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Noodler's General of the Armies


yazeh

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General of the Armies

I wasn’t planning to review General of the Armies. Musicman has done such a complete review there’s nothing more to say really, or I thought so. 

Disclaimer: This is one of my desert Island inks. The only thing I don't like about it is the name, it could have used a more poetic name. 
Bottle

2080829798_GeneraloftheArmies-bottle.thumb.jpeg.9ecbca24f1f299eb5a84f0d5571b354a.jpeg

The ink is green but the blue permanent dye settles at the bottom of the bottle.

428665678_GeneraloftheArmies-1.thumb.jpeg.5db7a20845f2f5a9253c121e40018c02.jpeg

However, what I’ve experienced is that it writes blue and then it turns into a soft muted green on good paper, with time and especially sunshine the green turn blue. On copy paper it writes green and soon turns into a soft “sea glass” colour. On cotton paper the transformation is almost immediate. 

This is one of the Noodler’s best-behaved inks. Despite being wet it dries fast. It writes best in my experience with broad/double broad/ flex combination, but it is equally enjoyable in fine and extra fine. Personally, I prefer it on Japanese papers, Midori, TR or even Mnemosyne. 

It’s also a bit gimmicky it’s a fluorescent ink. Feathering and bleed through are minimal but present on copy paper. 
The ink could be surprising at times and write in an odd overcooked broccoli soup colour, which can be disconcerting but soon it’ll return to what it was. 
It can be a distracting ink, when writing your great “whatever” novel with a double broad nib on Tomoe River paper and you’re struggling with a certain plot twist. I could just write nonsense to see the ink dry…..

• Pens used: Ef Chinese pen, Pilot Metropolitan fine, Noodler’s nib creaper, Kaweco double broad
• Shading: Subtle with double broad nibs.
• Ghosting: Yes, especially with flex /double broad but acceptable…
• Bleed through: On copy paper…. 
• Flow Rate: Nice and wet
• Lubrication: Good 
• Nib Dry-out: Nope.
• Start-up: No problem.
• Saturation: A soft, muted green, then sea glass blue…
• Shading Potential: With broad nib, faint….
• Sheen: No
• Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: On rare occasions
• Nib Creep / “Crud”: On fine/extra fine nibs yes. On Nib creaper a little, on Kaweco none…
• Staining (pen): Nope. Easy to clean…
• Clogging: Nope
• Water resistance: The green component washes away….
• Availability: Only in bottle.

Chromatography:

1008097286_GOA-Chroma1.thumb.jpeg.1035819d51121b8585a05a89092aa7a0.jpeg

Swabs - Note a fresh swab will look different...
1833771594_GeneraloftheArmies-Swab.thumb.jpeg.b8aab68b039cbea2d419b163dc388a4c.jpeg

Amazon copy paper Note how it espouses the original colour...

1961312985_GeneraloftheArmies-Copypaper.thumb.jpeg.7e59bf1a2c4e9e59a0fde59f8ed2f5c7.jpeg

Midori

664244548_GOA-Midori.thumb.jpeg.ef7e19a500f27e80f667297566bc4f27.jpeg

Fluorescence

Fluorscent.thumb.jpeg.1f73d1a7e6a10bcb86720aba3b562c45.jpeg

 

Watertest:

1133632358_GeneraloftheArmies-watertest-1.thumb.jpeg.25f346859dcd13660808625c06d6c1e0.jpeg

Note the fluorescent part washing down

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The next day

1168648221_GeneraloftheArmies-watertest-fnextday-1.thumb.jpeg.d0bffd0170960dc37e34b9fe0d7760c8.jpeg

Sheen on Tomoe River 68gr - It's not a sheening ink

1488393836_GeneraloftheArmies-SheenonTR68.thumb.jpeg.d97af2abb4b44cbe170356413085c7ef.jpeg

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Wow! Thanks for this review. I remember "hearing" about this one something like 5 years ago and it reminded me a bit of Noodler's Bank Note Green. No, that's not the same green but there is a certain amount of that type of "softness" present which has its own character. Sort of a "pastel" but still not quite. But the change from a green to a blue intrigues me. Sounds like a chameleon. Really like it. Have to get it. Thanks again!

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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9 minutes ago, lapis said:

Wow! Thanks for this review. I remember "hearing" about this one something like 5 years ago and it reminded me a bit of Noodler's Bank Note Green. No, that's not the same green but there is a certain amount of that type of "softness" present which has its own character. Really like it. Have to get it.

Most welcome Lapis. 

It truly shines on Japanese papers. 

It's seagrass but it'll turn into blue. 

Very gentle to the eyes :)

 

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3 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Very gentle to the eyes :)

 

Crass! An antipode to N's Baystate Blue.

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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Great review Yazeh. If I were ever to buy a Noodlers ink, this would probably be the one.

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2 hours ago, mizgeorge said:

Great review Yazeh. If I were ever to buy a Noodlers ink, this would probably be the one.

:)

 

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Oh wow! This was one of the very first Noodler's I got, and it let me down so much! Mine is green only if you let the blue bits settle down. Well shaken (and extra foamy at that point) it looks like a greenish denim, with no change on paper except when in contact with water. It also feathers and bleeds atrociously.

 

I'll have to give it a second chance I guess... 👍

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It depends what paper you used. I would say, it doesn't like Rhodia that much and yes it must be shaken not stirred... ;)

 

BTW, What nib did you use? 

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The paper was mostly HP 100gsm which admittedly isn't the best around, but then on Tomoe/Midori everything works 😇

 

Nibs were Lamy steel M and EF, normally not gushers but the ink made them

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17 hours ago, lapis said:

Crass! An antipode to N's Baystate Blue.

:lticaptd:

Yeah, BSB is pretty eye-searing, isn't it?

As for General of the Armies, I wasn't sure I would like the ink.  But this review is making me think I should at least get a sample of it, the next time I order ink (if it's still available).  

Darn this site!  And I was JUST warning a new person what shameless enablers we all are.... :wallbash:

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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15 minutes ago, Eclipse157 said:

The paper was mostly HP 100gsm which admittedly isn't the best around, but then on Tomoe/Midori everything works 😇

Everything works on those two papers...

15 minutes ago, Eclipse157 said:

 

Nibs were Lamy steel M and EF, normally not gushers but the ink made them

Yes it's a very wet ink...

9 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

As for General of the Armies, I wasn't sure I would like the ink.  But this review is making me think I should at least get a sample of it, the next time I order ink (if it's still available).  

It is still available... :)

9 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Darn this site!  And I was JUST warning a new person what shameless enablers we all are.... :wallbash:

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Ruth it is chameleon ink. If you use it on Rhodia you won't like it. You probably won't like it with fine nibs. I use as I said above with wide nibs. And only on Japanese Papers.

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Thanks for a great review. Definitely an interesting ink .. or two .. or three. In every pic, it looks almost like a totally different critter. Looks like a fun ink to play around with.

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1 hour ago, namrehsnoom said:

Thanks for a great review. Definitely an interesting ink .. or two .. or three. In every pic, it looks almost like a totally different critter. Looks like a fun ink to play around with.

It truly is a chameleon..Drawing is also fun.... as the green yellow can be used as ink wash, for an Inkexperiment ;)

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I was inspired by Liz's Quintus weekly serial to do a crude drawing to give you an idea. If the ink dries it won't budge that much, however, if it's still wet one can do a wash. In a couple of months, all this will turn blue.....

 

20210328_105510.thumb.jpg.12e34dec8f85f37443ff1c53817fc306.jpg

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22 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I was inspired by Liz's Quintus weekly serial to do a crude drawing to give you an idea. If the ink dries it won't budge that much, however, if it's still wet one can do a wash. In a couple of months, all this will turn blue.....

 

20210328_105510.thumb.jpg.12e34dec8f85f37443ff1c53817fc306.jpg

:lol: Love it!!  Not sure Makhabesh's ears are quite that pointy, but I love it.

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Glad, you like it. :blush: I guessed Makhabesh is an Egyptian cat, hence my veering towards pointy ears ;)

 

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48 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Glad, you like it. :blush: I guessed Makhabesh is an Egyptian cat, hence my veering towards pointy ears ;)

 

:D Makhabesh when you wake him up too early:

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