Namiki Falcon Vs Pilot Falcon

[araybanfan]

I am considering to move on from Lamy 2000 EF to a finer line. My woes would have ended if Lamy produces finer lines with a variation up to a medium nib for the purpose for drawing. After much research here thanks to the forum i am kind of set on the falcon pen. There seems to be a variety of falcons available. I have tried the pilot falcon in SEF in a shop, the SEF nib is quite "noisy" and it does lay a much finer line great for drawing compared to the lamy. Perhaps I am not used to the flex pen or it hasn't been run in, I did have to flex above comfort zone to get fatter lines. All in all, the pen offers good potential. The shop owner was telling me the nakimi falcon is better, they haven't had much luck in getting any recently. Other than being a resin model, can anyone please share the thoughts between the 2 interms of nib characteristics and the weight differences? Any recommendation for a fine drawing pen is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Edited September 6, 2011 by araybanfan

[Yuki Onitsura]

AFAIK, the only difference is the size and weight (Pilot Falcon is a smidge longer and heavier).

 

Yuki

[araybanfan]

Thanks Yuki, just realised that the pilot is longer. Length matters more than weight in my case.

[Yuki Onitsura]

Thanks Yuki, just realised that the pilot is longer. Length matters more than weight in my case.

 

It's not really a whole lot longer. You probably wouldn't really notice the difference unless you had the two side by side.

 

Yuki

[AltecGreen]

God I hate Pilot's stupid naming convention in the US.

 

 

 

The Namiki Falcon is the previous generation Pilot Falcon made of resin and sold in the US under the Namiki brand. The Pilot Falcon is the current generation Falcon made of metal and sold by Pilot US as a Pilot. Both pens are known as the Pilot Elabo in Japan. In Japan, the resin version is no longer in the catalog while in the US both versions are still listed.

 

The essential difference is that the new version has a metal body and is a little bit longer and heavier. This might seem trivial since the extra length is small but, in fact, the extra length is very important. The new metal version is now long enough to use the CON-70 converter whereas the old resin version is limited to the CON-20 or CON-50 converters. The CON-70 holds significantly more ink than the CON-20 or CON-50.

[araybanfan]

Thanks guys for the insight. Regarding converters, with all things being equal I do wonder if a different converter may render a different flow thus altering the behaviour of the nib?

[PenEngineer]

No, I don't think different converters from Pilot would make a noticeable difference. They all have the same diameter on the mouth of the converter. The only thing would be if you used an ink that tends to not move well in small areas; it might get caught up in the rubber stopper on the CON70 and make an air bubble under it. The increase in ink capacity is worth it in my opinion.

[Mickey]

No, I don't think different converters from Pilot would make a noticeable difference. They all have the same diameter on the mouth of the converter. The only thing would be if you used an ink that tends to not move well in small areas; it might get caught up in the rubber stopper on the CON70 and make an air bubble under it. The increase in ink capacity is worth it in my opinion.

 

Ink flow problems are most often found with the CON50 converter. I switched my (resin) Falcon to a CON20 almost immediately after buying and have had few flow problems except those associated with a feed not being up to the job of serving a (modified) flexible nib. Most reports I've seen regarding the CON70 name it one of the best, if not the best converters available.The CON50, on the other hand, is a lousy converter.

Edited September 7, 2011 by Mickey

[PenEngineer]

I agree. I enjoy the CON 70 the most of any of my converters, I was nearly pointing out one possible defect it has, and that is more an issue of what ink goes in it.

[troglokev]

Getting back to the original poster's question, I had an original resin Falcon for a while, and I found it a bit too stiff for flex writing. The flex was there, but required too much effort to maintain for any period. John Mottishaw used to do mods to the Falcon to improve this: you might give him a try.

 

In addition to the Namiki Falcon and the Pilot Falcon, there is also the Falcon (FA) nib available for some of the Japanese model. (Reviewed here) The FA does give usable flex, within the limits of the flow of the feed.

[araybanfan]

Thanks for the input guys. I finally received a SEF metal falcon from Japan earlier today. There was abit of a twist to the journey, as the pen i had won on ebay was actually a resin model under the name of Pilot elabo. I was under the impression of that all pilot models are metal while namiki falcon is the only resin available. Thus I requested the con70 along with the package only to discover that it does not fit to the pen when the package arrived a week ago. I contacted the seller Engeika aka Taizo who offered to rectify the situation. I was given the option of getting a con50 in the next few days or sending back the pen for an exchange with a modest top up fee for the metal falcon.

 

Part of me was trying to live with the pen as to save the trouble of going through the postage cycle again. Hands on experience without ink seems that the resin model is far too light to exert pressure for flex strokes. Perhaps the scenario was elevated in the absence of the converter. In the end i went for the top up. The metal version that i now own feels substantially heavier. Comparing with the lamy 2000 and rotring 600 that i am familiar with, the metal falcon is smack right in the middle in terms of weight.

 

With early strokes with the SEF nib, it renders thin lines beautifully. Comparing to the lamy 2000 EF and Rotring 600 EF, the falcon is ever so refine but i would rate the overall the smoothness to be inbetween the latter 2. I intend to use this primarily as my sketching pen and not writing thus the ultimate smoothness is not of key importance especially when it's an SEF. It has been indeed an enlightening experience nonetheless only hours of inking the pen. I don't have enough experiences to comment on vintage flex pens, the falcon does offer "broad" strokes with limitations. Down strokes naturally offers the best variations, i would gauge the scale of EF to medium+. While cross strokes do not offer the same scale while within a range of variety. Oddly, the 2000 seems to flex alittle bit more than the falcon while being less limited by the directions of the nib. I need to a longer break in period on this confirmation.

 

The disadvantages on the falcon is perhaps the limitation on flexing, finishing wise, the thread on the cap could have been metal too like the bamboo pen. Both the lamy and rotring are matte surfaces so i am getting used to the lacquer on the metal.

 

All in all, I am glad to have exchanged the pen from Taizo, at under $250 i have yet to know another pen that offers such variety on the line work as a sketching pen. Perhaps in due time I will get the 743 FA though i do suspect this model may not render a thinner line than the SEF metal falcon. Thanking you most kindly for all the input on the thread.

Edited September 24, 2011 by araybanfan

[araybanfan]

Here is a sketch done with the metal falcon pen. Black areas filled in with sailor brush pen.

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/rayshader/falconsmall.jpg

Edited September 26, 2011 by araybanfan

[ExcaliburZ]

Nice eagle

[Readymade]

Nice! Glad to hear the nib and pen work for you

[saketb]

That's a beautiful Eagle and the great flexible pen. I'm eyeing on the new Elabo Falcon from Pilot.

[araybanfan]

That's a beautiful Eagle and the great flexible pen. I'm eyeing on the new Elabo Falcon from Pilot.

 

Thanks for the kind words. You may like to try the converters along with your purchase, all 3 i have ended up with different results, con 50 being the wettest. I would rate the elabo SEF a better sketch pen than it is for the purpose for writing IMHO.

Edited October 17, 2011 by araybanfan

[Soundsider]

I have both the Namiki and the Pilot versions, and can say if you're looking to experiment with flex the resin version will satisfy as long as you are OK with a "plasticky" resin feel; but the metal Pilot version has better heft, balance, and has far more substance.

 

If you know this is the pen you want, I strongly recommend the metal Pilot as worth the substantial difference in price. I alternate between the two, and always have one or the other inked...but if I'm going to carry the pen or do a great amount of writing, the metal is my choice, hands-down.

 

If you are wanting to "play" with flex, then better off to go with one of the Noodler's piston flex pens available from Goulet Pens for $14. These are just coming back into supply at noon today.