Diamine Misty Blue

[DanielCoffey]

INK : DIAMINE MISTY BLUE

 

PAPER : RHODIA #16 A5 white lined

 

PEN : Onoto Magna 261 Medium nib tweaked for wet flow by John Sorowka (Oxonian).

 

Scanner : IT8-calibrated Epson V600 flatbed

Colour Space : Adobe RGB

Matte : 50% grey and 100% white

Post-process : Unsharp Mask

 

 

Diamine Misty Blue is an interesting light to mid-blue with hints of turquoise. It is not too bright for "blue only" situations but the touch of turquoise adds a slight touch of rebellion...

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewMistyBlue.jpg

 

 

Here is a close-up of the swab...

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewMistyBlueSwab.jpg

 

 

And a close-up of the shading. Shading with this ink is subdued even on smooth papers and not observed on copy paper. The colour goes down a mid-blue but lightens in a similar manner to Diamine China Blue in that you should allow about ten minutes for the final colour to settle...

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewMistyBlueShade.jpg

 

 

Water-resistance is not something that this ink brings to the table. A splash of water and it is gone except for a few ghostly marks which are not really enough to reconstruct the writing...

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewMistyBlueWater.jpg

 

 

DRYING TIMES : The writing tests above were done in a VERY wet medium nib that had just been cleaned. Drying times on Xerox 90gsm were in the order of 10s. Rhodia and G Lalo Vergé dried around 30s and Clairefontaine Triomphe took a good 45s.

 

SMEARING : None observed.

 

BLEEDTHROUGH : Some bleed through may be expected on copy papers with wet or fat nibs. I would not expect bleeding on dry or fine nibs or when the ink is used on a good quality paper. Given the wet nib I used above, I recorded the following... Xerox 90gsm had moderate bleed through and low feathering. Rhodia had no bleed through and no feathering. Clairefontaine Triomphe had no bleed through or feathering. G Lalo Vergé had no bleed through or feathering.

 

FLOW AND LUBRICATION : Flow for this ink seems to be high. I suspect even a dry fine nib will put down a very good line. Lubrication was excellent and meant that this ink gave a good writing experience with a nice tight line.

 

CLEANING : The ink did not stick to the insides of the converter and was easy to clean. A bulb syringe will be useful here. There was no staining observed.

[The Good Captain]

Maybe an addition to my stock, at a later date, as I like the China Blue which will do for the time being.

[DanielCoffey]

This one lightens up over time too, but not as much as China Blue. I think this is intended to be a more saturated alternative to China Blue.

[The Good Captain]

This one lightens up over time too, but not as much as China Blue. I think this is intended to be a more saturated alternative to China Blue.

In that case, I'll have to give it a go. I'll be in Shrewsbury next week.

[breaker]

nice review and pics!

thanks!

[1962falcon]

Was not sure Misty Blue was going to be my kind of blue but decided, on a last minute whim, to add it to my order. The order duly arrived and Sargasso and Meadow received early attention. Misty Blue then lay about for a week or so until yesterday when the M800/B I was using, inked with Herbin's EdS, ran dry...... During cleaning I remembered about Daniel's recent review of 'Misty Blue' and decided to give it an outing.... expectations were low'ish at this point...But I am glad I gave it that outing; as Daniel reports it lays down a nice line, is well behaved, not too saturated and very easy on the eye of 'this' beholder..... It's a keeper for me and will receive promotion on next order to the 80ml bottle ranks; an accolade I have not, as yet, bestowed on the other two aforementioned! Thanks for the review Daniel.... without it I could have easily overlooked Misty Blue.

[DanielCoffey]

Yay! Glad you liked the colour. With very few exceptions, all the "20 new" Diamines have been well behaved and flowed very nicely.

 

How did you get on with the slight colour change? If you are using it in a Broad it may hold truer to colour when dry.

[The Good Captain]

I think I'll definitely have to give it a go. More liquid refreshment.

[DanielCoffey]

TGC - do you want a sample? I have every one of the "new 20" so if you PM me your name an postal address along with any you want to try... (I also have a fresh bag of sample vials).

[goldiesdad]

Great review ... Thanks for posting

[1962falcon]

Daniel... Your question about the slight colour change with Misty Blue and it possibly holding truer with a broad nib... Just compared yesterday's writing to a fresh sample.... both with the same broad wet writer and the same paper [Rhodia A4 Grid Pad] .... Although I do not have as keen or as experienced an eye for colour as yourself I do find, on very close inspection, a slight [not material in any sense] colour change between a 10min and a 24hr old sample... FWIW....my earlier post was typed while looking at the 24hr old sample of writing.

 

Perhaps another comment about MB in both its fresh and matured form.... for me it is a calming/restful blue in the same personal sense as Umber and Verte Empire are calming/restful greens... and, as with the two greens mentioned, it elegantly spans the social and formal writing spectrum.