REVIEW: NOODLER’S DOSTOEVSKY (Bulletproof)

The photographs are of a sample written with a Waterman Carene (fine nib) on 80gsm recycled paper. I cap my pens when not writing so cannot comment on how the ink starts up after a leaving the pen uncapped for a few minutes. The review includes a nib creep rating. I am not worried about nib creep unless the ink creeps onto the section or leaks into the cap and I’ve not had this problem with any of the Noodler’s inks I’ve tried. The reason for including this rating is to inform those of you with differing views on nib creep.

General comments:
This is a very nice looking ink, but not for those who like their inks to pop off the page. This is an ink more suited to writing romantic letters rather than signing official documents.

Colour:
Low saturation, pale blue with a green tinge. This is a colour that must be mixed well before use as it was very pale blue the first time I used it. The green hue came out more strongly after the re-fill, before which I made sure I shook the bottle well. I noticed an interesting colour migration effect when blotting up excess ink onto tissue paper after a refill.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Ink flow:
Reliable. It lays down a slightly thicker line than some of the other inks reviewed here. It’s a dryer ink than the other Noodler’s I’ve used. However, the pen did not feel scratchy. I’d be interested to hear from those who’ve used this ink with a dry writer.

Dry time:
VERY quick. This ink might suit left-handers.

Nib creep:
Minor.

Click to view attachment

Start up:
Good. It starts up easily even after the pen has not been used for several days, although there may be a skip or two in the first line or two. One time I hadn’t used the pen for four days, after which the ink showed some interesting colour variations, ranging from very pale blue to very like Legal Lapis. Once it settles down, it writes as described above.

Bleedthrough:
There is a little bleedthrough in spots where the ink is laid down more heavily. In the writing sample bleedthrough occurred at the ‘p’ of the word ‘Hemisphere’ on the first line, the first bracket on the second line and the crossed out word on line four.

Thanks for a very nice review.

Thanks for the review -- have you put the "bulletproof" properties to the test? I'm curious to see what happens when the paper is soaked in water or organic solvents (alcohol, acetone, etc.) for a while.

has anyone gotten the color to appear darker by using a super-wet pen, like a flex pen? Many bulletproofs are pale, but I've found that it's useful to have a ridiculously wet-writing pen for these inks... (Mine is this awful $8 cheapie from Ebay, a Huashilai OK-1, but it makes things like Iraqi Indigo and Empire Red looks decent and not washed out. Regular inks blob in this pen, however)

Here are the results of the water- and alcohol resistance testing of this ink:

Water test: 30 seconds under running water followed by 30 minute soak.

Alcohol test: conducted after water test by wiping wet page with alcohol soaked swab.

Result: Judging by the colour of the ink after the test, some (but not all) of the green dye must have washed off the page. However, the waterproofness of this ink is not at question, there was no smearing or running of the ink whatsoever. The alcohol swab did not release more ink from the paper. Dostoevsky is definitiely waterproof.