Blue Upon The Plains Of Abraham Vs Kung Te-Cheng

[yazeh]

Apologies in my excitement to post the review. I forgot to correct the title and double posted

Edited July 1, 2020 by yazeh

[yazeh]

Intro:

Writing with these two inks alternatively the past few weeks has been both pleasure and a pain. At one point I forgot which pen was which and even comparing the two pens I couldn’t discern which ink was which.

Normally ButPoA is lighter, dries much faster and has no scent. But depending the paper, amount of ink in the feed, ButPoA can write as dark as KTC and KTC can dry almost as fast as the ButPoA.

The pens used for this review are Jinhao 450s, with medium and fude nibs.

I could have continued this comparisonad nauseam but I think today is a fitting day to post this comparison as it's Canada Day, and Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham is destined for the Canadian market

 

Quick comparison

KTC: Sensuous writing, deep purple navy, can coagulate in convertor, more difficult to clean, can stink, viscous

ButPoA: Fast drying, very wet, lighter colour, can feather.

 

Long read:

 

Kung Te-Cheng

 

According to Jetpens, the ink was reverse engineered from remnants of ancient inkstones used by early Chinese royalty during the time of Confucius. In gratitude for the assistance Noodler's received in recreating this special ink, Nathan named it in honor of the 77th lineal descendant of Confucius, Mr. Kung Te-Cheng.

 

The first time I wrote with it, the feeling was unlike any ink. It was a sensuous. I knew I had to have a bottle. The more I write it, the more I reach for it. It’s the most pleasurable writing experience I’ve ever had. It’s one of my favorite inks.

It is one of the most well-behaved bullet-proof inks I know of, it doesn’t feather or bleed through like the Polar series. It has a depth to it, which is mesmerizing, calming and grounding.

It’s not without its quirks, it has a certain chemical aroma to it when I used it in a wet student Sheaffer calligraphy with an M oblique nib.

The ink is viscous, almost sticky; hence it is known to coagulate in some reservoirs. So, I won’t recommend it in pens that can’t be dismantled ……and it stains convertors.

 

Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham

 

I had to get a sample of think ink, living in Quebec, Canada. I’m sure Nathan Tardiff, (His name is a common French-Canadian name) enjoyed crafting this ink, in the honor of the battle which sealed the fate of the French colonies in North America. Had the battle had been won by French, I would’ve been writing, this review en Français entre autres!

Each year on June 24^th pros and cons of the Canadian confederation needle each other, as Quebeckers celebrate Quebec day, a provincial holiday. A week later, when we celebrate Canada Day, the reverse happens J And then everyone returns to normal life, more or less.

 

Anyway, trivia apart, the first time, I wrote with this ink, I thought it was KTC. But then subtle differences appeared, while the ink is very wet, it dries almost immediately, KTC depending paper/ nib combo can take up to 45 seconds.

 

When visually seeing a page, written in both inks (not scanned) ButPoA looks lighter, but on occasion it can appear as dark. It’s a good option for those (Canadians) who want a fast-drying bullet proof ink and not the quirkiness of KTC.

 

Detailed comparison

Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham vs Kung Te-Cheng

Dry time: 4 sec on Rhodia Longer on Rhodia

Ghosting (Rhodia) Faint Faint

Ghosting (Copy paper) Writing with a light touch acceptable for both.

Bleed through Wet/wide nib combo yes Wet/ wide nib combo yes

Shading Discernible in scans, obvious on TR Faintly on TR

Feathering Sometimes, especially with a primed nib Not in my experience.

Saturation Deep Profound

Wetness Very Wet Delightful

Feeling Nice/ enjoyable Sensuous

Waterproofness Bulletproof Bombproof

 

Scans follow…..

Note 1: It pains me to say, I've written plain instead of plains!

Note 2: The purple ink, is Scabiosa with a fine and a vintage flex nib...

Note 3: I haven't done a waterproof test on ButPoA yet.

 

Swatchs

 

Chromatography

My first attempt....

 

On Mnemosyne

 

On Tomoe River - Medium nib

 

Fude nib

 

On Rhodia

 

Fude nib

 

Midori

 

Amazon copy paper - (I didn't do the fude nib, as it seems counterproductive to write with a wide nib on absorbent paper!)

 

Experiment writing - The darker ink is KTC. But if you write in less than optimal lighting, frankly you wouldn't know!

On Tomoe River

On Rhodia

On Tomoe River 68 gr

 

Enjoy!

 

Please feel free to add your own samples/ experience.... The more the merrier.

Edited July 1, 2020 by yazeh

[A Smug Dill]

Thanks for the review and comparison! I have a bottle of Noodler’s KTC in transit to me from the US as we speak, so it’s good to be able to have a preview.

[yazeh]

Thanks for the review and comparison! I have a bottle of Noodler’s KTC in transit to me from the US as we speak, so it’s good to be able to have a preview.

 

Most welcome. KTC is a special and saturated ink. For me it was love at first "write" with a fude nib. Though if I'd used an Ahab it would have been a complete different experience...

[LizEF]

Thanks for the review, Yazeh! The inks are practically twins. Purple and blurple just aren't my thing. (Except purple Skittles, I like those. )

[torstar]

Great review!

 

I am reminded that later releases of PoA were more pen-friendly than the initial releases I worked with...

[yazeh]

Thanks for the review, Yazeh! The inks are practically twins. Purple and blurple just aren't my thing. (Except purple Skittles, I like those. )

In honour of your excellent reviews, I did borrow your format and did an EF review for Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham, this morning. It was so much fun, and so much easier.....

I hope it's ok with you....

 

Close up

 

[yazeh]

Great review!

 

I am reminded that later releases of PoA were more pen-friendly than the initial releases I worked with...

Thanks.

Yes I heard that so too. I guess, I'm lucky

[LizEF]

In honour of your excellent reviews, I did borrow your format and did an EF review for Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham, this morning. It was so much fun, and so much easier.....

I hope it's ok with you....

Abraham EF 1.jpeg

 

Close up

 

Abraham EF.jpeg

 

More than OK - fabulous! Your EF seems to have some line variation, or your swooping characters make it seem so - love your writing! The shading on that Scabiosa sample is impressive.

 

[yazeh]

 

More than OK - fabulous! Your EF seems to have some line variation, or your swooping characters make it seem so - love your writing! The shading on that Scabiosa sample is impressive.

 

Thanks. When I finish the ink, I would give it a try with KTC....

 

About the line variations I can't say. This is my one and only EF. The ink is very wet so it's perfect for Ef nibs.

You would absolutely love Scabiosa, especially if your Ef is on the wet side. I had to tweak my Fine nib to increase the flow and Scabiosa is dry.

Ironically Scabiosa in a fine nib writes better for me on cheap copy paper than on Rhodia and the rest of the gang

[LizEF]

Ironically Scabiosa in a fine nib writes better for me on cheap copy paper than on Rhodia and the rest of the gang

Inks are weird, that's all there is to it! You can just never tell, until you try it, what they like best.

[yazeh]

Inks are weird, that's all there is to it! You can just never tell, until you try it, what they like best.

Indeed and often they choose you....

[inkstainedruth]

Interesting. I have both those inks and my bottle of KTC is MUCH darker and more of an indigo with purple undertones, while BUPA is a grayish blue (and a lot drier than KTC is, IMO, although KTC is not well behaved in other respects). Although both are waterproof, according to my ink journals.

Now I'm going to have to see for myself, and that may take a bit because I'll want to try them in the same pen (and KTC is really fussy about what pens it does well in -- I had hopes for the Noodler's Boston Safety, but no....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

Interesting. I have both those inks and my bottle of KTC is MUCH darker and more of an indigo with purple undertones, while BUPA is a grayish blue (and a lot drier than KTC is, IMO, although KTC is not well behaved in other respects). Although both are waterproof, according to my ink journals.

Now I'm going to have to see for myself, and that may take a bit because I'll want to try them in the same pen (and KTC is really fussy about what pens it does well in -- I had hopes for the Noodler's Boston Safety, but no....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Hi Ruth, Whenever, you get around to it.please post your results. I'm intrigued

I got two sample of BUPA in two different orders to make sure, it was the right ink. Both were the same.

It's very wet, in the same league as 54th Massachusetts almost....It dries almost instantly.....

KTC can be temperamental..., it could dry fast or slow depending its mood. A wide Medium italic nib might dry faster than a fude...

It has a sticky viscosity and it's not like normal ink...as you well know, I believe you had a bottle broken somewhere

[inkstainedruth]

Oh yeah, "broken somewhere" was an understatement.... There is still spatters of KTC on the bathroom vanity, and the tile grout, and a splotch three feet away on the tub.... .

And that was what, roughly eight years ago at this point (the original test/review of the ink is fairly early on in the FIRST ink review notebook-- I'm now about a quarter of the way through the FOURTH one). And I'm still living that incident down and the splotches are still in my bathroom....

I think the only to get them out is to remodel....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

Oh yeah, "broken somewhere" was an understatement.... There is still spatters of KTC on the bathroom vanity, and the tile grout, and a splotch three feet away on the tub.... .

And that was what, roughly eight years ago at this point (the original test/review of the ink is fairly early on in the FIRST ink review notebook-- I'm now about a quarter of the way through the FOURTH one). And I'm still living that incident down and the splotches are still in my bathroom....

I think the only to get them out is to remodel....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Wow. That must have been something and cleaning up all that ink and the broken glass.....

Four bottles of ink means a lot of writing. I still have to finish my samples, sigh, bottle forget it

[inkstainedruth]

Wow. That must have been something and cleaning up all that ink and the broken glass.....

 

Oh it was even worse than you imagine -- it was a brand new 4 oz. bottle and I knocked it over after the first fill.... The bottom sheared off the bottle when it hit the floor tiles. And even then, glass shards went EVERYWHERE.... And at the time, the only retailer who carried it was Goulet Pens -- and they were out of stock for six weeks....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

 

Oh it was even worse than you imagine -- it was a brand new 4 oz. bottle and I knocked it over after the first fill.... The bottom sheared off the bottle when it hit the floor tiles. And even then, glass shards went EVERYWHERE.... And at the time, the only retailer who carried it was Goulet Pens -- and they were out of stock for six weeks....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Oh my, just reading this makes me feel bad....

At least you have an unforgettable story to tell, with (hopefully) nice blue blotches to remind you....

Never with any bottle in the bathroom

[yazeh]

I just did a sample of KTC with my one and only Ef nib. The writing sensation is adequate and not the same silky smooth with wetter nibs....

Here is the whole page with Blue Upon the Plains of Abrahams on the top part.....I added a sample writing with the Sheaffer M calligraphy nib.....

 

 

and here is a close up: