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Birmingham – Smithfield Street Bridge Truss Blue


crahptacular

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The Birmingham Pen Co.’s line of inks (30 colors when I bought the sample pack, but I think they’re at 40+ and counting) feature various colors based on or inspired by notable locations or people associated with its home city of Pittsburgh, PA. I bought their sampler pack, and plan on slowly going through the whole line of inks, though I expect it will take me quite a while. For those interested, I posted some color swatches in a different topic (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/328952-birmingham-pen-co-ink-swatches/) where you can get a quick idea of what the whole line looks like together.

 

Truss Blue is a blue blue. It’s part of the minority for Birmingham inks in that it’s well-saturated and vibrant, without the typical Birmingham muted grey treatment. Compared to inks like Iroshizuku Kon-Peki or Edelstein Topaz (the former is in the comparisons section), which I would categorize as azure blues, Truss Blue has less green/cyan. On the other hand, compared to darker colors like Minatojima Island Blue or Diamine Majestic Blue (the former is in the comparisons), which lean towards ultramarine, Truss Blue is closer to green/further from purple. I was actually surprised I couldn’t find a closer match among my inks. In writing, Truss Blue appears pretty similar to Souten to me, though I suspect the blue aficionados out there with more discriminating eyes would disagree with me. Rather than the difference in hue, I can mainly differentiate the two based on Truss Blue’s lack of sheen, which in itself is notable, as most saturated blues tend to sheen red. The ink is well-behaved, with above-average flow that makes for a consistent wet line with minimal shading. Personally, I enjoyed this ink a lot, but then again, there are a lot of beautiful blue inks, and my bottle of Souten ought to be similar enough. On the other hand, I'd recommend this to anyone that wants a similar type of saturated medium blue but prefers to have little to no sheen in their writing.

 

 

Flow/Lubrication: Moderate-high (somewhat runny/watery)

Shading: Moderate-Low

Sheen: Low (a bit of red when pooled, but none in writing)

Water Resistance: Moderate (pale blue remains; should be legible)

 

 

The following sample was done with a Pilot Custom 743 (FA) and a FC 31 (Broad) on Tomoe River (68gsm, white, loose-leaf). Doodle was done with a size 0 liner. Flex writing was done with the FA nib.

 

Inaccurate Image(s) Disclaimer: This went pretty smoothly. I couldn’t quite get the green level perfectly right between the doodle and the smear, so the smear is a bit less green than it ought to be, but the top half including the writing is quite accurate. The comparison inks are all usable and relatively accurate as well.

 

Scan:

fpn_1530048510__truss_blue_scan.jpg

 

 

Comparison inks from left to right (big smear is the featured ink):

Franklin Christoph Spanish Blue, Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, Sailor Souten, L’Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Bleu Atlantique, Sailor Kobe #37 Minatojima Island Blue

 

Writing Samples (scans; some color correction; papers of increasing absorbency), from DH Lawrence’s “Two Blue Birds”

 

Maruman Mnemosyne:

fpn_1530048551__truss_blue_mnemosyne.jpg

 

Midori MD:

fpn_1530048566__truss_blue_midori.jpg

 

Franklin-Christoph:

fpn_1530048588__truss_blue_fc.jpg

Edited by crahptacular
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Thanks as always for the review and the amazing artwork.

I have a couple of samples of this and really, really need to get a full bottle, because Truss Blue is drop-dead gorgeous.

And yes, for those not familiar with the formerly "Smoky City" -- that drawing really is of the Smithfield Street Bridge. Its design is somewhat unique, and while I'm not sure it's still the case, once carried both motor vehicle traffic and (down the center) streetcar/trolley tracks. My husband had a t-shirt with the Google Pittsburgh logo (a giveaway at something run by the Pittsburgh High Tech Council when they got Google to sponsor it one time), and the bridge suspension design was incorporated into the name, in the best Google Doodle tradition.... :D

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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Thanks for the review and especially the introduction to the ink. I'm more attracted to it than to the wife thing.

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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I also found it really similar to Souten on paper but with better water resistance :thumbup:

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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This, and the Cathedral of Learning Panther Blue, are my favorite Birmingham inks. Both of them happen to match nicely with the Pelikan M120 Iconic Blue, if you like to do such things. The colors are beautiful, the inks are well-behaved, and the price is most reasonable.

Rationalizing pen and ink purchases since 1967.

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Thanks for the reviews. I wish they would appear one year ago, so that I would end up with a bottle of Truss Blue instead of a bunch of samplers I don't know what to do with.

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Thank you. I especially love the drawings.

This blue is lovely.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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