Jump to content

Mont Blanc Writer's Edition 2019 - Jungle Green


namrehsnoom

Recommended Posts

Mont Blanc - Jungle Green (Writer's Edition 2019 - Homage to R. Kipling)


The 2019 Mont Blanc Writer's Edition pen pays homage to Rudyard Kipling, the English author who's probably most remembered for his tales centering on Mowgli and the wolf pack. But Kipling was also a poet, best known for the 1910 poem "If—". When a Writer's Edition pen appears, you can be sure that there is an LE ink in its wake. Accompanying this Writer's Edition pen comes the aptly named corresponding LE ink "Jungle Green."


fpn_1569093927__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree


The ink's packaging looks lovely, with a design inspired by the famous poem "If—" and images of the wolf pack. The colour of the ink is inspired by the cover of the Jungle book's first U.S. Edition. In the box you'll find a very nice 50ml bottle of Jungle Green.



fpn_1569093941__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree


Jungle Green is a blue-leaning green ink that manages to perfectly ride the dangerous edge between blue and green. Not yet a teal, definitely a green ink, but the blue undertones are there simmering just beneath the surface. And this is also toned down green with some grey in it, which gives the ink a faded look and a definite vintage character. This ink immediately charmed me, and made a great first impression... I really like the way it looks.


The ink is well-saturated, and looks great in all nib sizes. With really fine nibs, I noticed a bit of a subpar lubrication, resulting in more feedback from pen on paper. With broader nibs or wetter pens, the ink behaved perfectly. Jungle Green's faded grey-green look also fits well in the workplace, and can perfectly replace blue & black inks in a more business-type setting. A great everyday writing ink. Shading is very prominent, due to the ink's wide colour range. A bit strong for my taste, but still tolerable.



fpn_1569093970__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree


Jungle Green has quite a broad dynamic colour span. To illustrate this, I did a swab on Tomoe River paper where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. This beautifully illustrates the ink's really wide colour range. The ink moves from a wispy light blue-green to a very dark green-black. The broad saturation spectrum explains the heavy shading demonstrated by this ink.



fpn_1569093983__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree


On the smudge test - rubbing text with a moist Q-tip cotton swab - the ink behaved quite well. There is some smudging, but the text itself remains perfectly readable. Water resistance is remarkably good. The green colour disappears completely, but you are left with a grey ghost image that is still readable without too much effort. This is also apparent from the lower part of the chromatography, which shows that the grey components of the ink remain on the paper.



fpn_1569093995__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree


Drying times are close to the 5-second mark, making Jungle Green a relatively fast-drying ink. The fast drying time, combined with the relatively good water resistance make this Mont Blanc ink really well-suited for the workplace. And by deviating from the standard blue & black, your writing will be guaranteed to draw some attention.


I've tested the ink on a wide variety of paper - from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On each scrap of paper I show you:


  • An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip
  • 1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturation
  • An ink scribble made with a Lamy Safari M-nib fountain pen
  • The name of the paper used, written with a Lamy Safari B-nib
  • A small text sample, written with an M-nib
  • Drying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib)

Jungle Green looks really nice on all my test papers. This is an ink that looks good on any type of paper, both the white and more yellow ones. The ink behaved perfectly. Only with the fountain-pen unfriendly Moleskine did I notice a tiny amount of feathering, and quite some see-through and bleed-through.



fpn_1569094021__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree

fpn_1569094039__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree

fpn_1569094053__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree

fpn_1569094071__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree


Writing with different nib sizes

The picture below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing. All samples were written with a Lamy Safari, which is typically a dry pen. I also added a visiting pen - a wet Pelikan M405 Stresemann with an F cursive-italic nib (from fpnibs.com). Here the ink leaves a much more saturated dark-green line with less pronounced shading. I quite like the faded green character of Jungle Green, and the way the blue undertones remain just below the surface. Mont Blanc created a great writing ink with this release!


The ink works well with all nib sizes, and shows off a subdued & serious colour. Combine this with good water resistance and relatively fast drying times, and you have an ink that is quite suited for office-related note taking.



fpn_1569094083__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree


Related inks

To compare Jungle Green with related inks, I use a nine-grid format with the currently reviewed ink at the center. This format shows the name of related inks, a saturation sample, a 1-2-3 swab and a water resistance test - all in a very compact format. The grid format makes it easy for you to compare the Mont Blanc ink with similarly coloured inks.



fpn_1569094095__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree


Inkxperiment – Eye of the Tiger

As a personal experiment, I try to produce interesting drawings using only the ink I'm reviewing, keeping things simple and more-or-less abstract. Crafting these single-ink mini-pieces allows me to stretch my drawing skills, while showing what the ink is capable of in a more artistic context. Inspiration for this drawing comes from Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. The villain of the story is Shere Khan, who's usually found sneaking through the jungle with its mind set on catching the young wolf-boy Mowgli. I started with an empty sheet of 300 gsm watercolour paper on which I painted a background with heavily water-diluted Jungle Green. I then added the flowers and Shere Khan's eyes, and painted in the jungle with different mixtures of ink&water, applied with a Q-tip cotton swab. Finally I added the palm trees on the horizon line, and added some texture to the jungle with a B-nibbed Lamy Safari and pure Jungle Green. The resulting drawing shows quite well what can be achieved with Jungle Green as a drawing ink.


fpn_1569094110__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree


Conclusion

Mont Blanc's Homage to Rudyard Kipling is a very nice-looking faded green with blue undertones that has a vintage feel reflecting the time period (early 1900's). Jungle Green works well with all types of nibs and all types of paper. This is an ink fitting my tastes: faded looking, vintage vibes, and very nice for both writing and drawing. And as a welcome bonus: fast-drying and fairly water-resistant. In my opinion, one of the better Mont Blanc inks. Just be aware that this is a Limited Edition ink, so if you like it, grab it while it's still out there.


Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib


fpn_1569094131__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree


Backside of writing samples on different paper types


fpn_1569094147__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree

fpn_1569094160__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree

fpn_1569094177__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree

fpn_1569094193__mont_blanc_-_jungle_gree


Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 8
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • lgsoltek

    2

  • namrehsnoom

    2

  • lapis

    1

  • Orval

    1

Great review of yours as always. What strikes me most is that it is in fact -- as you point out -- a real unicum of a green with some blue in it. Not a teal, by no means a turquoise but more of a fern or a jade. Maybe a hunch of army-green. Quite in general, it looks a lot better than most of the newest MB editions these days. And 35 Euros for the 50-ml cube... well, that's not as outrageous as a few other current MB ink prices....

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is an awesome review, many thanks. I use the Jungle green ink in a Pelikan M400, initially with an M nib, now an F - I thought it would improve my appreciation of this ink! I am a bit bothered by the strong shading and I am glad to see it confirmed in your samples. I might prefer Herbin Vert Empire which I use in another FP, less washed-out, - or it might be the pen (a Duofold)! Having said that, it is a lovely bottle of ink on my desk, so I'll carry on using it! I might now try some of the inks you sampled above in comparison, thanks also for that !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

~ namrehsnoom:

 

Your review of Montblanc Kipling Jungle is outstanding.

Thank you for expressing the positive qualities of this ink.

I've written with Kipling Jungle in two pens.

In both cases the results exceeded my expectations.

Your sketches, handwriting sample and images are an inspiration.

Tom K.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I should hate this ink but now I'm KIND OF attracted to it?...

 

What's happening !?? You liked Gris de houle, now this muted ink... You should detox with a vibrant colour soon, or the dark side will get you ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

What a wonderful green! Thank you for the super helpful review - it really shows off the charm and subtlety of this lovely green ink.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33501
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...