ASA GALACTIC REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
This is my first review here in fountain pen network. So i have decided to keep it brief. Came to know about ASA pens from FPN. Was apprehensive of placing an order mainly because i keep my online purchases limited to major players like Flipkart,amazon,snap deal. But the pen was too tempting and i placed the order. The delivery was prompt and in a neat package.
REVIEW
The pen is made of transparent frosted acrylic. Its the biggest pen in my collection but it feels great in the hands.You will get used to the bulk very quickly. Its very good even for long stretches of writing. I have to say the design is very minimalist other than the bulk. Its just pure frosted transparent acrylic and looks absolutely great.
I prefer to write un-posted and I don't think anyone will find it comfortable to write with such a giant pen posted. The cap is also made of frosted acrylic and it has a small silver coloured clip. It doesn't fit in most of my shirt pockets though.
The pen is an eyedropper and its bigger than most and holds gallons of ink. Haven't measured the ink capacity but im sure it will more than satisfy anyone.Its my first eyedropper not counting the cheap ones i used in school .I have been staying away from eyedroppers for ever because of the problems they can give like leaking ,burping. But it does have its advantages too.
NIB & PERFORMANCE
I opted for the german jowo medium nib provided by ASA pens. It writes butter smooth,just glides on the paper.
But i had problems with the ink flow which at times was too much and gushing onto the paper causing ink bleed . I initially used Krishna inks neelkurinhi {purple} and then changed to LAMY turquoise but the problems persisted. Then i browsed through the forums and got the idea of using a very dry ink like Pelikan 4001. I changed the ink to blue black by pelikan and the problems disappeared completely. Could write even on 70 gsm papers without ink bleed.
Then came the problem of ink leakage.The ink started leaking in blobs from upper side of nib near the section. I just kept the pen away for a day and from next day it wasnt leaking. There are still blobs of ink appearing after prolonged writing but its not dripping onto the paper.I dont know if it will reappear to a disabling extent. Thing is i dont want to send the pen back to ASA pens as this has almost become my daily writer along with my safari. But if it becomes a persistent problem i will have to contact ASA pens.
The writing experience if the pen stays free of problems is absolutely great. You wont feel like putting the pen down.I have to say it might be even better than my Charcoal black safari which is my best pen purely based on writing experience .
CONCLUSION
An absolutely great pen at a reasonable cost. If it wasnt for the nagging problems i would give it a 10/10. I know eyedroppers are notorious for leakage problems but its still kind of irritating for me when things just wont work.
I would give it a 8/10.
Will i recommend others to buy? Absolutely. In my opinion if you love fountain pens you just have to try this.
PS: please ignore the poor handwriting
Edited by ak2k5, 14 May 2016 - 07:23.