Troublemaker Milky Ocean

[LobsterRoll]

Ink Review:
Troublemaker Milky Ocean



Troublemaker is an ink studio based in the Philippines. They're a new, small company and still seem to be working out production/supply issues, but they have some interesting inks. I managed to place an order during one of the short windows when they opened up their online store again.

The inks came in cute packaging (Milky Ocean is in the middle):




Overall Impressions:

 

Milky Ocean is one of TMKR's special shading inks. The base color is a pale blue, and violet-purple-pink shading can be seen in the right conditions (fountain pen friendly paper, medium flow, and fresh ink). Seeing the multi-hued shading effect in person is lots of fun.

Flow: Somewhat wet
Shading: Lots
Sheen: Not really the point for this ink, but I did see some sheen after the ink sat in the pens overnight and some ink evaporated
Water resistance: Low, leaves a faint pink outline
Dry time: On TR paper, ~15 sec with F nib, ~25 sec with 1.1 nib

Pens:
EF Nemosine Singularity - dry/medium wetness
F Nemosine Singularity - medium wetness
1.1 Nemosine Neutrino - ink was very wet in this pen

 

Tomoe River Paper:

 

 

 

Stalogy Paper:


Kokuyo Campus High Grade MIO Paper:


Apica Paper:

Edited March 2, 2020 by LobsterRoll

[Uncial]

Did you get this ink very recently? I ask in case they've changed the dry aspect. I have Abalone, Kelp and Milky Ocean and found Abalone and Kelp to be so dry as to be almost unusable. Milky Ocean was a bit better but still very dry. It was very noticeable in BB nibs and lubrication was lretty much non existent on all three. They are amazing in terms of colour and effect though.

[Intensity]

In my experience with this ink, it was a bit more lubricated than Abalone and Kelp Tea. Also the dryness and low saturation are important for the hue separation. If you use it in a wet pen that's been sitting with the ink for few days, the color separation effect becomes so weak, it's almost not even there. I would either fill it in pens that are very resistant to drying out or expect to use up a fill quickly by doing a lot of writing, or both.

[LobsterRoll]

Did you get this ink very recently? I ask in case they've changed the dry aspect. I have Abalone, Kelp and Milky Ocean and found Abalone and Kelp to be so dry as to be almost unusable. Milky Ocean was a bit better but still very dry. It was very noticeable in BB nibs and lubrication was lretty much non existent on all three. They are amazing in terms of colour and effect though.

Yes, I ordered the inks in January, and since they're so often out of stock, I'm assuming this was a new batch.

[LobsterRoll]

In my experience with this ink, it was a bit more lubricated than Abalone and Kelp Tea. Also the dryness and low saturation are important for the hue separation. If you use it in a wet pen that's been sitting with the ink for few days, the color separation effect becomes so weak, it's almost not even there. I would either fill it in pens that are very resistant to drying out or expect to use up a fill quickly by doing a lot of writing, or both.

Thanks for the info; I'm still trying to figure out how to use this ink. I've definitely noticed the color separation weakening with ink that's been sitting out. The dryness/saturation is something I've started noticing as well. It does seem to like a particular balance. If it's too wet (like in the pics above with the 1.1 stub), then it doesn't have that delicate hue separation effect.

[Intensity]

If you have a drier-writing stub, it should work well still. It's just that there's that balance of low enough saturation of ink in a line for the separation to be dramatic. There need to be those drier areas where ink flows back to pool up below, and the above area is thinly coated and dries in a different hue. I think this is kind of like doing chromatography on a paper towel. If you wet your paper towel before putting a droplet of ink into it, the constituent colors will separate farther out and the gradient will be much more noticeable than if you put a droplet onto a dry towel: it won't spread far, and the ink will be more "bunched up" in higher concentration, more single color. Low saturation and ability to spread farther and flow back (low surfactants / higher surface tension) are important for these multi-hue inks. That's my theory.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Intensity

[GreenMountain]

Geee, no fair. I can't seem to catch the Troublemaker website open.

If anyone wants to sell me their old Abalone, do let me know!

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for sharing.

[JulieParadise]

Auch a shame: I really want to like this beyond the colour but it is so darn dry :/

[MHBru]

oh this is a bummer... this ink came up in another thread and I was so excited but if it's this tempermental and dry perhaps not. Boo

[Detman101]

I'm finding these same issues with all of the "Chromo-shading" inks.
Manyo haha...
Manyo Nekoyanagi...
Sailor 123...

All so bloody dry that they don't even flow through the feed. Then if I add a wettener, they flow so heavily that there's no shading.

Either way...they don't perform in the way that I bought them for...SHADING!!
If inks are going to get so damn complicated to use that they require frickin instructions I'm just going to stick with my Irish Green and Caffe Crema and ignore everything else...it's too much of a crapshoot.
I'll be mailing off all my samples to friends, they're useless to me...I don't have the patience for this bs.
 

[DrDebG]

Detman101:  

 

I am sorry to hear that you are having such issues with them, particularly the Sailor Manyo inks.  I tried a few samples of HaHa and Nekoyanagi and found them to be just a little dry, but not nearly so as the Troublemaker inks.  I then purchased the entire line of Sailor Manyo inks and I love them all.  I found both HaHa and Nekoyangi from the bottles I bought to not be nearly as dry as the samples I purchased.  Perhaps it is the samples.  BUT, Irish Green and Caffe Crema are wonderful inks as well.   

[Detman101]

@DrDebG I was a bit hasty in my synopsis of the Sailor inks. In fact, I was dead wrong!!
They require a better pen than what I used with them on my initial trials.
In my Opus-88 with S.O.D.F nib, they flow just fine. I wrote three sheets of beautiful cursive with Nekoyanagi this evening.
In my Penbbs-355 pens with upgraded ebonite feeds...they constantly fail to flow properly...I do not understand why.
And since I mailed off my remaining samples to friends in foolish haste, I will have to purchase a full bottle next month.
Mea culpa...

And you are soooo right. I am currently in a full blown love affair with "Montblanc - Irish Green".
This ink is the most beautiful, luscious and sexy ink to me. It's shading, the way it flows...even how it stains my fingers...just perfect. ❤️
It's the only green ink for me...does everything I need, just the way I need it done.
And "Robert Oster - Caffe Crema"...my beautiful Brown-Betty. 😍
I have Caffe Crema in my Clear-Demo Penbbs-355 and it is soooo lovely!! Shades magnificently and goes from golden tan to dark brown when I flex with it...so amazing!
 

[DrDebG]

So glad that you are enjoying the Sailor Manyo inks.  I absolutely love them.  My favorite now is Nadeshiko - a lovely soft blue with some shading to Nekoyonagi.  

 

One comment about these shading inks - it really depends on the paper.  If you are using something like Tomoe River and a wider nib, the shading is incredible.  I just started using a notebook that has Cosmo Air Light paper.  This paper also really shows off shading and sheening inks.  You may want to give it a try.  

 

I love Montblanc Irish Green.  It is such a gorgeous green.  And I love, love, love Montblanc Swan Plume Illusion, so much so that I have purchased several bottles.  The only MB ink I have tried that I am not thrilled with is Burgundy Red (old packaging).

[Detman101]

Awesome!! I also like "Montblanc - Swan Illusion Plume"....but I couldn't swallow the price they're asking for it. I found an exact twin of it in "Penbbs - #392" and I'm LOVING IT!!! Next month I'll be picking up another bottle of it as I do believe it is going to be my main "Brown" ink from here on out.
It shades wonderfully and has that flesh-toneish undertone right before it darkens to a tan colored brown.
I also picked up "Kyo-Iro - Stone Road of Gion" after reading up on the comparison thread posted here on the forum for "Swan Illusion -VS- Stone Road of Gion" . That ink functions exactly like "Vinta - Sirena" and is dry dry dry! I have to use a paperclip-tip of Vanness White lightning to get it to flow correctly...bleh.

[DrDebG]

Another Sailor Manyo ink that you might enjoy is Nadeshiko.  It is a bit darker than both, but, on some papers, it sheens as well as Nekoyanagi and Haha.  And it is a lovely shade.  It is fast becoming my favorite ink.  

[Detman101]

On 5/28/2021 at 1:37 AM, DrDebG said:

Another Sailor Manyo ink that you might enjoy is Nadeshiko.  It is a bit darker than both, but, on some papers, it sheens as well as Nekoyanagi and Haha.  And it is a lovely shade.  It is fast becoming my favorite ink.  

Oh wow, that really IS pretty. It will definitely go down darker on paper with my flex pens...but with the shading, there may be a bit of use...and not just going down so heavily it's black hehe.
I will have to add a sample of that to the list for next month!
Thank you!

[Detman101]

On 5/28/2021 at 1:37 AM, DrDebG said:

Another Sailor Manyo ink that you might enjoy is Nadeshiko.  It is a bit darker than both, but, on some papers, it sheens as well as Nekoyanagi and Haha.  And it is a lovely shade.  It is fast becoming my favorite ink.  

EDIT: I definitely want to pick up that ink and went to use a $25 gift card I received...but couldn't get a bottle of it under the limit.
Soooo...I went with "Sailor Ink Studio 162" instead from Yoseka in NYC. 😁
It's purrrrrrty!!