Wing Sung 698 Piston-Filler

[sciumbasci]

I have seen none of the issues you mention after months of use. However, sample size is 2 so I can't talk about how likely it's going to habe problems in general.

 

That is already assuring. I am aware that I cannot predict for sure if I'll get a dud or not, but two pens performing good is noteworth.

 

 

I'll update the review in half a year if you'll remind me

Do you plan to use it daily or often? If so, I'll be glad to send you a PM!

[Tasmith]

Great review!

[visvamitra]

Well, I won't use it daily as I have too many pens. But I plan to have it with me in a pen wrap every day. It's one of few fine-nibbed pens I have and fine line comes handy at times.

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for the review. I haven't seen an insane broad nib so I didn't try it. I'm impressed for the price.

[basterma]

Thanks for the information about the brand everyone. Chinese branding is an interest of mine that grows as I spend more time there.

[Miaxina]

Thank you so much for the review! I love the look of ink in the barrel and the pen but I'm not crazy about the piston filling mechanism (I hate dipping the nib into ink bottles).

[MontPelikan]

Hello,

 

a short review of this nice chinese pen could be found here:

 

https://youtu.be/pD-ETGpwcKs

 

Thank you for watching.

 

MontPelikan

[Lugworm]

This is definitely a pen we are going to see a lot more of. I like mine.

[plumo]

Hello,

 

a short review of this nice chinese pen could be found here:

 

https://youtu.be/pD-ETGpwcKs

 

Thank you for watching.

 

MontPelikan

 

Great review, everything I need to know at a glance, in short order.

[Sefter]

I've had my WS 698 for a month and it has become my favorite pen. It is quite durable, I carry it in my shirt pocket every day when I am at work and I work in a rough environment for pens, I wash busses for a charter company and use 200 degree water so it goes through a lot of temperature change, I also have dropped it on gravel as well, but I can't find a scratch on it and it starts nib to paper every single time. I would recommend this as an everyday carry. Also, they advertise their fine as a soft nib and it does handle a little bit of flexing.

[obilot]

I have this pen and can't get ink to flow to save my life. It skips like crazy when it writes at all and scars up my nice paper. I have flossed between the tines, and it still skips, and fails, on Tomoe River paper, cheap steno paper, and a blotter.

 

Any thoughts on what I might try next to get this pen writing reliably? I can tell it would be a favorite if it worked.

Edited July 11, 2017 by obilot

[Honeybadgers]

I like the idea that this exchanges with pilot nibs. I have a spare stub and a few spare EF's and F's, so if I dislike the nib, I can just swap in one that I absolutely love.

 

I agree that the pilot MR isn't perfect for me, I like everything but the grip section being so insanely skinny. This looks like the perfect alternative.

 

Also, why the heck doesn't pilot already make this? this would be a perfect ~$30-40 pen that fills in the painful market gap they have between the $12 MR and ~$70 prera.

[Splodge]

Thanks for the review. I purchased one of these recently too and I have been quite suprised with the quality, considering the price and origin. I'm quite happy I made the purchase.

[Jorge]

 

When I first saw this pen on FPN, I thought it looked pretty well. Most demonstrators do when they’re filled with nice ink. The cost of the pen is rather low, so I ordered one. After using it for a while, I’m ready to share my thoughts on it.

Brand

It’s here that my head starts tu hurt. Probably I was just too lazy to make proper research. Maybe someone with good chinese market knowledge will drop here and explain things to us.

The pen comes in a plastic “box” stamped with Hero logo but it’s called Wing Sung. To complicate things further there’s a Lucky brand name engraved on the clip, WINGS letters engraved on the ring. On Taobao the pen is sold as Lucky 698 on eBay as Wing Sung 698. I think that any marketing profesionnal would moan over this brand split personality.

Pen

The pen comes in plastic blister pack. Apart from Wing Sung 698 we receive a converter filled with silicone grease in the package. It’s nice accent.

If the pen was made in black plastic, it wouldn’t look nice. The shape and overall design are rather generic and boring. Two things that many fountain pen users will find tempting are pen transparency and piston-filling mechanism. So far I haven’t hears about other chinese piston-filler. It’s almost out of character for a chinese fountain pen. Some people share opinion that Hero was trying to copy TWSBI fountain pen. I’m not sure. It’s different design.

Wing Sung 698 is quite substantial with some flair to it (take a look at the cap). Construction is a little rough, there are mold lines on some of the plastic, and the cap top seems somewhat messily affixed, but it’s not easily noticeable unless you really, really want to prove that chinese pen must have some flaws.

The cap unscrews in one turn. It’s embellished with metal end-cap. There’s also a plastic inner cap that tends to fall off from time to time. It’s not glued.

The grip section is significantly narrower than the barrel. It tapers down towards the nib. There’s a plastic rim just above the nib. The grip section is long and comfortable. On the other hand, depending on your grip, plastic threads that create a significant step up from the section may become an issue.

Dimensions

Length uncapped – 131 mm

Length capped – 141.3mm

Maximum diameter – 12.5mm

Weight – 23.8g.

Nib

(The ink used in the samples is my favorite blue-black - Kyonooto Aonibi)

The nib and feed are, possibly, made with ex-Pilot tooling, and superior to the usual Chinese nibs and feeds. The nib can be swapped with Pilot 78G nibs. The one that I received performed flawlessly out of the box. While it’s not the most enjoyable nib I’ve ever tried, I’m impressed by it. Smooth, wet and reliable, it started to write out of the box and keeps on doing so.

The feed is translucent so it’ll have the color of the ink you use. The nib is described as Wings Super Quality fine. So far – after a month of use I can agree it’s well made steel nib that’s a joy to use.

Filling system

The pen uses surprisingly smooth piston-filler. It features a special clutch mechanism to secure piston knob – it needs to be pulled out by a couple of millimetres to free it, so that the pen can be filled. After filling, the knob is pushed back in position where a clutch mechanism engages and locks the knob in position. It doesn’t feel rock solid, it feels a little wiggly and the closure is tenuous at best. On the other hand it hasn’t failed yet. Also the piston-filling mechanism works very smoothly and it holds reasonable amount of ink – around 1 ml.

Summary

I’m impressed. The pen is reasonably priced, works well and while it’s not perfect I don’t think that TWSBI’s are much better pens. If you consider trying piston-filler for the first time, it’s a reasonable choice.

 

 

I am suffering from the problem related to the inner cap as already mentioned by the OP :"There’s also a plastic inner cap that tends to fall off from time to time. It’s not glued."

I have not seen it mentioned in any other WS698 related thread (otherwise a great pen with which I am very pleased).

Is anybody else here having this same trouble? Any solution you have worked out?

I understand that the inner cap is simply friction fit, but I have not succeded after several attempts in obtaining back that level of friction that would keep it in its due place. I am not inclined to glueing it as that would most likely affect the original, nice transparency of the cap if not something worse.

Thank you for your interest.

[fjoly79]

this is a great review and as I just bought a TWSBI Vac 700R, I wonder if I should have waited. I found the TWSBI fine nib to be a bit scratchy or giving too much feedback... again great review of this Wing Sung 698, visvamitra!

[Jorge]

 

I am suffering from the problem related to the inner cap as already mentioned by the OP :"There’s also a plastic inner cap that tends to fall off from time to time. It’s not glued."

I have not seen it mentioned in any other WS698 related thread (otherwise a great pen with which I am very pleased).

Is anybody else here having this same trouble? Any solution you have worked out?

I understand that the inner cap is simply friction fit, but I have not succeded after several attempts in obtaining back that level of friction that would keep it in its due place. I am not inclined to glueing it as that would most likely affect the original, nice transparency of the cap if not something worse.

Thank you for your interest.

Has anybody else suffered this blind cap problem?

[Chrissy]

Thank you for the review. Even though I hate pens with big step ups from section to barrel with a passion, I believe that even I could get on with this pen. Although one of my penpals did write me that no matter what nib you try for, they all seem to be EF.

[joly1]

I bought one a month ago,it is my edc pen, in my shirt pocket no cracks, no peeling off for the golden trims, no leak, perfect writing, and the inner cap seems firmly in place

Edited July 23, 2017 by joly1

[KellyMcJ]

I just ordered one of these!!! I saw the uncommon Canal Blue color and fell in love immediately because it reminds me of a lot of vintage pens. I got the Soft Fine nib.

 

I'm hoping to make it my EDC. I'm currently carrying Pilot Metros but I'm not happy with the ink capacity. Since Wing Sung supposedly uses the very similar nibs, I'm thinking I'll really like this. And I love piston fillers.

[KellyMcJ]

It just arrived and I'm in love! The piston cap clutch feels very solid, although it does wiggle side to side a fair bit.

 

I just adore the color, though there are some swirls in the cap where the color didn't mix perfectly and I hope that in time these won't become a weak point (I'm probably worried over nothing, I think that's common in lighter colored plastics).

 

Writes like a dream. I can't wait to take it on its maiden EDC voyage tomorrow! The ink capacity is amazing as are the ink windows so there are no surprises halfway through a workday.

 

ETA actually, on second look the piston cap on mine looks different from yours! But maybe that's because yours is a demonstrator. It's very solid. Noticeable side to side play but it's definitely not going anywhere. I'll post pics tomorrow when I have good light.

 

It does that "feed doesn't quite keep up with fast strokes line variation" thing which I absolutely adore! (I'm using a dry ink in it).

Edited July 25, 2017 by KellyMcJ