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Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon


Chrissy

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I'm currently reviewing some of my favourite Diamine inks. This is Diamine Red Dragon.

I think it's a very good alternative for Montblanc Hitchcock. In fact it's more saturated. It also leans less pink than several other dark red inks. It's what I would call a blood red ink, but it isn't as dark or brownish as Diamine Oxblood.

 

If you prefer your red inks to be a bit darker and not eye-poppingly bright red, then Red Dragon fits the bill.

  • This ink is neither waterproof nor archival but it's water resistant.
  • Bearing in mind the paper I use is very smooth, and I write with M and B nibs, this ink took 25-30 secs to dry.
  • It flows quite wet, especially in broader nibs, and lubricates the nib very well so that it's smooth to write with across the paper.
  • It is currently available in 30ml plastic bottles and 80ml glass bottles.
  • Diamine sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.
  • It's reasonably priced.

fpn_1535011863__diamine_red_dragon.jpeg

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Its an absolutely fantastic red, deep lovely red, kind of a love letter red. Its an ink which grabs your attention and not let you away. Not staining, but as most of the reds its bit harder to clean out.

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I have always liked this ink. I didn't realize that it was so close to Hitchcock. I'll have to do some comparisons on my own.

"One can not waste time worrying about small minds . . . If we were normal, we'd still be using free ball point pens." —Bo Bo Olson

 

"I already own more ink than a rational person can use in a lifetime." —Waski_the_Squirrel

 

I'm still trying to figure out how to list all my pens down here.

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Yup, one of my favourite reds I keep coming back to.

Pelikan 140 EF | Pelikan 140 OBB | Pelikan M205 0.4mm stub | Pilot Custom Heritage 912 PO | Pilot Metropolitan M | TWSBI 580 EF | Waterman 52 1/2v

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I do not need another red; I do not need another red; I do not need another red.... :lticaptd:

Ea Alis Volat Propiis, per/Repletus Fontis Calamus!
She Flies by Her Own Wings, with filled Fountain Pen

 

Delta DolceVita, F-C Intrinsic 02, Pelikan M800 red/black striation, Bexley ATB Strawberry Swirl, Red Jinhao 159, Platinum 3776 Bourgogne. :wub:

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Very nice review. I love this ink. I started with Oxblood, but got this as a more "wet" blood look. I also have MB Winter Glow, which is slightly lighter, but shades nearly this dark and I just received Diamine Crimson, which I need to try.

 

I NEVER thought I would be writing with red ink, never. Diamine has changed my mind on that for sure.

I enjoy MB 146 pens, Sailor, Pilot and Platinum pens as well. I have a strong attraction to dark red and muted green ink, colors I dislike for everything but FP ink. I also enjoy practicing my handwriting and attempting to improve it. I love the feel of quality paper under a gold nib.

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  • 1 year later...

I was just giving this stuff a quick one over after another FPN user gave me a sample of it at a meet yesterday. Do you know how it compares to Noodlers Rattler Red Eel in color and wetness?

post-121333-0-56921600-1465778729_thumb.jpg

Edited by ImCannibal

...it is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built up upon a renunciation of instinct....

― Sigmund Freud

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Thanks for the review, this is a really nice color! This ink and Matador are both on my "to buy" list :)

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  • 3 years later...

I love this color -- or, rather, I WANT to love it. I'm a teacher, so I live on varying shades of red ink, and it's a great color.

 

And every pen I have tried Red Dragon in stalls out, and then stops writing altogether; this even happens with my usual grading pen, a Sheaffer NoNonsense, which is a wet writer if ever there was one.

 

I have no idea why it refuses utterly to cooperate. Any suggestions?

"What the space program needs is more English majors." -- Michael Collins, Gemini 10/Apollo 11

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I have no idea why it refuses utterly to cooperate. Any suggestions?

Suggestions about in which pen to use the ink, or how to tinker with the ink?

 

My Fine-nibbed Platinum #3776 Century 'Shoryu' ('Ascending Dragon') kanazawa-haku pen is still on its first fill of Diamine Red Dragon ink last August, and the nib has never failed to start writing right away on contact with paper upon being uncapped, even when I left the pen unused for weeks. It has also never stopped writing for me in the middle of sentence. I like the texture of the kanazawa-haku finish better than the 'AS resin' on the standard models such as the Bourgogne, but there is no reason for me to think any other Platinum #3776 Century pen with a 14K gold nib wouldn't perform equally as well with that ink.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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