Noodler's General Of The Armies

[musicman123]

This post is also live on my blog at Inks and Pens so please check it out there!!!

 

Noodler's is a huge one-man ink operation, run by Nathan Tardif, with an enormous line of colors. One of their more unique colors is the General of the Armies ink. Noodler's designed the General of the Armies as a tribute to General Sheridan of the Civil War.

 

General Sheridan was a Union general in the Western theatre of the U.S. Civil War and was closely associated with Ulysses S. Grant, the General-in-chief at the time. General Sheridan gave the approval for the Armies of the West to officially change their uniforms from green to blue in the middle of the war. This fact is what inspired Noodler's to create this color-changingink.

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The ink comes in a typical Noodler's bottle and arrives in a cardboard box. The box is printed with the typical "catfish" symbol of Noodler's.

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The label for this ink wraps around three sides of the bottle and features artwork/pictures of various Civil War events. The ink looks a very alien-like green in the bottle.

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The left side of the label features a large picture of General Eisenhower, who shared the same home-town as General Sheridan. Another thing to note about this ink is that after some time to settle, a good amount of thick blue dye is present on the bottom of the bottle. A vigorous amount of shaking certainly distributes this dye around. I would recommend shaking the bottle every time you fill.

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Here is a swab of the ink. You can see it is a muted green or a blue, depending on time and how wet the swab is. In general, the more wet a pen or swab is, the longer it will take to change from green to blue. The color change effect is much faster on a drier pen or a pen with a finer nib.

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Here's the preview of the ink. This picture was taken about 10 minute after writing and the ink has mostly turned blue.

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The review was done on HP 32lb Premium Choice Laser and a Pilot Parallel 1.5mm nib. I find that the thickness of the Pilot Parallel shows the color better than a simple medium or fine nib. The ink is very wet coming from the pen and it's normally quite controlled.

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This ink is generally well behaved, but it does exhibit some feathering where the flow lost its control. Other than those few times, there was no feathering on this paper and a little on cheaper paper. There was only one spot of bleed through and that was at the same spot as the feathering. With a cheaper paper, bleed through is much more rampant. There is definitely a subtle and noticeable color change from a green to blue as time passes, but it does take some time. This picture was taken around 15 minutes after so you can see how far the color actually changed.

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Personally, I find this to be a very interesting ink, even though I'm not too big a fan of the resulting color. The color seems a bit dull, but the color change sure makes up for it. Sadly, I have not seen any shading with this ink or any sheen. The ink dries extremely quickly at around 5 seconds, so I find it great for left-handed writers.

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This ink is semi-bulletproof. The green portion of the ink washes cleanly off the page with water, leaving behind a dark gray-blue line. I found the line to be quite permanent and the semi-permanent feature can be used for tamper evidence. I would definitely be willing to sign documents or address envelopes with this ink.

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This ink can be found in 3oz. bottles from any pen retailers that carry Noodler's ink. A 3oz. bottle has an MSRP of $12.95.

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What do you guys think about this ink? Do you like the color? How do you feel about the color changing effect? Is it too "gimmicky?"

[Bhavna]

H Musicman123, THANK you for this comprehensive review of a lovely colour. I love Noodler's inks and here in the UK the full range is pretty difficult to get. I have luckily found a seller on ebay who has furnished me with Navajo Turquoise which I just can't get enough of. I have been wondering about trying this one and your review have really helped me get nearer the 'yep, let's go for it!' mark! I have a list of about 5 Noodlers that I am waiting to order over, so this one will have to wait a while!.

 

Than you for this and your other reviews, I really enjoy and appreciate the time and effort. Edit: PS I love your handwriting!

 

Bhavna

Edited September 7, 2015 by Bhavna

[musicman123]

H Musicman123, THANK you for this comprehensive review of a lovely colour. I love Noodler's inks and here in the UK the full range is pretty difficult to get. I have luckily found a seller on ebay who has furnished me with Navajo Turquoise which I just can't get enough of. I have been wondering about trying this one and your review have really helped me get nearer the 'yep, let's go for it!' mark! I have a list of about 5 Noodlers that I am waiting to order over, so this one will have to wait a while!.

 

Than you for this and your other reviews, I really enjoy and appreciate the time and effort. Edit: PS I love your handwriting!

 

Bhavna

Glad I could help!!!

[Octo]

I like this ink and keep it loaded in a Pilot V-pen F.

[Gloucesterman]

Great review. Very discerning when it comes to the initial out of the bottle coloring and then the eventual "this is the way it will look" perspective.

 

I don't think it is an ink that I would be interested in though. I do wonder about the "color" settling in a converter or sac the same way it settled in the bottle. Would one then need to shake up the pen a little to remix the ink?

[musicman123]

Great review. Very discerning when it comes to the initial out of the bottle coloring and then the eventual "this is the way it will look" perspective.

 

I don't think it is an ink that I would be interested in though. I do wonder about the "color" settling in a converter or sac the same way it settled in the bottle. Would one then need to shake up the pen a little to remix the ink?

I did have the color settle in the converter before, after about 2 days of not playing with the pen. I just had to tilt the pen back and forth a bit because my particular converter had an agitator ball. The motions were similar to when using any J. Herbin 1670's inks.

[neotobeo]

I have had the same experience with needing to agitate the ink inside my ASA Maven where one can see the denser blue component settle to the bottom. I do enjoy the color (change).

[musicman123]

I have had the same experience with needing to agitate the ink inside my ASA Maven where one can see the denser blue component settle to the bottom. I do enjoy the color (change).

Glad to know I'm not the only one! I was slightly worried about a dud bottle.

[Tas]

I'm a massive Noodler's fan but oooo, yuk. This is a nasty looking colour.

[musicman123]

I'm a massive Noodler's fan but oooo, yuk. This is a nasty looking colour.

HAHA the color is definitely not for everyone!

[ThirdeYe]

I found the same settling issue with my Noodler's Legal Lapis and Noodler's Benevolent Badger. In fact, I believe they're the same ink, with varying amounts of dilution. Just my opinion, at least. I found that with my two inks, no matter how much I shake it, the blue never goes back into suspension. As such, the inks have become quite light and faint.

[Zhenni]

Another Noodler's ink to add to my potential wish list! I have the habit of knocking over my tea cups with some frequency so water resistance is a good thing.

[Martini1R]

I want to comment about the color. It's actually not bad at all. If you just look at the ink when it is still inside the bottle - sure, it looks like some toxic waste or radioactive material (thanks to Hollywood). Once the ink is laid down on the paper it quickly dries and settle down to this kind of green:

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This was done more than a couple of weeks ago and the picture is taken just now. It is not exposed to sunlight since it is on a page of a notebook. I would still call this color green and not blue, although it is touching the green-blue zone. It is a nice color that is easy on the eye even when filling the entire page.

 

The pen was the Noodler's Ahab.