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Noodler's Apache Sunset


Gazcom

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When I first got into fountain pens, I was looking for a "grail ink" or at least to buy only those inks which was really impossible to do without. At the beginning i felt really sad to know that one of the most renown shading ink , Noodler's Apache Sunset, was almost impossible to find in EU dealers, at a reasonable price at least.

I bugged badly a friend who went to NY to buy me a bottle for me at the Pen Hospital instead of the usual souvenir. For this reason, today I'm able to tell you my complex feelings on this particular ink.


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Apache Sunset is a "paper squeamish ink", has a beautiful colour and shows its beautiful shading properties just on the right paper at its own conditions.

Do not expect shading on cheap copy paper because it will appear just a chalky orange.

Do not expect a positive writing experience with gorgeous shading on too much "waterproof" paper like the tracing paper, because it's watery consistence causes issues in binding the ink to the paper.

On the other hand, on schizza & strappa paper, which should be quite similar to the Tomoe River paper, this ink just looks and shades gorgeously, with all the nib grades but especially on broader ones, leaving nice reddish - orange dark shades where the ink forms pools (making it a fantastic ink for flex writing), and a neat legible warm orange-yellow on the less saturated areas.

It really has the colours of the sunset, all in one ink.

As said before, this ink is extremely watery consistent, tends to feather a lot on cheap paper and is likely to experience bleedthrough.

The dry test shows an ink wich dries almost istantly on cheap copy paper (seems like sucked in the paper fibers) but takes ages to dry on other kind of papers (20 sec on schizza & strappa, more than 30 sec on Tracing Paper), making it a not left handed friendly ink.

Has no water resistance and tends to vanish if put in contact with water.


In the end, is this ink worth buying?

I know there are lots of people that just look at this ink as the "choosen one" and I can understand that, because the colour is beautiful and the shading is massive and gorgeous.

On the other side it's an ink that gives its best only on limited kind of papers, and especially when using flex writing, and is not work friendly or not even practical for taking notes; making it usable mostly for practicing calligraphy and drawing.

In USA this ink is available for about 12$ for a 3oz bottle and that makes a really good value; but for an EU customer prices can get higher for custom duties, shipping and whatsoever, making it quite unattainable.

In the end I like it (and I like it a lot) but I have it because someone went to the USA and gifted it to me. If I were to buy it on my own, I would probably be buying a bottle of Diamine Autumn Oak instead, definitely a cheaper choice.


COPY PAPER

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SCHIZZA & STRAPPA PAPER


SCHIZZA_E_STRAPPA.jpg


TRACING PAPER


TRACING_PAPER.jpg


CROMATOGRAPHY


CROMATOGRAPHY.jpg


INKDROP


BLOB.jpg

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  • Ghost Plane

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Thanks for this excellent review! A very interesting ink, I too must say. It really does have character. I know that it is already praised by many of us. I'm not a huge fan of Noodler's inks in general -- and this is by no means my favourite ink colour --but this is absolutely one of my favorite Noodler's. Your descriptions should lure those who may happen to be missing out on this treasure!

 

Mike

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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Thx lapis! I appreciate your kind words.

At the beginning of my experience on fountain pens I thought that noodler's inks were the most interesting on the market, not the best, just the most interesting. I was wrong, but not totally. Some inks are indeed unique and apache sunset is one of those. I also adore the air-corp blue black, and I've got a bottle of goldspot esclusive revolution blue, which is interesting too, but with serious staining issues.

For some reason when I think about noodler's I feel like I'm dealing with fluids that can either be stunning and toghether potentially the last breath of your fountain pen.

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Currently my only orange-ish ink. I don't much care for it in a pen with an EF nib,but will use it in most others. Right now I have it in a Waterman Phileas with a Medium. It is a fun ink and my favorite Noodler's ink.

 

Not sure how I would rank the others I have (I have 4). Blue Eel and 54th Massachusetts and Black are the others. Black would be in the #4 position, but I'm not sure on the order of the other two. Need to use them more I guess.

Brad

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling
"None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

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It and Golden Brown were waiting for me at my US motel as I got there some 6 or so years ago. shipping it across the Pond made it very expensive.

 

Both did very well...though the Golden Brown was the slowest ink I ever owned....finish the front, write a full second front before one can go back and write on the back.

Sunset was much faster in drying.

 

I had brought with me Oxford Opic 90g ... a good to very good spiral notebook paper. The 'new' Red & Black uses this paper....once Red & Black used a worse paper.

 

I got more of an orange-red than the OP.

 

I am happy with this ink.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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I prefer Noodler's Habanero orange for it's stronger red quality and more reliable shading across paper varieties. The downside is that it takes forever to dry on Clairefontaine. Like 20 minutes for the i-dots.

Edited by Fit_to_Print

"Never be a spectator to unfairness or stupidity" (Christopher Hitchens)

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