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Hi Everyone: I'm trying to solve a mystery regarding the inks Diamine Dark Olive and Diamine Salamander. Are these 2 actual different inks or is Salamander a new name for Dark Olive? When using the Anderson Pens ink tool, I was unable to find dark olive in the list but found Salamander there and am seeing both come up in Google searches. However, no one seems to be willing to acknowledge of both of these inks. Thanks! Sincerely, Howard

Earlier this afternoon I was given the go-ahead by Phil at Diamine to post my humble scans and mediocre photos, of Diamine Salamander. So here they are! I refer you to my comments about the naming of the ink, here on Market Watch and the other shorter announcement here on Inky Thoughts, just for reference. It's a dark olive/khaki sort-of colour and one that I think will be particularly popular. This general written test shows the general appearance, on a white Rhodia dot paper. The next scans are done on my most usual papers and are reasonably self-explanatory. The only bit of feathering seems to be along the paper fibres of the Leuchtturm and Moleskine and this latter was the only one that exhibited any really 'awkward' bleed-through. Next are the photographs which I took, to try and show the kind of thing that I referred to in one of my comments on the other Forums. There is a slight sheen when the ink is on papers like the Leuchtturm and Moleskine - well I reckon there is. However, I do not 'do' macro pictures - my professional photographic career was far more interesting! So I apologise for the quality. The only Photoshop correction I used throughout was on these snaps and that was 'Auto Contrast'. The scans are straight as they came out. The four above are the Leuchtturm 1917. These two are Moleskine. The last two; Rhodia. Not the best examples but there you go. I really rate this ink and it's got something about it that I think will make it very popular.Reminiscent of Noodler's El Lawrence or Old Burma Road perhaps but I haven't got either of those. Perhaps a bit like Zhivago sometimes. It dries really rather well on all these papers and has Diamine's typical wet flow and behaviour. I can't give any more up-to-date information about availability but probably within about six to eight weeks. Keep checking - I'll post when I know.

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?

I'm currently reviewing some of my favourite Diamine inks. This is Diamine Salamander. I decided to review this particular shade because I know there are people who want an alternative to Montblanc Racing Green, and Salamander is a good contender. It's very slightly less saturated than MbRG. However, it looks very slightly greyer on the scan than it does on the original review form. The comparison inks look the same on the scan as they do on the review form. Water test on the review form shows this isn't a waterproof ink.Bearing in mind the paper I use is very smooth, and I write with a stub nib, this ink took 15-17 secs to dry.It flows very well and lubricates the nib quite well. No start-up problems noticed. *Edited*It is currently available in 30ml plastic bottles and 80ml glass bottles.Diamine sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.It's reasonably priced.

I've received a few new inks this month and have been pleasantly surprised by most of them. The first picture is a photograph, taken using my Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and the second is a scan - I know which one I'll stick to in future! I had a torrid time with my Platinum Plaisir - I ordered a green one with a 0.5 nib. I loved the packaging and the presentation for a £10 pen, but unfortunately it behaved as such - scratchy and dry and horrible. A search of here and other places suggested this was an exception, so I bought myself 3 Preppys - a 0.5 green that would sit in my Plaisir's body if it turned out to be nice, a 0.5 blue-black and a 0.3 yellow. I couldn't be more impressed with all three of them - I know the build quality isn't exactly robust, but they are semi-disposable I suppose. I've bought international standard adapters so that, when their proprietary cartridges run out, I can use any ink I want (within reason). The offending Plaisir nib and feed got chucked away, and the section received a highlighter tip and went in the unused Preppy barrel. It's still a weird colour so I think there's something up with the cartridge too, but it'll get used until it runs out, then I'll use the glorious Preppy highlighter cartridges - they're really bright and I love a cheap refillable highlighter. Anyway, that's probably TL;DR for most of you - here are the pictures: Photo: http://i.imgur.com/nmzxoCn.jpg Scan: http://i.imgur.com/wD939jX.jpg

Hello, fellow addicts! Having spent many weeks languishing in the dungeons of the local hospital this summer, (I hope some of you, at least, missed me!), I finally have enough time and energy to hang around here once more. So, I thought I'd kick start my come-back by offering a review of Salamander; Diamine's latest inky concoction. Here it is: I have to admit I love Diamine inks, as well as the company's ethos. They sell an amazing array of inks - in two sizes so as to be affordable to all - as well as offering special 'Collections' for the more discerning (and affluent) connoisseur. They ship worldwide, Their customer service is second to none! What's not to love? I haven't bought any other brand of ink for well over a year, now. (No affiliaton, BTW, just one very happy customer here) TTFN Tawanda!

I can now announce a forthcoming new ink from Diamine - Salamander. It's a wonderful dark green, olive, khaki, brown colour which I'm sure will be very popular. Seriously it is all of those colours.Working in collaboration with Phil Davies at Diamine I was asked to come up with a name for a sample of the ink he'd sent me to have a look at, labelled 'No 93'. I was intrigued and Salamander was born.It reminded me of the colours of Royal Flying corps bi-planes during WWI so I had a look for some more information. Here is one of the Q & A bits on a website for UK model aircraft fanatics. "I have been trying to discover the true colours used on these aircraft. The excellent pictures in Cross and Cockade journals were my starting point but I remain unsure as to what the colours really were. For example are the upper planes and fuselage dark green, olive, khaki, brown? Please can anyone help on this?" "There's not an easy answer to your question, as the colour wasn't constant. The dope used for aircraft upper-surfaces on the Western Front was PC 10 (Protective Colouring No 10) and the pigments were natural oxide of iron (yellow ochre) and lamp black/carbon black, in the ratio of 250 to 1 (ochre is comparatively heavy and lamp black is very light); this produced a dark brown mixture. To spread it on to aeroplane fabric, the mixture was added to cellulose or oil varnish, something that caused an optical effect known as 'green shift', which caused the doped area to look greenish under some light conditions. The degree of green shift varied depending on the type of varnish used. However, as the aeroplane was exposed to the elements, the green shift was reduced and it took on a definite dark brown appearance.To add to the confusion, the colouring could vary between manufacturers, and even from batch to batch on aircraft made by the same manufacturer." When I tried out the ink, I noted that the similarity with the changes of colour from brown/green to brown and then to green sometimes, and the ‘green shift’ effect was remarkable. On white papers, such as Rhodium or Clairefontaine, the colour when the ink first hits the paper has a definite green starting point. However, it dries to that mystical olive green/khaki colour but then when direct light hits it, there is shading and a metallic sheen is sometimes visible. On Rhodia ivory paper, the brown colouration is evident but on Leuchtturm and even more so on Moleskine, that brown goes positively copper and the sheen is most pronounced.Something in the back of my mind came up with the name 'Salamander' and when I looked for pictures on the net, I realised that it was the fact that a lot of that species of small amphibians are coloured black with yellow patches - just like the mix or PC 10 - that had jogged my memory!Obviously, you will have to make up your own minds. The ink should be available in about six to eight weeks and I will post scans as soon as I am allowed to.Until then, sit back and wait for Salamander - it will be worth it, I promise you.

Announcing a forthcoming ink from Diamine - Salamander. I've put a description in Market Watch as it won't be available on the market for about six to eight weeks yet, so I can't post any scans or a review proper until then. You'll just have to wait but it will be worth it, I can tell you. AND - I was asked to name it! More soon.

Salamander, the highly anticipated new ink from Diamine is now in stock and available in 30 and 80ml bottles - http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Diamine_Ink_Bottles.html What do you think of the new colour?