MB released 146 Flex in resin

[fpupulin]

[kaisede]

@fpupulin

 

You have beautiful hand writing. 

[fpupulin]

Thank you, kaisede.

 

I am intrigued by the curious geometry of the 146 flexible nib. The broad shoulders and the almost triangular tines are quite a novel design in Montblanc's arsenal of nibs. It was obviously designed expressly for having flex virtues, and it looks really promising and interesting.

[como]

Well, I got curious and went to have a look... and ended up bring one home. These lines below were written either with my 149C or 146C. Can I you guess which line is by which pen? 😀

Paper: Fabriano Unica

Ink: Montblanc Royal Blue

No skipping or any other issues, just a perfect Baby C!

 

I will be back to post the answer later in the evening!

[como]

15 hours ago, Nabado said:

 

I picked up the 146C this afternoon and just took some pictures of the nib, as requested (@como). It's just my phone's camera, so no fancy setups, but I think this should give a decent first impression of the nib up close.

 

I have not inked it yet, but I will report back once I have put the nib to the test....

@Nabado Thank you very much for showing! I got too excited after seeing the photos and went to see the pen, and forgot to say thank you first. THANK YOU!!

[fpupulin]

1 hour ago, como said:

Well, I got curious and went to have a look... and ended up bring one home. These lines below were written either with my 149C or 146C. Can I guess which line is by which pen? 😀

Paper: Fabriano Unica

Ink: Montblanc Royal Blue

No skipping or any other issues, just a perfect Baby C!

 

I will be back to post the answer later in the evening!

Really impressive, como! Congratulations for your new pen!

 

It is almost impossible to distinguish among those two perfectly tuned nibs. They both behave as true flex, also thanks to your excellent control of the pressure. Just to play your game, and taking into account what other owners of the 146C posted, I would guess that your new baby wrote lines 2, 4, and 6. The narrow strokes in these rows appear to me imperceptibly lighter.

 

Be that as it may, a great couple of nibs you have there to play calligraphy with!

 

When you will have some time, please comment on your feelings about the new nib and pen, compared to your experience with the 149 Calligraphy.

[Mr.Rene]

Where to buy that pen on line for overseas buyer?? Any clue or suggestions?

Regards.

[bunnspecial]

Thanks for the report on this. I love the 146 size in general, although I also use 149s more often these days...

 

I was looking on MB's website last week and saw a "Legrand Calligraphy" but for whatever reason I got mixed up about Legrande being the 146 and not 149(why can't they just call them that?).

 

In any case, cleaning out the couch cushions now to hopefully order one before they go out of stock. I still want the 149...but I'm excited to find it in a pen I do really like and, after all, why not both?

[Nabado]

16 hours ago, kaisede said:

@nabado, 

 

Congrats on your new pen. 

Thank you, @kaisede!

 

3 hours ago, como said:

Well, I got curious and went to have a look... and ended up bring one home. These lines below were written either with my 149C or 146C. Can I you guess which line is by which pen? 😀

---

Thank you very much for showing! I got too excited after seeing the photos and went to see the pen, and forgot to say thank you first. THANK YOU!!

And congratulations on your new 146C, @como! Baby C’s a great nickname (which I'll adopt, if I may), and your comparison is fun, useful and very pleasing to look at.

My guess would be that lines 1, 4 and 5 are written with the 146C, as I’ve found that while it flexes a lot, the 149C still delivers a slightly broader stroke when used to its maximum flex capability. The strokes on the A in line 2, E & M in line 3 and the D in line 6 all seem to stem from the pen with more flex.
…but maybe you’re also simply more daring to push your 146C to its limits than I am, and paper and ink are also factors to consider. I’m looking forward to your revelation later!

 

At any rate, I agree with @fpupulin, both are great pens and I’m enjoying them very much, as I am sure you are, too.

 

Talking of flex:

I have compared the flexibility of the two nibs, maybe this is going to be helpful for some people.

Paper: Rhodia No. 19

Ink: Iroshizuku Kon-Peki

 

The upper sample is from my 149C (now aka Biggie C 😜). At its thickest part, the stroke on the left is about 1.5 mm wide, which is very close to the 1.6 mm MB are advertising.
The last two strokes on the right side were made by holding the pen at the middle section and the piston respectively and just pulling the nib down on the paper so as to let the weight of the pen be the only pressure applied.

 

The strokes below that are from the 146C (aka Baby C). It still flexes a lot, but will not go as far (or I don’t dare push it as far…yet) as the 149C: the thickest stroke is about 1.1 mm wide.

In direct comparison, the 149C is much more sensitive to pressure being applied, which makes it harder to write thin lines with than with the 146C, but it also delivers thicker lines at maximum flex.

 

In addition, the 146C’s nib is somewhat stiffer than the one on the 149C, provides a little more feedback when writing, and the ink flow is not quite as generous. As you can see with the last horizontal stroke above, it also tends to skip a little when absolutely no pressure is applied. I think, however, this also depends on the paper, as it did not occur as much when I tried it on Leuchtturm paper, and I also never write without any pressure, so I don't care.

It very much reminds me of the EF 146 I have in these regards, and the combination of EF lines and flex capabilities somewhat reminds me of the 1950s 342G I own, which is a little too small for my hands most of the time for everyday use.

 

To me, after one day of use, it’s like a blend between these two — and I love it!

 

I think this makes the flex easier to control and positions the 146C above its big brother for
everyday use.
For those who are not as interested or advanced in calligraphy and pressure control, or those who are simply looking for an everyday MB that adds a little line variation to everyday handwriting in times of modern „nail nibs“ in the regular lineup, this might be a great choice of pen.

 

I am really looking forward to exploring this pen more over the next couple of days, and to hearing other early users of this pen chime in here.

[Sinistral1]

Kaisede:

 

Thank you for the heads up regarding the issue of the 146C - one is now on the way to me from the MB website.  I can't wait!

[como]

3 hours ago, Mr.Rene said:

Where to buy that pen on line for overseas buyer?? Any clue or suggestions?

Regards.

@Mr.Rene If you go to the US Montblanc site and search for "Calligraphy", you will find the LeGrand (146) Calligraphy resin version. Go to Check availability at boutiques Worldwide option, you will see all the countries and boutiques that have this model. Then you need to call to see if a specific boutique actually still has them or if they are already reserved. The online info doesn't reflect how many available ones are actually reserved.

 

P.S. Not all country sites have this model listed as available. Here in Switzerland it's not listed, but when I called, they had a few and I was still able to reserve one. So if you go to your country MB site and don't find it, please double check on US site (or some other country sites) so you can see where it is available, if it's indeed available.

 

Good luck!

[como]

The answer to the which line / which pen question I posted earlier:

 

Line 1: 146C

Line 2: 149C

Line 3: 146C

Line 4: 146C

Line 5: 149 C

Line 6: 146C

 

@fpupulin @Nabado You each got 50% right! The truth is that I can't tell either. As soon as I started writing the lines, I realised that I'd better note the models down immediately after each line. It would be impossible to go back and remember which was which.

 

@fpupulin Thank you for your encouraging words! I will write some more comments once I spend a little more time with this pen. From the 30 minutes I've had writing with it, to me it's a Baby Calligraphy, but mainly just in size 🙂. Ah, in price too, obviously: 149C was 955 Swiss francs, and 146C 740 Swiss francs (US site shows $815). Both are about 100 francs over their regular non-C resin version, and 200 uptick from 146 to 149. I think it's quite well priced.

 

@Nabado Thank you for sharing your writing sample with the two nibs. From my pens, I don't see a big difference between line widths of 146C and 149C. These nibs are a bit individualistic and they can feel a bit (or a lot) differently from one pen to the next. I don't push my nibs too hard, but I am pushing both nibs with roughly the same amount of force. 

 

[Uncial]

6 hours ago, Nabado said:

The strokes below that are from the 146C (aka Baby C). It still flexes a lot, but will not go as far (or I don’t dare push it as far…yet) as the 149C: the thickest stroke is about 1.1 mm wide.

 

With the nib on the Solitaire I'm getting to the equivalency of a broad line with ease so I think it should get to a BB without any trouble, perhaps even beyond that. I don't want to push it too far at present as I want to get a better feel for the nib.  What I'm now noticing is that the weight of the Solitaire opens the tines a fair bit. Presumably this will be considerably less an issue for the resin 146.

 

6 hours ago, Nabado said:

think this makes the flex easier to control and positions the 146C above its big brother for
everyday use

 

I can see myself being able to use it as an everyday writer. Its very slightly finer than the Sailor Imperial needlepoint when writing under its own weight so not for pale inks if no pressure is applied.

[meiers]

9 hours ago, Mr.Rene said:

Where to buy that pen on line for overseas buyer?? Any clue or suggestions?

Regards.

I like Fritz Schimpf. They are in Germany. They carry new releases very quickly. If they don't have it now, they will get it soon.

 

https://www.fritz-schimpf.de

 

[jagwap]

On 1/11/2022 at 12:59 AM, kaisede said:

@Nabado, 

 

I agree with you. The solitaire version are expensive if you are only interested in the nib. I recommend those we are interested in the flex nib should pick one up before it becomes hard to get like the 149C. When I purchased my 149C in early 2019 I put an order for another one but I never got the call. I followed up a few times and the boutique told me no stock. Finally I got word that 149C in resin is discontinued.

 

That is unfortunate, as the 149C are in the cabinets here in the boutique in Shenzhen. I guess they cannot export them back to areas where people want them.

[kaisede]

10 hours ago, Sinistral1 said:

Kaisede:

 

Thank you for the heads up regarding the issue of the 146C - one is now on the way to me from the MB website.  I can't wait!

Sure no problem. 

 

15 hours ago, como said:

Well, I got curious and went to have a look... and ended up bring one home. These lines below were written either with my 149C or 146C. Can I you guess which line is by which pen? 😀

Paper: Fabriano Unica

Ink: Montblanc Royal Blue

No skipping or any other issues, just a perfect Baby C!

 

I will be back to post the answer later in the evening!

Another beautiful hand writing. 

[A Smug Dill]

15 hours ago, como said:

These lines below were written either with my 149C or 146C.

 

Fabulous handwriting!

 

Could you please tell me what the x-height is?

 

I'm waiting to find a pen with a flexible/calligraphy nib that will allow me to write like that (with practice, of course), consistently and in those ratios of line widths, with an x-height of 3mm or smaller.

[Karmachanic]

3 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

'm waiting to find a pen with a flexible/calligraphy nib that will allow me to write like that

 

Careful!  You might have to purchase a dreaded MB

[A Smug Dill]

4 minutes ago, Karmachanic said:

Careful!  You might have to purchase a dreaded MB

 

If it's actually able to produce what I'd regard as calligraphic writing in English to suit my purposes, while no other flexible/soft/calligraphy nib can do that, then I'll certainly consider it.

 

I'm not convinced, however, that any calligraphy nib on the market designed for writing in English (or other European languages with Latin-based alphabets) can produce calligraphic writing in the style shown for 6mm or even 7mm line spacing. Put another way, if a regular European EF nib allows me to write ‘normally’ on 6mm-ruled sheets, then I'd expect a EF calligraphy nib to produce the appropriate type of line variation for writing that is roughly that height, with thinner hairlines and thicker stems than what a regular nib would produce, while managing the transition from thin to thick smoothly yet tightly. The Scribo FEEL's 14K gold flexible EF nib, which I (sorta) had high hopes for, cannot even produce as fine a hairline or connecting stroke as a Diplomat or Aurora steel (regular) EF nib; and that is a nib I've seen touted more than once as being most closely comparable with Montblanc's calligraphy nib, out of everything produced and sold today.

[invisuu]

19 hours ago, como said:

"Well, I got curious and went to have a look..."

 

Nice! Congrats on the pen! I can not discern any major differences between 146C and 149C, so I'm not tempted by the 146C, I'll stick to my 149C. This is good news for 146 fans though, as they get the same quality nib as 149 got.

 

@A Smug Dill have you checked Pilot Custom 912 FA? I'd say it flexes as much as my 149C. Oddly enough, Pilot Custom 823 FA doesn't, however. The 912 does require a feed upgrade from flexible nib factory.