P4001 Bb Vs Iroshizuku Shin-Kai: Almost The Same? And Also: Why Do These Blue-Blacks Turn To Grey When Dry?

[TheDutchGuy]

To my eye, Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black and Iroshizuku shin-kai are similar to the point of being indistinghuishable, both in the bottle and on paper...

 

 

^ - In reality, the text looks more grey-ish and the only clearly visible blue is in the smear. The photo somehow makes the text look more bluish. Paper: Clairefontaine. Pens: Visconti Homo Sapiens Lava Steel F (Iroshizuku) / Pilot Justus 95 M (P4001BB).

 

The two main differences between these two inks seem to be wetness (P4001 is one of the driest inks I know whereas shin-kai is wet) and price (shin-kai costing roughly 4 times as much).

 

Another thing that these inks have in common, is that theyre clearly blue in the bottle yet grey on the page (after drying). The colour change is quite profound. As much as I like these inks, I wish they wouldnt do that, at least not to this degree. I love what I see in the bottle and I wish Id see more of that on the page... I wonder why these inks change colour so much when drying. Any thoughts?

[ENewton]

I don't use blue ink but have observed that some purple inks turn redder as they dry. The blue recedes, not just over days in the sun, but in seconds or minutes.

[The Good Captain]

I've no experience of the Pilot one but 4001 is my favourite ink of all time. Even am unopened bottle will go a little grey over time and even fresh, the blue soon startes to turn, on paper. Of course, it does (to quote Pelikan) have 'some iron gall' in it these days, which accounts for the colour change towards black, depending on all the usual factors.

[TheDutchGuy]

Of course, it does (to quote Pelikan) have 'some iron gall' in it these days, which accounts for the colour change towards black, depending on all the usual factors.

A-ha! I wasn’t aware that 4001 BB contained iron gall! Good to know, thanks!

[Intensity]

Iroshizuku has no iron gall, so I wouldn't expect it to change/go grayish. Pelikan 4001 might if it contains some IG component, like the older IG-containing BBs.

[Noihvo]

 

[aurore]

My texts written with 4001 BB have become greyish a bit. But I do not care much. What bothers me about 4001 BB is the IG, personally I always and often clean my pens but as a collector I have bought quite a few pen with 4001 BB left dried for years - always an enormous pain to clean, even with vinegar and ultrasonic (especially the feed).

[TheDutchGuy]

When I write with 4001 BB, I see the colour change before my eyes. It comes out of the pen nice and blue, then the blue gradually disappears and within 30 seconds it ends up like this (image from vanness1938.com):

 

 

It’s not a problem for me, I actually like this ink quite a lot. I’m just curious about it. I’ve never noticed any side effects of using 4001BB, it’s never caused problems for me.

[The Good Captain]

When I write with 4001 BB, I see the colour change before my eyes. It comes out of the pen nice and blue, then the blue gradually disappears and within 30 seconds it ends up like this (image from vanness1938.com):

 

 

It’s not a problem for me, I actually like this ink quite a lot. I’m just curious about it. I’ve never noticed any side effects of using 4001BB, it’s never caused problems for me.

I've been using 4001 for some years now and never had any issues at all, even from a one-time drying-out! And as Pelikan saay, there's only 'some' iron-gall in there...

[gmax]

Thank you for this helpful comparison. You have prompted me to fish out my bottle of 4001 BB