Help - Search - Members - Calendar
Full Version: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
The Fountain Pen Network > Reviews and Articles > Fountain Pen Reviews
omasfan
We all know that Pelikan is a very reliable but also a fairly traditional pen maker. Rafts of standard Pelikan M200s, M400s, M600s or, for those who love them big, M800s and M1000s bear witness to this. Ok, they come in an exciting array of colors that tickles the fancy of many a pen collector. But overall, if you got one M200 or M400 body you got them all. Nothing exciting about this quality-made but aesthetically humble evergreen pen.

These were (and are) my thoughts when I think of Pelikan. Don't get me wrong! I love my flock of avian German pens. They perform and are nice to behold! They never leave me in the lurch and they always take wing whenever their delicious nibs alight upon the paper. They are light and suffused by the beauty of consummate simplicity. These are no-frills pens that have stood and will stand the test of time.

BUT… even when considering all of the above, sometimes it is time for a change. I mean REAL change (not what you're hearing in stomp speeches for the presidency right now)!

I yearned for a Pelikan

1.) that was at first blush still a very simple and unassuming pen

2.) that would intrigue in terms of color

3.) that – once the cap was removed- would reveal itself as a wolf in sheep's clothing and make the onlooker stop dead in his or her tracks.

4.) whose nib would do something absolutely crazy.


In a nutshell, I wanted a camouflage Pelikan that would somehow betray a surprise factor and still be usable for a somewhat reasonable purpose.




A few months back I acquired a Pelikan M200 "citreopers" (?) in lemon yellow. I was intrigued that this simple and yet well-rounded pen was available in this gaudy and rarely-seen color. I knew that this pen would be the base from which to form my special Pelikan.

It then dawned on me, that I had once acquired some Noodler's Firefly ink. Although I am not a Noodler's fan in general but rather somewhat of a detractor of Noodler's poor drying behavior (in my opinion! Others might have different experiences), I have to admit that the Firefly highlighter ink is pretty cool. It glows radiantly and it is a mesmerizing brew. Its drying behavior is also impeccable. Now, I had the pen and seemingly an ink that matched the pen perfectly. However, this ink seemed only be suitable for highlighting. Writing with Firefly was a senseless endeavor as one can barely see the writing. For highlighting, the ink's first and foremost purpose, I unfortunately lacked the proper nib. The broadest I had at the time was a Pelikan double broad nib. A nicer writer but a far cry from possessing the width of a true highlighter nib. Alas, there was no factory nib that would possibly slake my desire to do highlighting with a fountain pen.

One day I stumbled upon Richard Binder's blog and found an entry about a highlighter nib that he had created. I was so intrigued by the design that I needs wanted to have one as well. All of a sudden things fell into place: My yellow Pelikan, my yellow ink, and now this special nib would yoke pen and ink together. There it was, my very special camouflage Pelikan.

I therefore sent Richard my Pelikan M450 18k BB nib. He had the nib retipped as he needed more tipping material to create the very special 4mm highlighter nib. According to him, creating such a broad nib requires a lot of work until it lays down an even line.

Fast-forward to today, after a 17 weeks' wait: my nib arrives and I unpack it with rapt attention and with forceful jerks of my hands. Then there it is: a monster en miniature! Broad and beastly, a behemoth of nibdom and furthermore yet another of Richard's masterpieces.

I anon screwed the unit into my Pel. and filled it up with ink. Then I became witness to the most unusual velvety-flowing nib that I have ever held in my hands. This nib has only one slit but it supplies plenty of ink for the whole 4mm of its tip. It does not skip a stroke and it lays down a nice wet (but not too wet) line. It is the perfect highlighter. Furthermore, you can actually write with this thing. It is impractical to use it as a writer but you can if you like that option.

The most unusual thing about this nib is that Richard Binder transformed its shape below the breather hole into something unheard-of. He flattened the two tines to make them wider and then he magically worked the re-tipped area into shape. It puzzles me how he did it but the nib looks homogeneous and aesthetically pleasing. It nonetheless makes you do a double-take if you've never seen that kind of nib before. The tipped area of the nib is extremely carefully worked. From the outside, it looks as flawless as a brand-new factory nib could possibly look. Yet it is much better than that. It is silky smooth and catches on at all times.

The ink flow is just perfect, wet and solid but by no means flooding. When highlighting, the ink dries quickly in about 3-4 seconds which is perfect for highlighting.

For visual demonstration I have filled the pen with Pelikan turquoise instead of Noodler's Firefly. The yellow highlighter ink is just so hard to catch properly in a photograph.

This is by far the most unique gadget that I have in my collection of meistered nibs.




I just realized that my photography skills don't do this nib justice. There are some nasty shadows in some pictures that do not exist in real life. I apologize for the slight misrepresentation this might cause.
wdyasq
Beautiful...

Thanks,
Ron
greencobra
Damn, some hilighter you have. I like your choice for the base pen. Congrats on owning this speciman and to Richard for the fine work.
Chris
Beautiful - and what a contrast to the "yellow plastic slug" that I read about elsewhere (lovely description).
Chris
Rincewind
Utterly insane! And yet, I love it... eureka.gif
Keng
What a wicked, wicked nib....... ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif

and nice photography too..

Mike


edited for typo
omasfan
UPDATE: This thing goes a long way with a pistonful although one can see the ink supply shrink visibly as one keeps highlighting a lot. I cannot see this nib make a lot of sense without a piston-filled fountain pen, though, as it is truly a guzzler.
I've switched back to Noodler's Firefly for good after having cleaned the pen of the turqoise. The ink window now shows an eldritch yellow glow. Ghastly and yet godly! thumbup.gif
jmkeuning
It is beyond comprehension how the ink gets distributed across those "tines" - seriously, I am confused!

I think the nib looks great. I especially like the tapered "waist," I do not recall that the previous one had this shape but I really like it!
Lloyd
That looks more like a beaver than a pelican.
Leigh R
I want one!!! smile.gif Thank you for the review and the pictures. smile.gif
R.ticle One
Holy Smokes! I can see what you mean by impractical for normal writing use - unless you're penning a small poster...Great and unusual nib, though!

R.ticle One
Ghost Plane
Drop in another notch of flap and ease the throttle forward, you'll be airborne! Yeow!
Opus104
QUOTE(Lloyd @ Jan 8 2008, 04:04 PM) [snapback]472015[/snapback]
That looks more like a beaver than a pelican.


Excellent. I think we have a new specialty nib name for Richard . . .
Judybug
Astounding! And in a pinch it could double as a shovel in the garden. laugh.gif

Judybug
omasfan
QUOTE(Lloyd @ Jan 8 2008, 05:04 PM) [snapback]472015[/snapback]
That looks more like a beaver than a pelican.



roflmho.gif Maybe, if we ask Richard nicely, he'll start listing this nib as one of the regular models on his web pages. The "beaver" sounds good as a moniker.
omasfan
QUOTE(jmkeuning @ Jan 8 2008, 04:19 PM) [snapback]471960[/snapback]
It is beyond comprehension how the ink gets distributed across those "tines" - seriously, I am confused!

I think the nib looks great. I especially like the tapered "waist," I do not recall that the previous one had this shape but I really like it!



Believe me, I am confused too. But then we are just the users and can enjoy what Richard's imaginative mind and adroit hands have produced. The waist is truly sexy! It is hard to discern from Richards' blog photo, if this nib has the same waist or not. It doesn't seem so, but then pictures can be deceptive.
michael_s
Reminds me of a flathead screwdriver tongue.gif

-Mike
FrankB
omasfan wrote:

"A few months back I acquired a Pelikan M200 "citreopers" (?) in lemon yellow. I was intrigued that this simple and yet well-rounded pen was available in this gaudy and rarely-seen color. I knew that this pen would be the base from which to form my special Pelikan."

"Gaudy?!" Really? I like yellow pens a lot, and I consider them bright, but not gaudy. Especially when they come in the familiar conservative form of a Pelikan.

I, for one, do not overuse the word "awesome." That nib is absolutely awesome. I thought my 2.7mm Rotring ArtPen nib was something to behold. I think I want one of those 4mm nibs.
WillSW
Commenting on the proposed name of this nib, I don't know if we want the phrase "Nathan is gonna fill that sexy-waisted beaver with his special ink" to be repeated in any form. Though we are just discussing nibs...
Rincewind
yikes.gif

QUOTE(WillSW @ Jan 9 2008, 09:00 PM) [snapback]473060[/snapback]
Commenting on the proposed name of this nib, I don't know if we want the phrase "Nathan is gonna fill that sexy-waisted beaver with his special ink" to be repeated in any form. Though we are just discussing nibs...

Lifesaver
That is wild. What a mating of components to come up with this. Kudos to you and Richard for bringing this idea to fruition.
tcheuchter
Ace pen, mate thumbup.gif
andromedia226
This has got to be one of the most awesomely cool (Visualize teenager looking at his first beer) "WICKED" uh, customizations I've ever seen.

It's like a motorcycle with a mustang V8 in it.
Songwind
Amazing.

You HAVE to post a picture of it with the Firefly in it.
MrStuff
To follow someone elses comment - I love this idea and would like to do something similar. If you don't mind me asking, how much did Richard charge for the nibwork?
Rapt
Way cool.

I've just been thinking of this very thing for highlighting with my Year of the Golden Pig.

omasfan
If I remember correctly it was $105 (incl. shipping). I provided the nib.

QUOTE(MrStuff @ Apr 18 2008, 05:25 PM) [snapback]582989[/snapback]
To follow someone elses comment - I love this idea and would like to do something similar. If you don't mind me asking, how much did Richard charge for the nibwork?
kiavonne
Why do I get the feeling that the remaining 100 citreopers are going to be flying off the shelves?

That is a highlighter to drool over. Hm, wonder if any of the lemon yellow birds will be around when I can afford one...
MrStuff
QUOTE(kiavonne @ Apr 23 2008, 03:50 AM) [snapback]587851[/snapback]
Why do I get the feeling that the remaining 100 citreopers are going to be flying off the shelves?

That is a highlighter to drool over. Hm, wonder if any of the lemon yellow birds will be around when I can afford one...


Indeed, it made me order a Citroenpers M200 straight away. I'll have to wait a bit for ordering the nib (since my Pelikan flock has grown from zero to 4 in two weeks) but it's a start...
Junkuar
For anyone doing any highlighting, this thing is perfect.

I hate these highlighter marking pens, 'cause if you use a rule to get a straight line, it inks up the edge, smudging the page (when you move it), my hand, or both. Usually both. Change your angle of attack (to play on GhostPlane's analogy), and change the thickness of your line -- in a predictable way -- not like those fastcrushing felt pen tips.

Must have one!

17 weeks, though? Can anyone elses do the work, or is Richard "da man"?

Brenton
CraigR
QUOTE(Junkuar @ Apr 23 2008, 10:18 AM) [snapback]588443[/snapback]
17 weeks, though? Can anyone elses do the work, or is Richard "da man"?

Brenton

There are a number of other talented nibmeisters out there but there is only one Richard. The wait is long and the pen work is amazing.
Richard
Okay, okay, okay, I get it. People want these things.

Today I finished another of these nibs, which in a moment of perversity I have named the Platypus. The nib shown here is mine, I'm keeping it, you can't have it. Over the next few days, however, I will be finishing three more. One of these three has been spoken for, the other two have not. They are based on the Pelikan M250 nib, and they will be available to the first comers for $195.00 each plus shipping to your doorstep, igloo, yurt, hogan, or what have you.



Edited to add:

This morning's email brought queries from two long-time clients; the in-process Platypuses have all now been spoken for.
MrStuff
QUOTE(Richard @ Apr 25 2008, 03:10 AM) [snapback]590409[/snapback]
Okay, okay, okay, I get it. People want these things.

Today I finished another of these nibs, which in a moment of perversity I have named the Platypus. The nib shown here is mine, I'm keeping it, you can't have it. Over the next few days, however, I will be finishing three more. One of these three has been spoken for, the other two have not. They are based on the Pelikan M250 nib, and they will be available to the first comers for $195.00 each plus shipping to your doorstep, igloo, yurt, hogan, or what have you.

Richard - that is one beautiful nib - I don't know how you do it but it's a work of art.

I'll certainly be interested in one from a future batch. I already have the Citroenpers M200 sat waiting for it.......
penmanila
wonders never cease wink.gif love it!
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
Invision Power Board © 2001-2009 Invision Power Services, Inc.