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Diamine Red Dragon


raging.dragon

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Introduction

 

My goal in this round of tests was to choose a dark red or burgundy ink to use in my new Visconti Cosmoplitan. The pen is made of stacked red and clear celluloid, and I plan to use it with a reddish ink so that any staining will blend into the overall colour of the pen. After having reviewed the results for all the inks tested, I've revised my conclusions for some of them; therefore, where my typed and handwritten comments conflict the typed comments supercede the handwritten ones.

 

 

Conclusions

 

The colour and shading of Diamine Red Dragon change with lighting, varying from a brownish red with little shading to a vibrant dark red with red/brown shading. The colour is well suited to use in both the 1.3 mm Visconti stub and Veruna XXF. Flow, lubrication and general performance were excellent. This and Noodler's Widowmaker are my favourite inks for the Cosmoplitan.

 

Unlike Diamine Red Dragon, Widowmaker exhibited consistent colour and shading across a wide variety of lighting conditions. Thus depending on ambient light, sometimes I prefere Widowmaker and other times I prefere Red Dragon. I am finding it hard to choose between these two inks, so I'll have to buy them both! :)

 

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/5395/diaminereddragon0000.jpg

 

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/1390/diaminereddragon0001.jpg

 

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/8654/comparisonn.jpg

 

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/2123/soaktest.jpg

 

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with any retailer, distributor or manufacturer of pens, inks or stationery, nor have I recieved, been offered, or solicted any free samples or discounts.

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  • raging.dragon

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Nice review. I just purchased the Red Dragon myself, my first of the Diamine line, and I love it. I've been using it in my Sailor 1911 Realo <B> and it's been a joy to use. I can't get enough of this shade of red.

John

 

Fountain pen lover

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  • 4 months later...

I am finding that Red Dragon is far less magenta/cherry for me than this photo shows. It is more of a dark "cadmium" true red in my pen. It is pretty amazingly classical red but it has a tendency to be quite different on different papers. For instance, crummy 20 lb copy paper makes it look pretty dark, whereas my Franklin Planner Montecello filler paper makes it look more red. More field trials must be accomplished before I write my final opus inkus but I am quite impressed so far just with the classic redness of it, and how neutral red it is...not erring on the blue/magenta side or on the orange side.


 It's for Yew!bastardchildlil.jpg

 

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My scanner leaves alot to be desired.... In person I don't see any magenta in this ink, just dark red with a hint of brown.

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I like the comparrison scan. They're always so useful. As the scan shows, I would say Red Dragon is a shade darker than Widowmaker, getting closer to Oxblood. Widowmaker is a shade or two darker than Skrip red.

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I fiddled with this considerably in Photoshop after scanning and it is pretty accurate. I didn't see the magenta until I put the water on it.

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/diaminereddragon.jpg

 

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/diaminereddragon.jpghttp://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/diaminereddragon.jpg

 


 It's for Yew!bastardchildlil.jpg

 

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I like the comparrison scan. They're always so useful. As the scan shows, I would say Red Dragon is a shade darker than Widowmaker, getting closer to Oxblood. Widowmaker is a shade or two darker than Skrip red.

 

Yup. I find Red Dragon is very noticably darker than Widowmaker and lighter than Oxblood. It is very close to Tiananmen. If they weren't side by side I doubt I could tell the difference.

 

I fiddled with this considerably in Photoshop after scanning and it is pretty accurate. I didn't see the magenta until I put the water on it.

 

That looks very close to what I see as well.

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Nice comparison review! I was really torn on Red Dragon, because I too found that in certain light it was wonderful, but at other times it was sorta "meh" for me.

~Jaime

(she/her)

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Nice comparison of reds. I have gone on a red ink spree of late, and I'm into Oxblood, Noodler's Fox Red, and J. Herbin 1670. I like the look of Red Dragon. If I were looking for something a bit lighter than Oxblood, I'd strongly consider it.

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I fiddled with this considerably in Photoshop after scanning and it is pretty accurate. I didn't see the magenta until I put the water on it.

 

 

Yes, that's the color my pen produces. Nice one!

Still I prefer other red tones, but it is a really good ink.

Greetings,

Michael

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I fiddled with this considerably in Photoshop after scanning and it is pretty accurate. I didn't see the magenta until I put the water on it.

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/diaminereddragon.jpg

 

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/diaminereddragon.jpghttp://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/diaminereddragon.jpg

 

That is such a beautiful, deep color! Wonderful image, Fabienne. I'll have to decide between this and Hitchcock :rolleyes:

Best regards,
Steve Surfaro
Fountain Pen Fun
Cities of the world (please visit my Facebook page for more albums)
Paris | Venezia

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Red Dragon is my favourite red currently. I absolutely love this colour. I just wish there were a permanent and/or Bulletproof equivalent... oh well. At least it's easy to clean out of pens.

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thx, raging.dragon, for the review!

 

 

 

Fabienne, this looks more like the color i've seen in DRD. thx for posting it!

I fiddled with this considerably in Photoshop after scanning and it is pretty accurate. I didn't see the magenta until I put the water on it.

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/diaminereddragon.jpg

 

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/diaminereddragon.jpghttp://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/diaminereddragon.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

I love this ink. If it were waterproof, it would be the perfect red. As it is, I'm looking at Noodler's reds for something comparable.

I'm a regular patron of The Barrel and the Nib. Pull up a stool, order a good ink, and make yourself at home.

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Just ordered the Oxblood, but if it's too brown for me this Red Dragon seems like the perfect alternative. :)

 

Thanks for the review and the comparison of the different reds!

My Blog Recently updated with first impression of the Waterman Carène / Sailor 1911 Standard

 

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

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Fabienne's scan has it right. Has been my favourite red for some time now.

"how do I know what I think until I write it down?"

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