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When I first got into fountain pens, I was looking for a "grail ink" or at least to buy only those inks which was really impossible to do without. At the beginning i felt really sad to know that one of the most renown shading ink , Noodler's Apache Sunset, was almost impossible to find in EU dealers, at a reasonable price at least. I bugged badly a friend who went to NY to buy me a bottle for me at the Pen Hospital instead of the usual souvenir. For this reason, today I'm able to tell you my complex feelings on this particular ink. Apache Sunset is a "paper squeamish ink", has a beautiful colour and shows its beautiful shading properties just on the right paper at its own conditions. Do not expect shading on cheap copy paper because it will appear just a chalky orange. Do not expect a positive writing experience with gorgeous shading on too much "waterproof" paper like the tracing paper, because it's watery consistence causes issues in binding the ink to the paper. On the other hand, on schizza & strappa paper, which should be quite similar to the Tomoe River paper, this ink just looks and shades gorgeously, with all the nib grades but especially on broader ones, leaving nice reddish - orange dark shades where the ink forms pools (making it a fantastic ink for flex writing), and a neat legible warm orange-yellow on the less saturated areas. It really has the colours of the sunset, all in one ink. As said before, this ink is extremely watery consistent, tends to feather a lot on cheap paper and is likely to experience bleedthrough. The dry test shows an ink wich dries almost istantly on cheap copy paper (seems like sucked in the paper fibers) but takes ages to dry on other kind of papers (20 sec on schizza & strappa, more than 30 sec on Tracing Paper), making it a not left handed friendly ink. Has no water resistance and tends to vanish if put in contact with water. In the end, is this ink worth buying? I know there are lots of people that just look at this ink as the "choosen one" and I can understand that, because the colour is beautiful and the shading is massive and gorgeous. On the other side it's an ink that gives its best only on limited kind of papers, and especially when using flex writing, and is not work friendly or not even practical for taking notes; making it usable mostly for practicing calligraphy and drawing. In USA this ink is available for about 12$ for a 3oz bottle and that makes a really good value; but for an EU customer prices can get higher for custom duties, shipping and whatsoever, making it quite unattainable. In the end I like it (and I like it a lot) but I have it because someone went to the USA and gifted it to me. If I were to buy it on my own, I would probably be buying a bottle of Diamine Autumn Oak instead, definitely a cheaper choice. COPY PAPER SCHIZZA & STRAPPA PAPER TRACING PAPER CROMATOGRAPHY INKDROP

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Ink Review: Noodler's Ink - Apache Sunset Grade: 60.00% Paper Tested On: Norcom Composition, Staples 20lb, 85g Clairefontaine, 90g Rhodia, Post-it Note. Apache Sunset(APS) is an ink that most people that are into fountain pens have heard of. Even those that won't give Noodler's Ink the time of day acknowledge that APS is one of the best shading inks available. APS isn't prone to feathering or bleeding in a fine nib, but when used in a pen with a wet nib, it will easily. Which is a little easier to run into than you might think. This is an ink that is famous for a its shading, so it makes sense that you would want to use it in a wet pen. I put APS into my Noodler's Ahab that I adjusted to be wet and entire letters would bleed into one another. APS at first seemed dry to write with, but after giving it some thought I believe APS only seemed that way because I normally use highly saturated inks. Compared to Noodler's Bad Blue Heron or Black, this ink may seem very thin. It makes sense. A highly saturated ink with a lot of pigment, like Bad Blue Heron or Black, will not provide much shading. APS isn't a permanent ink and is easily cleaned with water. APS has an average dry time. Not too long; not too short. Right about in the middle based on its other properties. APS is not what I would call a work friendly ink. It's not a traditional blue or black ink so you can't really use it on official forms. APS can also be hard to read from a distance. I find that I have to read the page closer than normal when I'm trying to read notes written in APS. But I don't see that as APS's primary role. APS is ideal for artistic purposes and for experimenting with flex writing. And in that role, it excels. In the end, APS is not really well suited to being "well rounded ", but it is still a lot of fun.

I guess we've all done it (I hope!). Not quite flushed through a darker ink before filling up with a lighter one. My dear little brass Wearever was in need of an outing so I cleaned him out - he's a squeeze bar filler, so no fiddling - and decided to give him a run with my newly acquired Apache Sunset. He's quite broad and firm but smooth and wet so I was curious to see what he'd make of it. Needless to say, he hadn't finished with the Diamine Salamander he was carrying before and the resulting mixture makes my eyes squirm. You'd think I'd get a pretty sludgy brown from the mix but not at all. It's a strange greeny orange with bright yellow highlights! Has anyone else come across a similar Frankencolour, unintentionally created?

Hi, just a quick hopeful. I'm very fond of inks that shade and I've heard great things about Noodler's Apache Sunset and set out to try it for myself. I'm in the UK and understand that Noodler's don't export any longer but I'm struggling to find an online store that has stock of it. It's resolutely 'out' where ever I turn. Any help would be really appreciated.

Hi, I'm new here, but I've kicked around online and can't find the answer to my question. I've heard quite a lot about Noodler's Apache Sunset, and I love that the color actually "changes" - yellow, gold, red, orange. (Is there a word for this??? It is different than just 'Shading'... but I'm not sure if there is another term to use.) I'd like to know if you guys can recommend some other inks that show this phenomenon. I am especially interested in greens, and also blue/purple range. I've heard there might be a blue/purple with maroon shading in it for instance. The only green I know of is Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrun. Possibly also Edelstein Aventurine. (Not sure on that one. I saw one pic that made me think yes.) Any suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated! (I'm using dip and fountain pens.)

Just showing off my new VAC700 1.1mm with Apache Sunset. http://imgur.com/FuxG5SR I can't believe how nice this pen is for the cost

This is one of those inks that is legendary in the FP world. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of someone who absolutely hates it, and I don’t know that I’ve heard that much about people who are relatively indifferent to it. I wish I could be one of those people, but sorrynotsorry, this is going to be another gushing review for this ink. Like I said above, at first I didn’t see what all the hoopla was about. Then I switched to the notebook I have started using for my ink reviews and the beautiful shading really started to show itself. In case you are super new to fountain pens or have been living under a rock for, like, ever, Apache Sunset is known for being an ink that has some serious shading. And I love shading, so this was a wonderful treat to write with. As I expected, this ink does not have a ton in the way of water resistance. Which usually irks me, but then again this ink is not something that I would be using for writing important messages. While it is definitely dark enough to stay readable, I would never use this as my all-purpose daily user. However it would be fun to have loaded up for marking up a document or just writing for the sake of writing. This ink worked well on all the papers I tested it on, but I found that it performed the best on the notebook paper making up the bulk of the review. Nice bright white to bring out the color, smooth for a good writing experience, and no troubles with bleeding or feathering. Overall, I would definitely recommend this ink. I will be getting a full bottle once my finances recover a bit from some recent ink buying binges. The nice thing is that, as a Noodler’s ink, you can get a lot of it for not too much money - roughly $13/100 mL here in the States. How can you say no to that? This ink was provided for review by a generous reader. I am not being compensated for this review in any way. All opinions expressed above are my own and you are free to disagree with them if you like. The full page scan of the review, in case anyone was curious:

Here's a nice, heavily shading ink from Private Reserve that I enjoyed reviewing. However, I still think Apache Sunset—more saturated, even heavier shading—is the better orangey/yellowy ink. Apache Sunset is the benchmark by which all other shade-heavy orange/yellow inks are judged. Still though, Shoreline Gold is a great ink most definitely worth a try. http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/547/rd75.jpg Please remember to vote on this ink in the poll!

Will Noodler's Apache Sunset permanently stain my Waterman Kultur if I use it as an eyedropper? The Kultur is a clear version.

Now this is my orange ink. Great great shading. Shades from orangish yellow to orangish red. The scan doesn't do it justice. Not water resistant. But then I'm sure you know that. You don't buy this ink for signing checks.

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I have a very dear friend whom I only get to see about once a year, because we live a continent apart. We swap gifts when we see each other - he's an ex-pat Brit who misses certain snack foods from the Motherland, and I'm a pen geek. We're meeting up in a week or so when I'm over for work, and he just sent me a photo of something he's bought for me in response to my wittering about my favourite flexy old Waterman via email. Note excellent choice for flexy shading. I will be filling my entire duty-free allowance with Scotch whisky to say thankyou.