Noodler's Air Corps Blue Black

[Ruminator]

As it turns out, I had a sample of Noodler's Air Corps Blue Black in my inventory. After reading about the Benevolent Badger Blue and noticing NACBB, I decided to load it up and play with it for a day or two.

 

So, I loaded my trusty Estie J Transitional with the 9668 medium nib with the sample. I also just finished flushing a Parker 51 with a fine-medium nib and filled it as well. I've been writing with both pens today. So, tonight I wrote up my impressions and here they are for your enjoyment and criticism.

 

My reviews are nowhere near as "enthusiastic" as Miss Sandy's, but they provide an alternative perspective from a relative newbie to fountain pens and fountain pen inks.

 

My general impression is that this ink is somewhat more lubricating than the PR Midnight Blues I just finished. I believe flow is marginally wetter as well. Although I say shading was not noticed, there is just a hint of shading in some of my letters. It's not a lot, but is hiding in there if you zoom in a bit on the image.

 

I also believe that the PR Midnight Blues has a little more water resistance than noted in that review. The wet-finger rub is pretty aggressive and there was a clear imprint remaining for PRMB as well as NACBB.

 

I'm not sure NACBB would be my go-to blue-black ink, but it isn't bad at all. Dry time is a little longish, but I noticed that it dries, unlike my experience with Noodler's Blue-Black ink, which seems to stay wet forever. (Remember, I live in the desert!)

 

Enjoy...

 

-=d

[PatientType]

I've been using the Noodler's Air Corps Blue/Black for about a year now and like it. This post provides a good summary of its qualities. The ink has been a good choice for regular, daily business writing. I've found it to be fairly water resistant, more so than it appears in the post, but I've gotten it wet when documents were completely dried and I blotted off the water, of course, I didn't rub it off.

[Ruminator]

I was a little aggressive... If I blotted, not so much would move around.

[PelikansPlus]

You're really busy! Thanks for another helpful review. A colleague at work uses this ink a lot - it's one of his favorites.

[Ruminator]

You're really busy! Thanks for another helpful review. A colleague at work uses this ink a lot - it's one of his favorites.

 

I have a handful of samples I want to work through. Plus, I enjoy writing and piddling around (technical term) with my pens. So, when I run out of (or get disgusted with) an ink, I flush my pen(s) and reload with the next sample. It's kinda fun, plus it keeps me off the streets!

 

-=d

Edited January 29, 2012 by Ruminator

[kathleen]

Thank you for this review. I am adding this ink to my wish list. I think I would like using it in my Esties as well.

[Ruminator]

Thank you for this review. I am adding this ink to my wish list. I think I would like using it in my Esties as well.

 

You're welcome! I might add that I think the lubrication of NACBB is a bit better (read detectably) than either the PR or Sei Boku I recently ran through the pen. I wouldn't call NACBB slick, but it's better than the dry Sei Boku.

 

It's fine in the P51 I have loaded at the moment. But that pen is a fairly wet writer.

 

Best...

 

-=d

[JimB]

Very nice review, nice color. I ordered and use this ink, but today I firt used it on a Rhodia pad, bloc No. 16 spiral notebook. Did not dry after more than a minute.

 

After ten minutes, rubbing with a dry finger across the writing, I see it still smears some. I think this really needs an absorbing paper, like my usual bagasse.

 

Surprised the hell out of me!

 

Note to self: "No Rhodia."

 

Self: "Okay, I got it."

[Mongo]

Thanks for a great review.

 

This has been my "go to" ink for years. I love the color, it behaves well in the bagasse notebooks that I use, and it works well with the paper in my checkbook.

 

I believe this ink is a mixture of a bulletproof black ink and a standard teal ink. The teal color can be rinsed off easily, but the black component is permanent on paper. (To my eyes, this is a teal-black ink rather than a blue-black ink. YMMV.)

 

Be well,

Dave

[lsmith42]

Very nice review, nice color. I ordered and use this ink, but today I firt used it on a Rhodia pad, bloc No. 16 spiral notebook. Did not dry after more than a minute.

 

After ten minutes, rubbing with a dry finger across the writing, I see it still smears some. I think this really needs an absorbing paper, like my usual bagasse.

 

Surprised the hell out of me!

 

Note to self: "No Rhodia."

 

Self: "Okay, I got it."

It is one of the slower-drying inks I own, but very rewarding to use (and surprisingly easy to clean!). Even the fastest drying inks will take their time on almost any Clairefontaine product.

 

The things we do for love...

[Ruminator]

Very nice review, nice color. I ordered and use this ink, but today I firt used it on a Rhodia pad, bloc No. 16 spiral notebook. Did not dry after more than a minute...

 

I've noticed similar behavior with other inks on my standard test paper, HP Premium Laser 32#. The HP paper is not very absorbent and so it takes some time for inks to dry, in part depending on the wetness of the nib.

 

Noodler's Blue-Black seems to take forever to dry on less absorbent papers. Perhaps it never dries. I finally gave up trying to figure that one out!

 

 

Thanks for a great review.This has been my "go to" ink for years. I love the color, it behaves well in the bagasse notebooks that I use, and it works well with the paper in my checkbook.I believe this ink is a mixture of a bulletproof black ink and a standard teal ink. The teal color can be rinsed off easily, but the black component is permanent on paper. (To my eyes, this is a teal-black ink rather than a blue-black ink. YMMV.)

 

Although I didn't purchase a bottle, I might yet. It's really a decent ink. I was searching for a good blue-black and, as you said, this one didn't look so blue to my old eyes. So I kept looking. It really does have a great color, though.

 

 

Note to self: "No Rhodia." Self: "Okay, I got it."

It is one of the slower-drying inks I own, but very rewarding to use (and surprisingly easy to clean!). Even the fastest drying inks will take their time on almost any Clairefontaine product. The things we do for love...

 

Agreed... the Clairefontaine papers cause slow-drying inks to become glacier-like... Again, my test paper is relatively impermeable and so some inks are slow-dryers. It's a pretty decent test. When I start writing in my Moleskine journal, I notice that some inks are still relatively slow (so I noticed with Noodler's Red-Black this morning), but I also think that has a lot to do with the wetness of the nib. (In this case, a relatively wet-writing P51 medium.)

 

One of the reasons I use the same paper is that it provides a comparative basis for dry times, as well as other factors. I then write on other products to check for feathering/bleeding/ghosting and so forth. I'm beginning to figure out this testing protocol. That would figure though, I'm an engineer by profession. :/ (Please don't throw darts at me! )

[Pira]

A friend had sent me a sample and I just tried this ink ...wow what an interesting colour.

 

Noodler's ~ Aircorps Blue Black by Pira Urosevic, on Flickr

[Sailor Kenshin]

Pira, I always love your tree drawings. What paper are you using?

[Pira]

Pira, I always love your tree drawings. What paper are you using?

Thank-you.

 

For consistancy I always use Stilman & Birn, Zeta paper for these....you can find the specs here:

 

http://www.stillmanandbirn.com/zeta.ht

[Ruminator]

A friend had sent me a sample and I just tried this ink ...wow what an interesting colour.

 

Noodler's ~ Aircorps Blue Black by Pira Urosevic, on Flickr

 

Pira, thanks for resurrecting an old thread of mine. I love the drawing and it's a better use of the ink than my hen-scratching.

 

I bought a bottle of Air Corps Blue-Black last summer and have been using it regularly in a Pilot Vanishing Point. It dries much faster in my Rhodia journal than it did on the HP laser paper. My guess is that the Clairefontaine paper in the Rhodia is just a bit more absorbent than the HP paper.

 

But, I use the HP paper so that my tests are "standardized" (whatever that means in a non-scientific test).

 

I really like this ink. It's a great color for me.

 

Best...

[Tas]

A friend had sent me a sample and I just tried this ink ...wow what an interesting colour.

 

Noodler's ~ Aircorps Blue Black by Pira Urosevic, on Flickr

 

Ahhh, another beauty Thank you.

May even put this on the list now that I've changed my mind about Electric DC Blue yesterday . . .

[Cyber6]

I guess I need a bottle of this...

 

 

A friend had sent me a sample and I just tried this ink ...wow what an interesting colour.

 

Noodler's ~ Aircorps Blue Black by Pira Urosevic, on Flickr

[Abner C. Kemp]

I had a sample and enjoyed it, very nice flow and good water resistance. There is quite a bit of green in it though which didn't really suite my eye.

[Chumango]

It should be called air corp green black - think old air corp uniform color.

 

A nice ink that does not bleed or feather much but can take a long time to dry. It has good flow and lubricates well. It has pretty good water resistance.

 

It can stain though. I use a glass pipette to fill cartridges and there is residue or staining from this ink on the glass that won't wash off with water. It is inside the pipette where I can't scrub it.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Chumango