149 Demonstrator pictures

[Shinma]

Great shots of your marvelous pen.

 

I especially like the picture where you can see that giant nib through the closed transparent cap.

[kv3x]

Wow! Very nice. Thanks for the sharing the photos.

[shrinknib]

What a lovely pen Sean.

You certainly keep coming up with some amazing and unusual pens.

This is a cracker!

Hope you enjoy using this one.

[Pen Nut]

Good selection of pics them. Odd looking thing in some respects but great to see inside at the workings.

[georges zaslavsky]

stunning thanks for sharing.

[Multiechelon]

I have really liked using this 149 demonstrator. I had the good fortune to secure another one.

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149DemonstratorEF/149demoEF02.jpg

 

This one is an EF nib:

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149DemonstratorEF/149demoEF.jpg

 

In comparing the two pens, there are some interesting small differences between the pens. The most obvious are the nibs. The EF is a 14K and the B is an 18C:

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149DemonstratorEF/149Demonstrators_10.jpg

 

The feeds look the same to my eye:

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149DemonstratorEF/149Demonstrators_08.jpg

 

I don't know the exact terminology but the major difference is how the nib and feed connect to the barrel. I will appeal to the scientific terminology "thick" and "thin" to differentiate the two:

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149DemonstratorEF/149Demonstrators_03.jpg

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149DemonstratorEF/149Demonstrators_02.jpg

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149DemonstratorEF/149Demonstrators_04.jpg

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149DemonstratorEF/149Demonstrators_05.jpg

 

For the rest, they looks similar:

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149DemonstratorEF/149Demonstrators_01.jpg

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149DemonstratorEF/149Demonstrators_15.jpg

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149DemonstratorEF/149Demonstrators_13.jpg

 

One turning nob has a hole and the other one does not:

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149DemonstratorEF/149Demonstrators_16.jpg

 

Both pens write great. Neither pen is very flexy, but I like the way they write.

 

Sean

[fuchsiaprincess]

Congratulations, Sean!!! So, you friend did deliver the goods

[Multiechelon]

Congratulations, Sean!!! So, you friend did deliver the goods

 

Thanks Soki. Okay, I may need to find the sheepish-looking graphic. This is actually not that demonstrator. The one pictured here was already en route.

 

Through total dumb luck, a friend of mine thinks she stumbled upon another 149 demonstrator. She purchased it and is having it shipped to me. So if in fact a third demonstrator shows up at my doorstep, I will take pictures.

 

My collection only numbers nine pens, but when I find a pen I like I like to purchase multiples with different nib sizes.

 

Sean

[niksch]

Sean, Despite previously e-mailed concerns, I can get rid of the pink sealant and replace it with a nice clear sealant. I hear and understand...I can prevail.

 

 

[niksch]

Congratulations, Sean!!! So, you friend did deliver the goods

 

I heard this one guy, at pen camp, is taking extra long for your pen.

[Multiechelon]

Congratulations, Sean!!! So, you friend did deliver the goods

 

I heard this one guy, at pen camp, is taking extra long for your pen.

 

Excellent. Well, so long as it ends well that is no problem at all. The good thing about FPN members is that we all have enough pens. We might get anxious to get our pens back, but it is not like we don't have many alternatives to choose from.

 

And I am glad to hear about the pink sealant. That is going to make for great before and after pictures.

 

Sean

[trojan_four]

You guys are killing me with all this pen p0rn!

 

edit: Oh, and I forgot to mention; that pink goop is really er, goopey. However, I DO like it - I think it adds to the overall prototype[ish] feel to the pen.

 

Also, 14K vs 18C. What's the difference - and I'm referring to the letters. One assumes that 14 refers to 0.583 of gold purity vs the 0.750 in the 18.

Edited May 12, 2010 by trojan_four

[georges zaslavsky]

one pen is fitted with a broad shoulders short tines extra fine nib case of the 14kt 585 marked nib and the other one is fitted with a french market broad shoulders long tines broad nib marked 18ct 750 and it should be a flexible one normally.

[Multiechelon]

one pen is fitted with a broad shoulders short tines extra fine nib case of the 14kt 585 marked nib and the other one is fitted with a french market broad shoulders long tines broad nib marked 18ct 750 and it should be a flexible one normally.

 

This is a good clarification Georges. I think my comments on nib flexibility are not correct because I do not have enough experience to judge nib flexibility. I think I have one nib that seems to me to be very flexible. It is a 14C 149 that dates to somewhere in the late 1970s early 1980s.

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149Triangle/149Triangle_07.jpg http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149Triangle/149Triangle_08.jpg http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149Triangle/149Triangle_05.jpg

 

With very little effort, that nib produces significant line variation. I have to admit that, for my taste, it is such a wet writer that I only use it on special occasions. For example, cases where I know I am going to be writing a lot of pages (versus editing or obsessing over a single page or two).

 

So I can believe that the 18C B nib is a slightly flexible nib in reality. I think the issue is I probably don't "push" the nib's performance very much. But I do use this pen daily and love it.

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149Demonstrator/149Demonstrator_02.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149Demonstrator/149Demonstrator_04.jpg

 

Sean

[georges zaslavsky]

This is a good clarification Georges. I think my comments on nib flexibility are not correct because I do not have enough experience to judge nib flexibility. I think I have one nib that seems to me to be very flexible. It is a 14C 149 that dates to somewhere in the late 1970s early 1980s.

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149Triangle/149Triangle_07.jpg http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149Triangle/149Triangle_08.jpg http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149Triangle/149Triangle_05.jpg

 

With very little effort, that nib produces significant line variation. I have to admit that, for my taste, it is such a wet writer that I only use it on special occasions. For example, cases where I know I am going to be writing a lot of pages (versus editing or obsessing over a single page or two).

 

So I can believe that the 18C B nib is a slightly flexible nib in reality. I think the issue is I probably don't "push" the nib's performance very much. But I do use this pen daily and love it.

 

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149Demonstrator/149Demonstrator_02.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu82/multiechelon/149Demonstrator/149Demonstrator_04.jpg

 

Sean

good evening

 

Your 149 looks like a model made for the saudi arabian market, it was indeed made in the mid late 70's, but what is important is that it is fitted with a short shoulders long tines fine flexible nibs.

Same comment on the demonstrator, it is a french market model because 18ct 750 tri color nibs were made in the early 60's till early 70's and were only made for the french market, the rest of the markets were receiving 14ct 585 tri color nibbed pens. It sports also a narrow shoulders long tines slightly flexible nib.

In general, the short shoulders long tines flexible nibs or the tapered shoulders long tines flexible nibs are considered as MB best nibs.

I own one 1979 MB 149 that is fitted with the very first generation of 18kt750 broad shoulders short tines extra fine, it is very flexible but not as my other 149s that have all short shoulders long tines full flex nibs.

The longer are tines, the better is supposed to be the flex, the shorter are the tines, the more the nib is rigid. I have testwritten several modern 149s in various nib sizes and ones with custom modded nibs, none were to equal the ones I have. I have also testwritten limited editions but most of them were fitted with far too rigid nibs. Luck of the draw? No absolutely not, just that I am very picky in terms of nibs and I testwrite the pens I want to purchase as much as possible.

I would suggest you to try how far you can go with this demonstrator in terms of line variation, you won't be disappointed.

 

best regards

 

georges

[fmp]

Great pics. These and the 146 demo pics are truly educational. Couple of questions, the feed holder in the XF pen is black instead transparent ? are sealant neccesary for 146 and 149?

[niksch]

Yes, sealant is required. The nibs in MB pens are not designed to be removed regularly or as easily as with Pelikan pens.

 

are sealant neccesary for 146 and 149?

[CS388]

Astonishing pens. Thanks for sharing pictures.

 

Already asked - but are those small cracks around the ink window (ie. where it would be) area - or part of the design? I've seen them on other demonstrator pictures, too.

 

If cracks: would they be present, but invisible, on our black meisterstucks- or is it a result of the material used to make demonstrators?

[Multiechelon]

Thank you for the great summary, Georges. I know these comments are in several spots in the forum, but it has not fully clicked for me until now. This helps me understand a lot. I have really enjoyed this B nib and I will start to push it some more.

 

CS388, regarding the micro cracks, I don't have a good answer. I am pretty confident they are not an intentional part of the design. And I have heard from some knowledgeable people on this forum say they are to be expected for a clear demonstrator but I have to admit I don't understand why they exist. My understanding is that the material used is the same as the normal 149s. And when I stare at the micro cracks, I think they would be visible on normal 149s if they were present on normal 149s. But they are not visible on my other 149s.

 

The good news (for me) is that both of these pens had been inked and used for years so I am confident the pens will continue to hold up, but it took a leap of faith to buy them.

 

Sean

[Wael El-Dasher]

Congratulations!

 

Both look great. I am sure once you can let them go for a bit, they will come back without the pink goop and look even better.

 

There is something neat about seeing the 149 in a demonstrator. I am not big on clear pens, especially cartridge pens, it seems pointless, but these are fantastic and they really do demonstrate how the pen is assembled.

 

Use them in good health.

 

cheers

 

Wael