Montblanc Midnight Blue

[tenurepro]

Here is a quick mini review of MB's permanent Midnight Blue. The picture was taken with bright natural light, which shows off the subtle dark blue; under most indoor light, it looks nearly black. It is waterproof, and flowed really well (but my pens are all wet writers). It cleaned off well after 1-2 weeks in the pens. Would make a nice alternative to regular black.

 

[Oranges and Apples]

It looks good but the ink looks more on the purple side than the blue side.

 

This used to be my favorite inks (I have to admit because of the bottle it came in) until I learned what iron-gall was.

[Chris S]

This is one of my favourite inks. I like the colour and it is well behaved.

 

Thanks for sharing your review.

[wastelanded]

I just got this ink last week, and I like it very much. It is indeed well behaved: it's my work ink now. Thanks for reviewing!

[Newjelan]

Great, thanks. I just bought this and hadn't tried it - inking up now!

[tenurepro]

Thanks all.

Oranges and Apples: it does show a bit of purple. Why did the iron-gall bother you? did you have any bad experiences with the ink clogging up ?

 

Chris & Wastelanded : well behaved indeed. It has taken over MB Black @ work.

 

Newjelan: enjoy.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Thanks for your Review!

 

Always good to see more samples, and to gather more opinions, experiences, etc.

 

I was a bit surprised that you weren't getting shading. Perhaps your pens are much wetter than the ones I use most often.

 

I will take this opportunity to mention that pens should be thoroughly cleansed before and after using an ink containing iron-gall, and to avoid letting it dry-out in one's pen.

 

Definitely one of my favourite inks.

 

Bye,

S1

[tenurepro]

Thanks Sandy -

Interesting about the shading - i went back and checked and i can see some very minor shading a few spots; My pens are indeed very wet, but i still managed to get some nice shading with other inks ( see https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/228559-mont-blanc-alfred-hitchcock-dark-red/page__p__2444657__fromsearch__1#entry2444657 same pens, different ink). So relatively low-no shading for me

 

Do you have a different cleaning routine for iron-gall ink ? I did a 12 hour soak in water after the regular flushing routine.

 

bye

Hi,

 

Thanks for your Review!

 

Always good to see more samples, and to gather more opinions, experiences, etc.

 

I was a bit surprised that you weren't getting shading. Perhaps your pens are much wetter than the ones I use most often.

 

I will take this opportunity to mention that pens should be thoroughly cleansed before and after using an ink containing iron-gall, and to avoid letting it dry-out in one's pen.

 

Definitely one of my favourite inks.

 

Bye,

S1

[Oranges and Apples]

Thanks all.

Oranges and Apples: it does show a bit of purple. Why did the iron-gall bother you? did you have any bad experiences with the ink clogging up ?

 

 

I didn't but I don't want too. This is one of the few inks which do turn into a solid then it dries and could not be easily flushed once it does. Many inks do dry to a solid but could be reconstituted and could be flushed easily (this includes bulletproof and water resistant inks).

 

I do miss this ink though. I have sold a bottle once I figured out what it could do but I might pick up a pen and dedicate this ink to it.

[Sandy1]

Thanks Sandy -

Interesting about the shading - i went back and checked and i can see some very minor shading a few spots; My pens are indeed very wet, but i still managed to get some nice shading with other inks ( see http://www.fountainp..._1#entry2444657 same pens, different ink). So relatively low-no shading for me

 

Do you have a different cleaning routine for iron-gall ink ? I did a 12 hour soak in water after the regular flushing routine.

 

bye

Hi,

 

Thanks for your Review!

 

Always good to see more samples, and to gather more opinions, experiences, etc.

 

I was a bit surprised that you weren't getting shading. Perhaps your pens are much wetter than the ones I use most often.

 

I will take this opportunity to mention that pens should be thoroughly cleansed before and after using an ink containing iron-gall, and to avoid letting it dry-out in one's pen.

 

Definitely one of my favourite inks.

 

Bye,

S1

 

Hi,

 

To be brief, the only step exclusive to cleaning pens used with I-G inks is that after the pen is visibly clean of ink, use a rinse of 0.5% acetic acid (dilute household vinegar may be used), prior to use of pen cleaning solutions that might include ammonia.

 

I've used iron-gall inks for years with all my pens for years without any special cleaning regimen, and encountered no problems at all. I don't let ink sit in an idle pen, and most often used nothing but plain water to flush the pens.

 

It was only after joining FPN that I learned that other people were not using I-G inks all the time; that people let ink sit in idle pens; and that things other than water+detergent were used to clean pens.

 

As to the "12 hour soak", and other cleaning tid-bits, I suggest taking a moment to read the linked Topic, which includes sage advice from the esteemed Mr Zorn, Co-Leader of the Repair Forum. LINK

 

As I do not care to derail this thread, which is an Ink Review, I kindly invite those with any additional questions or concerns about cleaning / maintenance to start a new Topic in the Inky Thoughts Forum, where others not reading this Topic may share.

 

Bye,

S1

[Frank C]

Thanks for the review. I used the old MB Blue-Black for many years in my MB Hemingway Fine nib. The color seemed lighter than this. I was recently at one of my local MB emporia (we Las Vegans are so fortunate) and I tried all the demo pens with all the various nibs. They ink them up with different colors of ink and the Fine nib had Midnight Blue in it. It also seemed darker than what I recalled. Well, time to go find that old bottle of ink and compare it with the new one. You have a great collection of MB pens!

[tenurepro]

Thanks Sandy

I took your recommendation and started a new thread on how to flush pens after iron-gall ink ; under Inky Thoughts

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/231293-fp-cleaning-routine-iron-gall-ink/

I did a search and the info was fairly scattered over the board; perhaps its time to get everyone's opinions under one place.

 

Frank - thanks. I never tried the old MB Blue-Black. I've heard that it is the same, but perhaps the formula change a bit. The MB collection started with the 145 about 15 years ago. I liked the pen so much, so I started exploring the MB line with a purchase every few years. But, ever since its arrival, the Nakaya has taken some of the MB's out of rotation.

[Frank C]

Hard to beat a Nakaya with a nice tuned nib and Mont Blanc Midnight Blue Ink. (Trying to stay somewhat "On Topic".) My MB 146 Fine Nib was my exam pen in law school. I filled up lots of blue books with washable blue ink with that pen. I like 149s, but for fast writing, the 146 is the best, in my opinion.

 

To tell the truth, I usually use tap water to flush pens. I have some J.B.'s Perfect Pen Flush that I have used on especially difficult cases, but that is very rare. Nowadays, I have an ultrasonic cleaner that does an incredible job with just tap water. I bought a used Waterman Leman 100 from a reputable dealer and cleaned it in the ultrasonic cleaner after using J. Herbin 1670. The red came out first, then the blue, and finally the black. (Perhaps there was Mont Blanc Blue Black in the middle there.)

 

Be careful, once I invited a member of the Nakaya family into my home, more Nakayas kept showing up on my doorstep. I just welcome them and find room for them to stay. (And fill some of them with Mont Blanc Midnight Blue Ink.)

[georges zaslavsky]

lovely color from mb thanks for the review

[tenurepro]

Merci!

lovely color from mb thanks for the review

[mmkoenecke]

Wonderful review; though it appears much more blue in my pens and shades a lot more too. Overall, I love this ink.

 

I am just learning about the iron gall, though. Good to know!

[amberleadavis]

 

Be careful, once I invited a member of the Nakaya family into my home, more Nakayas kept showing up on my doorstep. I just welcome them and find room for them to stay. (And fill some of them with Mont Blanc Midnight Blue Ink.)

 

Hey, I'm happy to entertain them too...

[amberleadavis]

@tenurepro

 

I too found MBMB (or MB squared) to shade terrifically, I was disappointed about how it faded. This sample was behind glass, but exposed to the Nevada sun for 8 months. As you can see the blue leached out.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/INK/attachments/2012-10-24_done__04_small.jpg

 

[tenurepro]

Thanks amberleadavis - the Neveda sun sure did a number on the inks!... wow.

A few members do mention that they notice a lot of shading with MBmidnight blue. I didn't find this, but i think that my nibs are all very wet writers. They put down a lot of ink which make the writing darker and the shading effect more subtle. I am noticing that the same ink can look a bit different in each of my FP's, which is part of the reason that i post my humble reviews...

Happy new years!

[penmanila]

unlike more adventurous pen folk, i use just three or four ink colors: pelikan brown, diamine oxblood, parker or montblanc black, and parker or pelikan blue-black.

 

blue-black is boring to most people but i like it a lot because it was my late father's favorite ink and so it has a special resonance for me, and i always make sure that at least one of my daily writers is loaded with blue-black.

 

i just realized that i was out of B-B, though, so today i went a pen shop looking for pelikan B-B; unfortunately, they were out of it (too bad--it's good and cheap), so i looked around for alternatives, and found montblanc midnight blue (in the iconic "shoe" bottle). not too badly priced at around $18 a 60-ml bottle, which should last me a couple of years

 

it's an iron-gall ink so it's permanent and it dries pretty quickly. i like it that it's not a loud blue but a very deep one, indeed edging towards black, and it shades nicely. should be great for signatures and such.

 

my CS churchill (which i got yesterday) came with a free bottle of green ink (which, for some strange reason, i can't stand) so i quickly loaded it up with montblanc blue-black, and they make a great pair. (i suspect the churchill will really shine with oxblood, though.) see here:

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8360/8342895804_796a841bf6_z.jpg

Edited January 3, 2013 by penmanila