Noodler's Dragon's Napalm

[carpedavid]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-plkMdN9L_Wk/TZpZXOR4B0I/AAAAAAAAARU/CD89vCXhbcA/s1600/noodler%2527s+dragon%2527s+napalm.jpg

 

If you want to get someone's attention, send them a letter written in Noodler's Dragon's Napalm ink. It's the perfect ink for the task, as it is very close to the color of safety orange – that attention-getting hue that adorns traffic cones, the tips of toy guns, hunting caps, inmate jumpsuits, and the official state fungus of Ohio – the orange barrel.

 

It's a vibrant, highly saturated, ink that produces a bright, solid line in a fine-nibbed pen. In a broad-nibbed pen, though, it shades to a deep orange red, and it takes on a slightly pink tinge when under the right light. Speaking of shading, according to the manufacturer, it is the only "sepia-shading carmine" in the history of inks. What does this mean?

 

Carmine is a bright red color and sepia is a dark brown-grey, but this ink doesn't seem to me like a combination of the two. The carmine pokes its head out in areas of heavy shading, but the sepia reference isn't obvious. A little paper chromatography, though, draws out a yellow-brown that underlies the color. Without it, Dragon's Napalm wouldn't have the same depth of character.

 

I tested Dragon's Napalm on four different papers using an extra fine nib: cheap, office-grade copier paper; Staples "Sustainable Earth" bagasse, an Ecosystem author notebook, and a Rhodia webbie. Feathering and dry time varied quite significantly across the different types of paper.

 

On the cheap copier paper, it behaved acceptably, though not optimally. It displayed moderate feathering, significant show-through, and minor levels of bleed-through. Dry time was 3 seconds. On the bagasse, by contrast, it exhibited severe feathering, significant show-through and bleed-through, and took 8 seconds to dry to the touch.

 

On the Ecosystem's New Leaf paper, Noodler's Dragon's Napalm performed the best. It exhibited a low level of feathering, a low level of show-through, no bleed-through, and dried in 6 seconds. It's been my experience that Ecosystem's notebooks and Noodler's inks complement each other extremely well, and this is no exception.

 

With a few exceptions, Noodler's inks also tend to behave in a specific fashion with the fountain-pen friendly Rhodia paper, and Dragon's Napalm remains consistent. I found no feathering, no bleed-through, and a low level of show-through. On the other hand, the drying time was over 1 minute. It's a shame that so many of the Noodler's inks I've tried take so long to dry on Rhodia paper, since they otherwise behave so well.

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wAOK74EvOZc/TZpZVLhKQII/AAAAAAAAARQ/EkMZAlFGy1k/s1600/noodler%2527s+dragon%2527s+napalm+water+test.jpg

 

Dragons are known to the western world as fearsome, fire-breathing creatures that will engulf entire cities in flame to ensure that their snacks of medieval peasants are cooked to perfection. However, this particular dragon's fire can be easily quenched by a little bit of water; it did not hold up well on any of the water tests. The smear test, in which I run a wet finger across the page, resulted in a lovely neon orange smudge, but no trace of the underlying lines.

 

The drip test, in which I let several droplets of water soak on the page before blotting, resulted in the ink being lifted almost entirely from the page; only a hint of the original lines remained. Similarly, the soak test, in which I run the paper under a stream of water, washed the ink away quite effectively. It's an attention-getting ink, to be sure, but not one which you'd want to use in any water-sensitive situations.

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DqhQQDxxPtI/TZpZZfYhheI/AAAAAAAAARY/3OXZvhiN0vM/s1600/noodler%2527s+dragon%2527s+napalm+bottle.JPG

 

Noodler's Dragon's Napalm comes in a standard 3 oz. Noodler's bottle that's filled to the brim – so be careful when opening. Noodler’s intentionally uses stock bottles and lids to keep their prices low, which means that they aren’t intended to be show pieces in and of themselves. They are functional and stable, but not objets d'art intended for the top of one's desk.

 

I don't think anyone is going to mistakenly use Noodler's Dragon's Napalm to draft a legal brief or sign a contract, but it would be appropriate for proofing a paper or otherwise dramatically calling attention to something. It's a bit bright for journaling, I would suspect – certainly to my eyes, page after page of it would quickly become too much of a good thing. However, I could see it being used to jot a quick note or, more likely – in artwork or calligraphy.

 

Dragon's Napalm is an extremely vibrant ink that extremely vibrant people will likely get a kick out of. It behaves well enough on higher quality paper for me to recommend it to those who are looking for a very bold orange ink.

 

Note on images: this ink is devilishly difficult to scan correctly. I've attempted to correct the writing sample to get as close as possible. The sample as presented is slightly more red than in real life, and some of the shading detail has been lost.

 

Review notes: I used a 6.0 mm Pilot Parallel calligraphy pen for the widest strokes, a 2.0 mm Pelikan Script calligraphy pen for the medium strokes, and an extra-fine steel nib on a Lamy Safai for the fine strokes. The paper is Rhodia 80gsm from a No. 18 pad.

Edited April 5, 2011 by carpedavid

[blemt]

Thank you for the awesome review! This ink is on my wish list, and I've got to say I LOVE your written review.

[torstar]

Excellent review.

 

Must resist the urge to add another little glass soldier of ink to that army on my office and home desks...

[geoduc]

That's a really well crafted review. Thanks!

[professionaldilettante]

beautiful. Thank you! keep up the good work!

[MrsGouletPens]

Excellent review! Your handwriting is amazing. I'm impressed with every new review you do!

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Many thanks for the review!

Impressive as always.

 

This is a spot on match to my bottle of Noodler's Batstate Blue!

 

Bye,

S1

Edited April 7, 2011 by Sandy1

[Possum Hill]

Hi,

 

Many thanks for the review!

Impressive as always.

 

This is a spot on match to my bottle of Noodler's Batstate Blue!

 

Bye,

S1

I think someone suggested writing with Baystate Blue and highlighting with Dragon's Napalm. Just thinking about it takes my breath away.

[coyotewhisper]

Great review. This ink is an eye grabber, definitely a little different.

[Inka]

Very well explained review, thank you for your time!

I particularly enjoyed the calligraphy done using the 6mm and 2mm calligraphy pens/ nibs, the drawing too was very nicely done.

I've found something similar using Noodler's inks on Rhodia paper, that it tends to sit on the surface taking a bit longer to dry than some other inks, but it always looks so awesome I've come to accept the waiting time.

Well done, all of it!

[shaylenwilliams]

I agree with you that this ink is a beast to try and scan or photograph accurately, you did a brilliant job of it though! In pictures or scans I've done it just ends up looking red, which this ink certainly is not.

 

I had an odd experience with this ink: after rinsing it out of a Safari, there was a rainbowy-metallic buildup on the feed, suggesting that there is some sort of metallic nano pigment in this ink. Has anyone had similar experiences, or been able to coax it out on paper???

[Journaleur]

Great review and wonderful calligraphy; love your illustration. I have never thought of using an orange ink before, but your review has made me reconsider,especially, as you note, for revisions and proofreading. Thanks for the review and the suggestions.

[SamCapote]

I agree with you that this ink is a beast to try and scan or photograph accurately, you did a brilliant job of it though! In pictures or scans I've done it just ends up looking red, which this ink certainly is not.

 

I had an odd experience with this ink: after rinsing it out of a Safari, there was a rainbowy-metallic buildup on the feed, suggesting that there is some sort of metallic nano pigment in this ink. Has anyone had similar experiences, or been able to coax it out on paper???

 

You need a wizard's enchantment spell, and 3 eyes of newt.

 

Great review!

[shaylenwilliams]

I agree with you that this ink is a beast to try and scan or photograph accurately, you did a brilliant job of it though! In pictures or scans I've done it just ends up looking red, which this ink certainly is not.

 

I had an odd experience with this ink: after rinsing it out of a Safari, there was a rainbowy-metallic buildup on the feed, suggesting that there is some sort of metallic nano pigment in this ink. Has anyone had similar experiences, or been able to coax it out on paper???

 

You need a wizard's enchantment spell, and 3 eyes of newt.

 

Great review!

 

That's the problem! I was using toad hairs instead of newt eyes! Darn the luck!

[daoud62]

I just filled my Stipula Etruria Alter Ego (with titanium flex nib) with this ink. A brand new bottle, which I shook well. There is absolutely no sepia shading with it. It comes out orange-red. I wonder where the description "the only sepia-shading carmine" came from? Carmine is blood color. This is definitely not blood color...dragon blood, maybe, but who am I to say? :ltcapd:

[Yoda4561]

I just filled my Stipula Etruria Alter Ego (with titanium flex nib) with this ink. A brand new bottle, which I shook well. There is absolutely no sepia shading with it. It comes out orange-red. I wonder where the description "the only sepia-shading carmine" came from? Carmine is blood color. This is definitely not blood color...dragon blood, maybe, but who am I to say? :ltcapd:

 

 

IIRC it comes from layering the ink on top of itself, most likely with a brush pen in artist applications.