £2.50 on amazon so maybe you can pick one up cheap to try this ink with? For me it was a delight to write & sketch with. Once the ink is revealed I'll try the pen with my normal ink and report back.

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