Search the Community

I discovered this ink thanks to one of Nick Stewart’s videos. This is one of the double dye inks, belonging to the same family as General of the Armies and the now discontinued lovely House Divided. This one has a purple dye below the beige/yellow coloured one. To quote Nathan: "Rome Burning” has a bulletproof patrician core color of Caesar’s purple with the colors of the inferno that wash away from it with excess liquidity. As it dries there are shades of brass that can actually shine on some paper grades and can halo the darker core when using the right nib/feed combination. On very absorbent cellulose paper the patrician core can be seen in the center as the fire surrounds it – as if an eclipse of the sun." Here you go, its magic when applied on wet watercolour paper: When smudged with a wet Q-Tip, the yellow component washes away to leave the purple colour: Also when you rinse the pen, the dominant colour in the sink is a rich purple I have nothing like this ink. It’s a wet, fast drying ink on most papers but, Midori/ Tomoe River 68gr papers. With some wide nibs the purple dye is visible for a split second. It’s the type of ink I really like, murky, fast drying and dependable. I thought the purple dye would be difficult to wash out but in the end in the end I used only water. I read that it stains convertors but it didn’t do mine. So be careful if you're fussy about stains It’s a pity Nathan changed the name of this one. It was so evocative. I used quotes from notable Romans, and the infamous Nero, to whom this ink alludes. Writing samples: Rhodia TR 68gr Midori Codex Mnemosyne Apica · Pens used: : Kaweco Perkeo Fine/ Pilot Kakuna Medium, Jinhao 450 /Fude Nib · Shading: Lovely · Ghosting: On cheap paper,depending nib, probably. · Bleed through: depending nib, probably. · Flow Rate: Wet · Lubrication: Good · Nib Dry-out: Not noticed · Start-up: Not noticed · Saturation: Nicely saturated… · Shading Potential: Only with Fude nib on Midori/ TR 68 gr papers. · Sheen: Nope... · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not noticed · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not noticed... · Staining (pen): I’ve read that it can stain convertors, but it didn’t mine. · Clogging: Nope. · Water resistance: The yellow component washes away and leave a purple line · Availability: 3 oz/ 90 ml bottles

A bit of background to this question: I purchased my first Pilot recently - a Custom 74 with Music nib - and been very disappointed with the flow. The pen is dry and skippy. And so I tried some of my wetter inks in the pen, among which were two Iroshizukus as well as my trusty Parker Quink Permanent Blue which flows beautifully in all of my pens. Once this failed as well I knew the time has come for my Noodler's Ink Rome Burning, which nearly drips from any of my wetter nibs. I love the hue shift as the ink dries, I love the color, the fact that there is yet another hue shift upon contact with water and that the ink smells the way it does, not to mention the wetness. The one thing I don't love is the bleedthrough but what can you do, can't have it all. I have the usual wet inks such as few Iroshizuku inks, Aurora Black, Herbin's Perle Noire and several others, Monteverde ITF ink, Noodler's Eel inks, PR Tanzanite, etc. but nothing comes close to my bottle of Rome Burning. There may be some inconsistency in Noodler's batches so your RB may not be the same but my bottle is that wet and it is defintiely my go-to ink for drier writers. And so it occurred to me, what are other people's go-to wettest inks? I am aware that there is a lot of threads discussing wet inks and dry inks and all the inks in between but really I am interested in your personal preferred choice of ink (one you do/did own) when you want to turn your pen into a "fire hose", or just want to deal with a dry writer. I am not interested in the usual general ideas about wet inks but specifically in your own personal ones that you actually use. This is just a fun question really - not a troubleshooting one - and I'm looking forward to hear about your experience.