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Sailor - Kobe# 16 Nada Brown - Impressions


bstnnyc

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Hi all,

I was putting together a writing sample of the Kobe#16 Nada Brown to send to a friend who requested one and thought I would take a photo and add it to the site since there aren’t many images of the ink online.

These are more quick impressions after a couple of days of writing with the ink than a detailed review, so I've tried to outline its properties a bit better below the pics; please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

The writing samples were done using a 1950s 146 on Rhodia paper.

 

Photo under sunlight:

 

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f99/emrys1221/Sunlight-1_zpsunopcm8x.jpg

 

Ink drops on paper towel:

 

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f99/emrys1221/photo%201-2_zpsxiwejhhw.jpg

 

Flow and smoothness are GOOD as expected of Sailor inks (even though I love the overly smooth gushers that Sailor sometimes makes, this one feels very nice and, to borrow a line from Cyber6, will fit the “Goldilocks principle” for many :P). Writing with this ink definitely felt better than the 10 or so similar shades of brown samples that I recently ordered.

Startup is EXCELLENT -- immediate with no hard starts or skipping. (The pen used is not prone to them, but when I was using the ink over the weekend I forgot it uncapped on my desk while I was tidying up the kitchen and washing my face, brushing my teeth... around 4am and the ink performed flawlessly when I noticed it about 30 min later.)

Cleanup is EXCELLENT -- very minimal flushing with water only was required to get it out the telescopic piston.

Sheen is VERY MINIMAL -- there is a faint trace of greenish sheen that forms occasionally in some of the areas where the ink really pools, but it’s nothing to write home about and not something to expect to see very often.

Shading is OK-GOOD -- I think the shading is due more to the vintage flexi nib than the actual ink, but the ink still produces some shading in the right pen (and on the right paper).

Conclusion: I like this ink and am much happier with it than the 10 or so samples of other similar shades of brown that I recently tried but it is not my grail brown. I would need its color to be both a little darker and a little more vibrant for me to really love it and make it a regular in the ink rotation.

PS I wanted to post better (as well as some closeup) photos of the ink, but out of the 37 pics that I took with my iPhone while there was still sunlight in the apartment today only this one was true to the actual color :/ I will hold off on mailing the page to try scanning it at the library on Wednesday and will post additional photos if our library scanners are any good, but I'm not expecting much... haha

 

PPS here is a more closeup pic that I took of my ink journal a couple of days ago under a mix of apt light and indirect sunlight. I think the color is a bit closer in the first pic but I'm not mad at this one :P

 

Photo under a mix of indirect sunlight and apartment lighting:

 

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f99/emrys1221/new%20inks%20closeup_zpso7xicbwo.jpg

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Thank you! I’m happy you liked it :) I’m starting to discover this wonderful world of brown ink and it is MAJORLY addictive!! The next one on my list to order is the Akkerman Bekakt Haags which looks :happycloud9:

The nib brings out the sheen and shading in almost any ink, so I love to use it to see what an ink can do when on steroids, but it is definitely kicked up a notch haha I will be cleaning a pen that is performance-enhancing-drug-free this week, so I will test it for shading and report back!

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This one is fine. I wouldn't buy it myself though. I usually like browns that don't lean to red.

I'm still exploring this world of browns, but so far I do like a little red in the mix so it's a deliciously rich dark chocolatey color :P

 

Cool but looking on the comparison I would go for Chocolate Brown :)

I think that's the best color out of the 4 in the swab comparison too! I just wish it felt and behaved more like the Kobe haha

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Quote: not my grail brown. I would need its color to be both a little darker and a little more vibrant for me to really love it and make it a regular in the ink rotation.

 

 

bstnnyc, a vibrant and dark brown is difficult. Their nature is being muted. In color theory, brown is a shade of the orange and reds. There are various ways of color mixing in painting to produce a cool brown instead of a warm brown. To me, the appeal of brown is its luscious rich color, muted color (sitting well on the page), and its sense of the earth, a very stabilizing influence. Brown is really great on cream or natural colored paper.

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Quote: not my grail brown. I would need its color to be both a little darker and a little more vibrant for me to really love it and make it a regular in the ink rotation.

 

 

bstnnyc, a vibrant and dark brown is difficult. Their nature is being muted. In color theory, brown is a shade of the orange and reds. There are various ways of color mixing in painting to produce a cool brown instead of a warm brown. To me, the appeal of brown is its luscious rich color, muted color (sitting well on the page), and its sense of the earth, a very stabilizing influence. Brown is really great on cream or natural colored paper.

Hi white_lotus the trouble is Saskia introduced me to a brown that I absolutely fell in love with and I think I keep comparing everything to it! (It's like a bad breakup you can't get over... haha) It's the MB SG 2005/2006 Brown and the shade is exactly what I was hoping for. The color and behavior of the ink were perfect when I filled my pen from cartridges I ordered so I thought the search was over. Eventually I hunted down an old bottle of the ink and even though it was NOS I think it had evaporated a bit because it gave me flow problems, cleaning issues, and the ink dried very weirdly in the nib and on the page... I was so disappointed because I had loaded it in the same pen that I had tested the ink from the cartridges and the behavior was like night and day. :/

 

As they say tis better to have loved and lost though because I learned that I do love browns :) and those few cartridges I used were just wonderful. The next browns I'm thinking of trying are the Akkerman brown and the DeAtramentis York and Van Dyck browns (which I have not been able to find any writing samples or swatches of). Have you tried either or are there any browns that you'd recommend trying that might come closer to what I'm looking for? Also which are your favorite browns that fall in the darker end of the spectrum?

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Well I had to admit I'm pretty easy with ink. If they flow well out of the pen and I like the handling, color, that is good enough for me. There's always some that one likes more than others, but I couldn't use just one ink all the time. The variety of ink interests me.

 

I liked the MB Toffee Brown and Visconti Brown, both very similar. Sailor Doyou is good, but you have to like writing with an ebony twig. OS Boron was a bit lighter on the light-dark scale and shades well. Finding a bottle might be difficult now (looks like Vanness has some). Of course there are the Sailor Japanese exclusives that are interesting, but expensive to obtain here. For a while I used Noodler's Beaver which is on the lighter side. And there is FPH exclusive Noodler's Subway Sepia that I have. A bit cooler than others, but a rich "NYC subway dirt" color.

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Well I had to admit I'm pretty easy with ink. If they flow well out of the pen and I like the handling, color, that is good enough for me. There's always some that one likes more than others, but I couldn't use just one ink all the time. The variety of ink interests me.

 

I liked the MB Toffee Brown and Visconti Brown, both very similar. Sailor Doyou is good, but you have to like writing with an ebony twig. OS Boron was a bit lighter on the light-dark scale and shades well. Finding a bottle might be difficult now (looks like Vanness has some). Of course there are the Sailor Japanese exclusives that are interesting, but expensive to obtain here. For a while I used Noodler's Beaver which is on the lighter side. And there is FPH exclusive Noodler's Subway Sepia that I have. A bit cooler than others, but a rich "NYC subway dirt" color.

Thank you for the good recommendations! I will look into these!

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Thank you! I’m happy you liked it :) I’m starting to discover this wonderful world of brown ink and it is MAJORLY addictive!! The next one on my list to order is the Akkerman Bekakt Haags which looks :happycloud9:

 

The nib brings out the sheen and shading in almost any ink, so I love to use it to see what an ink can do when on steroids, but it is definitely kicked up a notch haha I will be cleaning a pen that is performance-enhancing-drug-free this week, so I will test it for shading and report back!

 

 

I have some of the Akkerman, it isn't as wonderful as you might like. This ink is much better behaved.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank you for letting me know! I was going to order the Akkerman once Vaness receives additional stock, but I will pass on it now :)

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Order something else .... like Shocking Blue.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Don't do it bstnnyc! She's trying to trick you into getting retina-searing inks when your eyeballs go like this :yikes:

 

They'll be burned out forever! You won't like all those wonderful Sailor Japan-exclusive inks anymore, and have to get rid of them because you'll find them too dull...

 

:eureka:

 

On second thought, go for it! SO long as I'm first in line for when you need to get rid of all those inks you won't like anymore. :)

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ROFL

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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haha thank you for the warning white_lotus! I actually just ordered samples of some of the browns you recommended and will report back when they come in. Until someone develops inks that feel as good as the Sailors with my pen and paper mix I don't think I will be getting rid of them any time soon :P

 

And I will definitely take a look at shocking blue amberlea! I haven't explored the Akkerman inks yet, so I would like to have a bottle of one of their inks in the inky stash at some point

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  • 1 month later...

I have two requirements for brown inks - they should have lots of shading, have warm (cinnamon) tones and can't be so dark that they'd be mistaken for black. No luck yet. Any suggestions?

 

PS: In PPN's "Library" mode, the bar that contains the words "Reply to this topic" is the color family I'm seeking.

James

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