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​This is only a brief musing on one of my favourite inks. For in-depth review I encourage you to have a look at the comprehensive reviews by visvamitra and Sandy1.

 

 

35612280176_80638c1212_b.jpg

 

Pelikan Royal Blue on Leuchtturm.

 

PRB is often described as unappealing and boring and I agree to some extent. It lacks fanciness and eye catching features. On the other hand, it doesn't distract from the message and can be used in more official settings. I personally appreciate the lack of shading which gives the impression of tidiness and clarity.

 

 

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​PRB on Leuchtturm. Very rounded and well designed ink. If there is anything I could change it would be making the colour slightly more vibrant.

 

 

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​Line definition on Clairefountaine, Moleskine, Leuchtturm and Xerox Performer.

 

There is some significant but still acceptable spread and feathering on Moleskine and Xerox exacerbated by very wet pens I used. However, I know only few other inks which cope similarly or better on more absorbent papers.

Some say that PRB fades away with time. I don't know whether the rumours are true or not. My oldest notes are only three months old and don't show any apparent deterioration.
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Very nice review! I love the Line Definition comparisons. I always look for similar closeups since all my pen work is right in my face .....

 

Thanks!

Edited by Plexipens
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You do make the ink look much more appealing. (And wow, Moleskine really is rubbish. I wouldn't call that acceptable feathering at all.)

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Pelikan Royal Blue is somehow a well-toned grandfather of blue inks! This speaks clearly out of your review which I read as an homage!

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Thank you all for the replies! The ink may look more lively than in other reviews because of the wetter pens used. It certainly looks nice on Leuchtturm: silky, bright and warm.

 

My Moleskine journal is so rubbish that it is perfect for ink testing. Once the ink passes the test (very few do!) I know I can write on any other paper.

 

I think that the PRB's performance on Moleskine is indeed rather good and acceptable - the small handwriting stays legible. I have recently run a test of around 25 mostly blue inks on this paper; most of them considered to be rather feathering-free. Only 5 fared better than PRB, the next five were somehow similar in performance, but other 15 feathered significantly worse. PRB is a real gem in my eyes.

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This is a total aside, but why do people even bother with moleskine? It sucks for any ink as bad as copy paper.

 

I want to like pelikan inks, I do love the 4001 brown, but I feel they really need to start offering their inks in 50ml bottles for the same price.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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This is a total aside, but why do people even bother with moleskine? It sucks for any ink as bad as copy paper.

 

I want to like pelikan inks, I do love the 4001 brown, but I feel they really need to start offering their inks in 50ml bottles for the same price.

I hope that by keeping repeating how bad Moleskines are the company will take notice and improve one day.

 

I agree that the Pelikan could cut the prices a bit but at least in the EU they still seem reasonable.

 

By the way, I have just realised that the original picture of the line comparison is of much better quality than the edited one.

 

35267983890_7083d17275_c.jpg

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Has anyone tried to mix the Pelikan 4001 royal blue with some black to get a blue-black shade ? I wonder if that is advisable or will it cause any damage to pens?

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This is a total aside, but why do people even bother with moleskine? It sucks for any ink as bad as copy paper.

I bother with it because I love

1. The size 6.5 x 10.5 cm for my T-shirt pocket.

2. The cover durability

3. The texture and colour of the paper

4. Bleeding is no problem since I write only on one side anyways

5. Its page ripoutability.

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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Has anyone tried to mix the Pelikan 4001 royal blue with some black to get a blue-black shade ? I wonder if that is advisable or will it cause any damage to pens?

I would be cautious about mixing any two inks unless it's considered safe by a producent, like in the case of the Callifolio inks. I know that some people have mixed the Royal Blue and 4001 Blue/Black with good results (both inks have roughly similar pH levels). I use the 1:1 mix sometimes and love it. There are however many blue black inks around to choose from.

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This is the ink I had to use throughout entirety of my primary school. This is the ink my significant other had to use throughout entirety of her primary school. This is the ink my significant other, as a teacher, must use every day in school, at work.

 

 

For very specific reasons and to no fault of the ink itself, we both hate this ink...with a passion. But we use 2-3 bottles of it a year. Ah...

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I want to like pelikan inks, I do love the 4001 brown, but I feel they really need to start offering their inks in 50ml bottles for the same price.

How much do you pay in USA?

 

Downunder in oz shop I'm paying $10 for a 30ml 4001 :(

 

But last yr when travelling thru Asia I found 4001 in 60ml bottles for $4!! :ninja:

Edited by tamiya
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Has anyone tried to mix the Pelikan 4001 royal blue with some black to get a blue-black shade ? I wonder if that is advisable or will it cause any damage to pens?

I have about 6 of the 4001s opened, which I've freely mixed with each other... nothing bad appeared.

 

Have also mixed 4001s with the 7 Waterman colours & 5 Quinks I've got opened... nothing happened either.

 

(These mixes got swabbed around, sucked into pens which then got forgotten until they were months past dry. They cleaned up fine when I got around to it.)

 

Only reason I won't bother trying to mix a blueblack from 4001s is that it's kinda dry. I'd rather just use Waterman Mysterious Blue or Quink BlueBlack... or ideally, Pilot basic range BlueBlack.

 

:D

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  • 4 months later...

Has anyone tried to mix the Pelikan 4001 royal blue with some black to get a blue-black shade ?

 

Yes. I have mixed up some batches of 5:1 = Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue : Noodler's Black ink and I have gotten a nice blue/black ink. It has the added attraction of the Noodler's Black remaining if something happens to what has been written with this ink mixture which causes the Royal Blue to wash away.

 

I'm on the last of the above ink mixture because I've just about used up my 30 mL bottle of Royal Blue ink, but I have some Cross Blue ink, which I've repeatedly read is re-badged Royal Blue, and so I'll continue my blue/black ink mixture with the Cross Blue in the mixture.

 

I wonder if that is advisable or will it cause any damage to pens?

 

No damage has been done to the Parker 45 in which I have been using this ink mixture, and I've had it in that fountain pen for more than a year, maybe more than two years :thumbup: .

On a sacred quest for the perfect blue ink mixture!

ink stained wretch filling inkwell

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  • 4 months later...

​This is only a brief musing on one of my favourite inks. For in-depth review I encourage you to have a look at the comprehensive reviews by visvamitra and Sandy1.

 

PRB is often described as unappealing and boring and I agree to some extent. It lacks fanciness and eye catching features. On the other hand, it doesn't distract from the message and can be used in more official settings. I personally appreciate the lack of shading which gives the impression of tidiness and clarity.

 

Some say that PRB fades away with time. I don't know whether the rumours are true or not. My oldest notes are only three months old and don't show any apparent deterioration.

 

~ iiiiiii:

 

Thank you for this review.

I've never seen Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue. Your images and explanation helped me appreciate it.

I'd noticed it in a post by RoyalBlueNotebooks.

Tom K.

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