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J. Herbin - Cacao du Brésil This is my first review after the "Fall" - the November 2020 outage of FPN. I wanted to take this opportunity to express a heartfelt thank you for the huge amount of effort by Wim and the FPN Admin team to bring our favourite forum back online. You guys rock! La Société Herbin, Maître Cirier à Paris, was established in 1670. This makes J. Herbin probably the oldest name among European ink makers. Today, Herbin produces a range of beautiful fountain pen and calligraphy inks, writing instruments, gift sets and accessories. Herbin inks are made in France, and the finishing touches on the bottles are still done by hand in Paris. J. Herbin is probably best known for their inks in the “La Perle des Encres” series. In this review, the spotlight shines on Cacao du Brésil, which is one of the stars in this line-up. This ink immediately managed to seduce me — it’s simply a superb writing ink, a gorgeous cool grey-brown colour with excellent saturation even in the finer nibs. Also tons of elegant shading, that starts to appear with F nibs, and really delivers with broads. Definitely my type of ink, and — in my opinion — one of Herbin’s best! J. Herbin inks come packaged in simple 30 ml bottles. These bottles are merely adequate, and not really well-suited for piston-fillers — they are not very deep, and piston-filling from a half-empty bottle can be a challenge. My trick is to fill an ink-sample vial with ink, and piston-fill my pen that way. Cacao du Brésil makes a great match for my Edison Collier Red Dragon, which is the beauty in the pic below. Cacao du Brésil writes a saturated line with quite satisfactory lubrication, even in drier pens like my Lamy Safari. With wetter pens the ink leaves a deeply saturated grey-brown line, and loses a bit of its prominent shading. To illustrate the colour span of Cacao du Brésil, I did a swab on Tomoe River paper where I totally saturated portions of the paper with ink. This J. Herbin ink shows a medium colour range, without too harsh a contrast between light and darker parts. This translates to elegant shading when writing. On the smudge test — rubbing text with a moist Q-tip cotton swab — the ink behaved perfectly, with only minimal smearing. Water resistance is quite good — the ink survives even longer exposures to water, leaving a light grey residue on the paper which remains very readable. This is also apparent from the lower part of the chromatography. This makes Cacao du Brésil an ink that is perfectly usable at the office. Drying times for this ink are in the 5-15 second range, depending on the type of paper (with the Lamy Safari M-nib). With the more absorbent copy paper that you’ll find at the office, it’s close to 5 seconds. With less absorbent paper, drying times are more in the 10-15 second range. 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 the Lamy Safari M-nib Source of the quote, written with a Platinum 3776 Century B-nib Drying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib Safari) Cacao du Brésil looks great on both white and more yellowish paper. I didn’t detect any noticeable feathering, just a hint on the notoriously bad Moleskine paper. With Moleskine and GvFC paper, there is some show-through and a tiny bit of bleed-through — but nothing too bad. Overall, Cacao du Brésil behaves exceptionally well. 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-writing Platinum 3776 Century with a broad nib. Here the ink leaves a very saturated line, which leans towards black-brown, taking away some of the more prominent shading you get in drier pens. Related inks To compare Cacao du Brésil with related inks, I use my nine-grid format with the currently reviewed ink at the centre. 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. I don’t really have any close matches to this grey-brown in my collection though. Iroshizuku kiri-same — a grey ink with brown undertones — appears to be a distant cousin. My other browns are just … more brown. Inkxperiment – The Fall (Last Leaf Standing) As a personal challenge, I try to create interesting drawings using only the ink I’m reviewing. I find this to be a fun extension of the hobby, and these single-ink drawings often present a real challenge. These inkxperiments allow me to explore the colour-range nuances that are present in the ink. I love doing them! The grey-brown tones of Cacao du Brésil match perfectly with the autumn season in my part of the world. No need to look any further for inspiration. Dark-brown earth, glistening wetly from yesterday’s rain, and on the trees a last leaf clinging to the branch. I started with a piece of 300 gsm watercolour paper, that I thoroughly wetted with water to which I added a bit of ink. I then used a broad brush to draw in the outline of the field and the sky. Next I drew in the tree with the last leaf standing. To complete the drawing, I used a fine brush to add the striped pattern that adds texture to the earthen field. The end result gives you a good idea of the colour range that can be achieved when using Cacao du Brésil in a more artistic context. Conclusion J. Herbin Cacao du Brésil is a great ink: a really special cool grey-brown, that works with all nib sizes and on all types of paper. The ink is also fairly water-resistant, and well suited for the workplace. And it shows some beautiful shading that really gives that extra oomph to your writing. This is an ink that really gives me pleasure — heartily recommended! Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Backside of writing samples on different paper types

TAG Kyoto – kyo-iro Stone Road of Gion TAG is a stationery shop in Kyoto (Japan) that produces some interesting soft watercolour-style inks. With the kyo-iro series they produce a line of inks that that are inspired by the city’s many beautiful and historic sights. Each of these inks is dedicated to a specific town in the Kyoto area. The inks come in 40 ml bottles, packaged in luxurious thick paper with a texture that feels like heavy watercolour paper. In this review the center stage is taken by Stone Road of Gion. The cool grey-brown colour of this ink is a reference to the stone-paved streets of Kyoto’s Gion district, where it’s still possible to glimpse a traditional geisha-san with her apprentice. This ink’s colour ranges from a soft almost sepia-brown to a a much darker grey-brown. A cool-toned brown that I like best in its most saturated grey-brown incarnation – wet pens are your friend here. Personally, I would have preferred that the ink would be a tad darker-looking, with more of that lovely grey-brown at the lighter side of the spectrum. This ink is a heavy shader, with quite some contrast between light and darker parts. Shading looks best with drier pens, where contrast is more subtle. With wet pens the shading looks harsher, due to the increased contrast between the sepia-brown light parts and the much darker grey-brown. For optimal results, you need to hunt a bit for the right pen/nib combination. In my case, the ink looks great with my Pelikan M405 Tortoise Brown with a F cursive italic nib. This combination delivered the right combination to get both good saturation and not-too-harsh shading. Be aware that Stone Road of Gion is a very dry ink. It’s not a pleasant experience when using dry-writing pens or EF nibs – it feels like you’re fighting the paper. Stick to wet pens with this one! To show you the impact of saturation on the ink’s look & feel on paper, I made some scribbles where I really saturated portions of the 52 gsm Tomoe River paper with ink. This gives you a good idea of what the ink is capable of in terms of colour range. Stone Road of Gion has a fairly wide colour span, which translates to strong shading that can sometimes be a bit harsh. I personally prefer my shading to be soft & delicate, so with this ink I had to hunt for the right pen/nib combination. The ink’s chromatography clearly shows the grey undertones in the ink, with hints of pink and orange in the mix. It’s also clear that most colour dissipates with water – this is not a water-resistant ink, which is confirmed by the water test at the end of the review. I’ve tested the ink on a wide variety of paper – from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On every small band 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 an M-nib Lamy Safari The name of the paper used, written with a B-nib Lamy Safari A small text sample, written with the M-nib Safari Source of the quote, with a Platinum 3776 Century with B-nib Drying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib Safari) The ink looks good on all papers, but is really at its best on off-white paper (not yet creamy, but moving in that direction). I noticed a tiny amount of feathering on lower-quality papers (mostly Moleskine and the printing paper in my test set). Also a small amount of bleed-through on the lower quality paper. Overall, a nice-looking cool brown, but personally I would have preferred an even darker brown colour. Since scans alone are not always enough to give you a complete picture of the ink, I also provide you with a few photos for an alternative look at Stone Road of Gion. In this case, the photos work best to represent the ink – in the scans, the contrast in the ink’s shading is too exaggerated. Writing with different nib sizes The picture below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing. Stone Road of Gion writes with good contrast in all nib sizes, but feels very dry in the EF/F nibs (with the Lamy Safari). Writing quality improves substantially with wet pens. With wet-writing pens, the ink gets more saturated and moves to much darker grey-brown tones. In my opinion, that’s the sweet spot for this ink. Combine it with an off-white paper, and it just looks great. Related inks To compare this kyo-iro brown with related inks, I use my 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. My personal preference would be an ink that looks like iroshizuku yama-guri at the low saturation point, and Stone Road of Gion at high saturation. Inkxperiment – walking home I love to experiment with my inks in an artistic context. With these inkxperiments, I limit myself to the single ink I’m reviewing, allowing me to explore all of its colour range nuances. I love this part of the review: experimenting with different techniques, and trying to coax many different shades of colour from the single bottle. For this drawing, I used an A4-sized piece of HP photo paper. I wanted to do a landscape with a dark sky, but the clouds turned out to be way too dark and weird-shaped. Instead of starting over, I tried to salvage the drawing, turning the clouds into trees, and adding the town on the horizon line. I finally added the walking people as a foreground subject. The trees lacked life, so I sprinkled bleach on top of them to add some sparkle (a bit too much, to be honest – at the right side the bleach burned away too much of the ink). Nevertheless, the end result is not too bad for a salvage operation – I’m quite satisfied with it. The picture definitely gives you an idea of the many colour tones you can extract from this kyo-iro ink. Conclusion TAG Kyoto kyo-iro Stone Road of Gion is a cool-toned grey-brown with a wide contrast range. A heavy shader that looks best in wet pens and on off-white paper. The ink is really dry, and you need to hunt for the right pen/nib combination with this one. A nice enough ink, but not one that really wow-ed me. Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Back-side of writing samples on different paper types

Ink Shoot-Out : kyo-iro Stone Road of Gion vs Mont Blanc Swan Illusion Plume In 2018, Mont Blanc presented us with the Swan Illusion Plume ink, that accompanies the Patron of Arts Ludwig II limited edition pen. A great grey-brown ink that I highly recommend. Fellow member JulieParadise suggested Stone Road of Gion as a near equal to this ink - "but a tad darker on paper". That of course peaked my interest... time to do a detailed comparison and find out which of these inks I like the most. Enter... the Ink Shoot-Out. A brutal fight spanning five rounds, where two inks engage in fierce battle to determine who is the winner. In the left corner, the martial arts champion of Japan, the man with the lightning fist - kyo-iro Stone Road of Gion. In the right corner, the iron man from Germany, tough as nails - Mont Blanc Swan Illusion Plume. Both champions enter the ring. The tension in the boxing hall goes through the roof. Crowds are cheering! The bell rings signaling the start of the first round. May the best ink win... Round 1 - First Impressions Both inks make a great first impression on me. The inks have a greyish brown dusty appearance that looks elegant and sophisticated. As such, they immediately enhance your writing. For me, the colour totally works - I like it a lot. Even though these are muted inks, they still provide excellent contrast to the page when used with my Lamy Safari M-nib on Rhodia N°16 notepad paper. Both inks also exhibit subtle shading, without too much contrast between the light and darker parts. This gives your writing an aesthetically pleasing look. The inks look nearly identical, but there are some differences:Swan Illusion leans more towards the grey end of the spectrum, which is especially notable in swatches, less so in the written text.Stone Road of Gion is a wetter ink, and produces a more saturated line. In contrast, Swan illusion feels less lubricated and a bit undersaturated. This is especially noticeable in finer nibs.With broader nibs - e.g. with the scribbles made with a 1.5 mm calligraphy nib - Stone Road of Gion shows a bit more character, with a more pleasing appearance.Both inks make a great first impression. Stone Road of Gion works better with the pen - it feels wetter and produces a bit more of a saturated line. On the other hand, I personally prefer the slightly greyer brown of Swan Illusion. These inks are well matched. No clear winner emerges, and this round ends with a draw. Round 2 - Writing Sample The writing sample was done on Rhodia N°16 Notepad with 80 gsm paper. Both inks behaved flawlessly, with no feathering and no show-through or bleed-through. With the EF nib, the slightly darker colour and better saturation of Stone Road of Gion come into play, resulting in more contrast-rich writing. With broader nibs, Swan Illusion no longer feels undersaturated and dry, and lays down a beautifully muted grey-brown line. With Stone Road of Gion, you get much more saturation in broader nibs, and a stronger presence on the paper. You could say that Swan Illusion is more of an introverted ink, while Stone Road of Gion has more of an extravert character. Colourwise both inks look similar in writing, although there is definitely more of a grey undertone in the Mont Blanc ink. Both inks also shade nicely, without too much contrast between light and dark parts. This aesthetically pleasing shading gives more character to your writing, and shows up even with the finer nibs. For this round, the focus is on writing, and here both inks are strong performers. Stone Road of Gion works better in EF/F nibs, producing a more saturated line. On the other hand, Swan Illusion looks more aesthetically pleasing, especially in broader nibs (or wetter pens). Damn... these fighters are good. They really are on par with each other. Again this round ends in a draw. Round 3 - Pen on Paper This round allows the batlling inks to show how they behave on a range of fine writing papers. From top to bottom, we have : FantasticPaper, Life Noble, Tomoe River and Original Crown Mill cotton paper. All scribbling and writing was done with a Lamy Safari M-nib. Both champions did well, with no show-through nor bleed-through. But this round is not about technicalities, it is about aesthetics and beauty. Are the fighters able to make the paper shine ? One thing is immediately apparent: these inks are at home on a wide range of papers, both white and off-white ones. On more absorbent paper like Fantasticpaper (top), the inks look really similar. With Tomoe River - definitely a non-absorbent paper - Swan Illusion shows a bit more character. But on Life Noble, the roles are reversed, with Stone Road of Gion being the more beautiful ink. Both inks are on par with each other, with neither of the champions giving any ground. As such, round 3 also finishes with a draw. The tension in the hall is now going up by the minute. Are both fighters really each other’s equal ? Will one of them show some weakness ? Let’s continue the fight to find out. Round 4 - Ink Properties Aha... now we get some differences! Stone Road of Gion - being a wetter ink - takes a bit more time to dry: 15-20 seconds with the M-nib versus 10-15 seconds for the Swan Illusion ink. To test their smudge resistance, I rubbed the text with a moist Q-tip cotton swab. Here Swan Illusion shows its dominance - the ink is almost immune to smudging. Stone Road of Gion smudges a lot in comparison, but still leaves a very readable line that is still crisp and clear. To test water resistance, I dripped water on the grid and let it sit there for 15 minutes, after which I removed the water with a paper towel. Here Swan Illusion totally dominates - this ink is strongly water resistant, while Stone Road of Gion loses all the ink on the paper. If you look for an ink to use at the office, Swan Illusion is your friend. In this round, the Japanese champion caves. Swan Illusion delivered an uppercut that floored its opponent. The public roars... the applause is deafening... What a spectacle. There is no doubt whatsoever. This round is a solid win for Mont Blanc. Round 5 - The Fun Factor Welcome to the final round. Here I give you a purely personal impression of both inks, where I judge which of them I like most when doing some fun stuff like doodling and drawing. Both inks do well, and show off a broad colour spectrum, ranging from very light ochre-brown to a really dark brown-grey. I really enjoyed using them. Personally I prefer the slightly greyer looks of Swan Illusion. This ink also feels a bit more complex, hinting at orangy undertones. This is confirmed when looking at the chromatography of these inks. Here you can clearly see the inherent complexity of the dyes that make up Swan Illusion. In my opinion, this gives the Swan Illusion side of the drawing a more vibrant look. For this round, both champions are again well matched. But for this judge, Swan Illusion showed the best moves, and wins this round on points. Mind... this is a relative comparison. Standing on its own, Stone Road of Gion is still a terrific ink to play around with. But side by side, I definitely prefer the Mont Blanc ink. The Verdict Both inks are real jewels, that work on all types of paper. And it took a while to notice some differences. But in the end, round 4 is the decisive one : Swan Illusion clearly dominates when water resistance comes into play. You might not care about this slip-up of the Japanese ink. In that case, round 5 still gives a slight edge to Swan Illusion as being the more interesting ink. For this judge, the conclusion is clear: Mont Blanc Swan Illusion is the winner of this exciting fight.

➤ Please take a moment to adjust your gear to accurately depict the Grey Scale below. As the patches are neutral Grey, that is what you should see. ▪ Mac http://www.computer-darkroom.com/colorsync-display/colorsync_1.htm ▪ Wintel PC http://www.calibrize.com/ http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/27ddb717.jpg ➤ As Photo*ucket has lost the functionality to display linked files as required and includes advertising with linked images, I've embedded the HiRes images. I apologise should that choice slow your display times. +||+ Fidelity One may compare the appearance of the ink I used to the depiction on the Rohrer & Klingner site: rohrer-klingner dot deWiki 'Sepia color' : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepia_%28color%29Figure 1. Swabs & Swatch Paper: HPJ1124. http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK195_zpsb58959e8.jpg Figure 2. NIB-ism Paper: HPJ1124. Depicts nibs' line-width and pens' relative wetness. http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK197_zps35c59070.jpg L → R: Somiko, P99, C74, 45, Phileas, Prelude. WRITTEN SAMPLES - Moby Dick Ruling: 8mm. Figure 3. Paper: HPJ1124. http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK203_zps7b560d07.jpg Paper: Rhodia. http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK202_zps05424258.jpg Figure 5. Paper: G Lalo. http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK200_zps9c2c1ee9.jpg Figure 6. Paper: Royal. http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK201_zps54172b9e.jpg Figure 7. Paper: Staples. http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK198_zps7f0c8ebc.jpg OTHER STUFF Figure 8. Smear/Dry Times & Wet Tests.* http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK196_zps838349ce.jpg ___ ___ * The Review by Member Signum1 shows far less water resistance. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/133288-rohrer-klingner-sepia/?p=1319016 Figure 9. Bleed - Show-Though on Staples. http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK199_zps15d07d4a.jpg Hi-Res Scans: Somiko on HPJ1124 http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK204_zpsacbaea01.jpg C74 on Rhodia http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK205_zps8f2c66ce.jpg 45 on G Lalo http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK206_zpse9e18fa9.jpg Prelude on Royal http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20RK%20Sepia%202/INK207_zps93e4f604.jpg GENERAL DESCRIPTION Type: Dye-based fountain pen ink.Presentation: Bottle.Availability: Available when Topic posted.Daily writer? Possible.A go-to ink? When a high performance Grey-Brown is desired.USE Business: (From the office of Ms Blue-Black.) Not enough oomph for business correspondence: the low chroma Brown has neither gravitas nor animation, and might be considered indecisive.The strong performance profile of R&KS allows it to be paired with wet pens on copy/print papers to give a darker value, hence taking on the role of a soft alternative to Black.For personal work product, the modest degree of lubricity might not provide the most enjoyable writing experience for those who prefer narrow nibs and use toothy copy/print papers. Adopting a light hand, then choosing a pen with a smooth well-aligned nib and a slightly wet nib+feed should make the writing experience more than acceptable.Unlikely to be mimicked by BPs RBs or other writing implements. R&KS can whisper 'fountain pen' quite loudly, so one's work is unlikely to be mistaken for that of another author. As such, it may do quite nicely for initialing & signing [internal] documents, and in situations where colour-coding is used.As for readability, the ink definitely needs to be run dark enough to suppress the shading. Even then the uniqueness of the colour may be rather distracting. (?)As an alt/aux ink it will handle mark-up & annotation of material in hues other than Black; and line quality across a range of papers supports marginalia from hair's-breadth nibs.Illustrations / Graphics: For charts & graphs it would be a good pick as an alternate to neutral Grey or Black.Line quality is very high, so it is a fine choice when narrow taut lines are required. As a watercolour, there is considerable potential for blocking-out areas to be overworked with wet media, and for foundation lines. Some dye does come adrift when wet, but that could be easily removed with a wet sponge to leave a clear remnant line.Students: As for business use above, I'd have reservations about adopting this as a daily writer, yet the performance profile certainly supports oft-mentioned student requirements for water resistance and good performance on cheap & nasty papers.Not sufficiently dynamic for written assignments, and is outside the Blue and Black inks usually prescribed.Personal: Oh yes . . .As much as I have a penchant for pale translucent inks, R&KS is still very much an 'on purpose' ink. When I do choose this one, it takes a while to finalise my selection of pen & paper to generate the desired appearance. My choices are quite varied: from wet pens on absorbent papers that suppress the shading and give oodles of heft that anchors the words to the page, to an ephemeral flowing appearance to give what's written the appearance of shadows cast on the page.This ink itself is unlikely to hold the reader, so I either make the letter brief or have something exceptional which I choose to understate.I prefer paper formats less than A4 / Letter - likely due to their more personal non-business format, though a few lines on an A4 is fine too. A few times I've used oversize sheets tightly folded to ensconce the few words within. PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE & CHARACTERISTICS Flow Rate: Middling.Nib Dry-Out: Not seen.Start-Up: Immediate.With confidence.Lubricity: Just enough.Not dissimilar to iron-gall inks.Nib Creepies: Not seen.Staining (pen): Not seen.Clogging: Not seen.Seems unlikely.Bleed- Show-Through: A few freckles on the Staples.All other pen+paper combos were greenlighted for two-sided use.Feathering / Wooly Line: Not seen.Aroma: Industrial, but still inky.Not noticed whilst writing.Hand Oil Sensitivity: Not seen.Clean-Up (pen): Prompt & thorough with plain water.For recently charged pens, the use of a DIY pen cleaning solution of dilute ammonia+surfactant did not release any visible residue after my fussy water-only cleansing regimen.Blending: R&K suggests caution when/if blending with Sepia: "Zur Erzeugung neuer Farbtöne können die Tinten untereinander gemischt werden. Lediglich der Farbton Sepia sollte für Mischungen nur genommen werden, wenn diese sofort verarbeitet und der Füller (falls ein solcher eingesetzt worden ist) anschließend gereinigt wird. You can mix different [R&K] inks together to create new tones or shades. The color Sepia should be used exclusively for blending, if this is used immediately. Consequently, the fountain pen (provided one is used) must be cleaned right after use." I suggest the usual precautions when blending inks, then let the result rest for at least as long as it will remain in a pen. The manner which I test for 'safety' is described in detail in this Topic https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/234049-noodlers-lexington-gray-galileo-manuscript-brown/?p=2517090 I've blended R&KS with Scabiosa, which didn't invoke an event horizon, though coincidentally one of the neighbour's tots went missing for some minutes.Archival: Not claimed.THE LOOK Presence: Elusive.More in common with drawing than writing. Saturation: Low.A well-inked line is well within range.Shading Potential: High.Can be suppressed or encouraged.Even narrow nibs can give shading. Variability: Pen+nib combos used:Higher than expected.Papers used:Higher than expected.Malleability: High.The responsiveness of R&K Sepia can make achieving the desired appearance a bit tricky, yet the very generous performance envelope makes it unlikely that one will run aground during an inky adventure.The choice of paper should take into account the translucency of the ink, as it is quite certain that when the ink is at higher values the base-tint of the paper will be added to the perceived hue of the ink.PAPERS Lovely Papers: White.Those with a minimum of optical brightening agents.Trip-Wire Papers: Dirty whites.Those warmer than Natural White.Copy / Print Papers: More than just compatible.While the writing experience can be rather austere, for a simple dye-based ink the results are impressive.Tinted Papers: Iffy, and very dependent on the ink's value and % coverage.I tried a few warm tints to achieve a somewhat 'antique' appearance, but they were not for me, so I held at Natural White, foregoing even the Rhodia 'R' Ivory.The very pale Powder Blue of olde tyme airmail papers held no attraction.Slightly cool papers, such as G Lalo Velin de France or MT Exquisit, gave interesting results, but I think that had more to do with their characteristics other than base tint. Is high-end paper 'worth it'? Definitely.If one chooses to explore the full range of this ink, then high-end papers are not to be missed.ETC. Majik: More than just likely, and it will be subtle.Billet Doux? Rarely, but possible. (!)Personal Pen & Paper Pick: The P99 on HPJ1124.The narrow nib gives a generous amount of shading and a low amount of coverage, and is just wet enough to keep what's written settled on the paper.As ever, the HPJ1124 does what it does best - lets the ink+pen take the lead.Yickity Yackity: Certainly not one of the eye catching 'wow' inks, yet it may appeal to those with a desire for something quite different. After one finds the handle of R&KS, it may be hard to let go.Ah kushbaby, too subtle for you?== == == NUTS BOLTS & BOILERPLATE Pens: - Written Samples: A. Sailor Somiko + TIGP F nib. B. Pelikan P99 + steel F nib. C. Pilot Custom 74 + 14K SFM nib. D. Parker 45 + g-p steel M nib. E. Waterman Phileas + steel B nib. F. Sheaffer Prelude + factory stock steel B stub nib. - Lines & labels: Pilot kiri-same from Pilot 'Lady' + H882 g-p steel F nib. Papers: HPJ1124: Hewlett-Packard laser copy/print, 24lb.Rhodia: satin finish vellum, 80gsm.G. Lalo Verge de France: natural white, laid, 100gsm.Royal: 25% cotton, laser/inkjet copy/print, 'letterhead', 90gsm.Staples: house brand multi-use copy/print, USD4/ream, bears FSC logo, 20lb.Other Inks This Review uses the same Written Sample format, atrocious handwriting and some pen+paper combos common to most of my previous Reviews of Brown inks. Consequently, ad hoc comparisons through manipulation of browser windows is supported. Should that functionality not meet your requirements, I welcome your PM requesting a specific comparison. Additional scans may be produced, but the likelihood of additional inky work is quite low. Imaging An Epson V600 scanner was used with the bundled Epson s/w at factory default settings to produce low-loss jpg files.No post-capture manipulation of scanner output was done, other than dumb-down by Epson, Photobouquet, IP.Board s/w, and your viewing gear.Fine Print ◊ The accuracy and relevance of this Review depends in great part upon consistency and reliability of matériel used. ◊ Ink does not require a label/notice to indicate (changes in) formulation, non-hazardous ingredients, batch ID, date of manufacture, etc. ◊ As always YMMV, due to differences in materials, manner of working, environment, meteor showers, etc. ◊ Also, I entrust readers to separate opinion from fact; to evaluate inferences and conclusions as to their merit; and to be amused by whatever tickles your fancy. -30- Tags: Fountain Pen Ink Review Sandy1 Rohrer & Klingner Sepia R&K Brown 2013