MB released 146 Flex in resin

[bunnspecial]

1 hour ago, Sinistral1 said:

FYI - Iguanasell.com appears to have some still available.  No affiliation and never even been a customer, just noticed their website and that they are a Montblanc retailer.

 

4 minutes ago, bunnspecial said:

 

THANK YOU for the tip.

 

I was just able to order one from them(and no, I didn't tarry this time). Since I'd never bought from them, I was even able to take advantage of their 12% new customer coupon, so net cost to me was $26 more than a standard 146!

 

Super excited to have been able to get this, and hope I can report when it arrives. My handwriting isn't worthy of a pen like this, but maybe this will poke me to go back to learning/practicing Spencerian...

 

Alright, well I spoke too soon.

 

I went through with the order and about 5 minutes later received an email stating that the item is out of stock and they're GUESSING it may be 40 days(no idea how concrete that number is-just something they say based on past experience) and offering me the option of wait it out until delivered, leaving a 40% deposit non-refundable deposit to reserve it and balance to be paid when delivered, or pick another Montblanc in stock.

 

Not sure which of those I want to do. Maybe a few more of these will trickle in shortly, but I don't know how much I want to bank on that...

[Sinistral1]

Well phooey!  I hope they put an "Out of Stock" notice on their web page.  Don't give up on getting your own Baby C!

[Andrew_L]

10 hours ago, invisuu said:

I don't think you'd be sad to own any of these pens really. I enjoy all of them at least, but I find the 149 really superior in comfort. 

 

Yes, of course I am very pleased with my Pilot nibs and withcertain ink selection I have no big problems in writing even with factory feeds. I ordered custom ebonite feeds but haven't tried them out yet. For me, the 149 is very big and my hand gets a little tired, so I was very interested in release of 146C, which has been rumored for a long time. It's impossible to know everything, but  really want to :))

 

 

 

 

[invisuu]

11 hours ago, como said:

Here I try to post some photos of this 146C nib

 

... aaand here it is. I like large nibs and I find the 149 more nicely in proportion nib:body. I'm very happy with this result, as this means the 146C won't tempt me

 

  

10 hours ago, readytotalk said:

My sincere congratulations on the acquisitions, and many thanks for the photos.
If I understand correctly, at the moment Montblanc seems to provide definitely better overall quality and comfort for flexible writing than any Pilot nib, doesn`t it?

 

This is purely my opinion and experience, but I would agree with that, yes. The poster above me achieves superb results with the 742 (FA #15) and finds it very ergonomic. I personally find the 149 more comfortable, but I also have large hands (I'm nearly 2 meters tall...).

 

I really honestly think all of these pens are superb and one could be perfectly content with any of them. My wife finds her Pilot 912 FA (the #10 nib) much more comfortable than my 149, for example. It also depends heavily on you.

  

1 hour ago, Andrew_L said:

Yes, of course I am very pleased with my Pilot nibs and withcertain ink selection I have no big problems in writing even with factory feeds.

Wow, amazing. You're very good!

[readytotalk]

3 hours ago, invisuu said:

This is purely my opinion and experience, but I would agree with that, yes. The poster above me achieves superb results with the 742 (FA #15) and finds it very ergonomic. I personally find the 149 more comfortable, but I also have large hands (I'm nearly 2 meters tall...).

 

I really honestly think all of these pens are superb and one could be perfectly content with any of them. My wife finds her Pilot 912 FA (the #10 nib) much more comfortable than my 149, for example. It also depends heavily on you.

Thanks for your opinion! Sadly I have no experience with neither 146C nor 149C, but have some Pilot pens and vintage flexible nibs)

I absolutely agree with @A Smug Dill that Pilot 912FA with #10 nib (which he consider comparable to 149C) can produce definitely better line variation than 743FA with #15 nib (with plastic feed). 

It would be optimal to get a direct comparison of Montblanc vs Pilot on the same paper and with the same ink, but if 146C writes like #10 without problems with feed - this is a outstanding nib.

[A Smug Dill]

57 minutes ago, readytotalk said:

I absolutely agree with @A Smug Dill that Pilot 912FA with #10 nib (which he consider comparable to 149C)

 

Um, I have no experience at all with any Montblanc pen or nib, so I couldn't possible consider the 149 Calligraphy to be comparable to the Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with FA nib.

 

57 minutes ago, readytotalk said:

can produce definitely better line variation than 743FA with #15 nib (with plastic feed).

 

I'm surprised at how fine the hairlines you managed to produce with the #10 FA nib. The ink flow looks a bit dry (but that would suit me just fine), but there is no evidence of ink starvation, no broken lines. Are/were you using the factory-fitted plastic feed in that pen? If so, then it just goes to show that the plastic feed is adequate for producing calligraphic writing in English.

 

…

 

Well, I just blew my budget for any new pens for a while, upon discovering earlier today that there are AliExpress sellers offering the (Chinese) calligraphy books I want, but cannot easily or economically get from Taobao and have them delivered to me in Australia. US$300 gone… 

[Nabado]

10 hours ago, bunnspecial said:

 

 

Alright, well I spoke too soon.

 

I went through with the order and about 5 minutes later received an email stating that the item is out of stock and they're GUESSING it may be 40 days(no idea how concrete that number is-just something they say based on past experience) and offering me the option of wait it out until delivered, leaving a 40% deposit non-refundable deposit to reserve it and balance to be paid when delivered, or pick another Montblanc in stock.

 

Not sure which of those I want to do. Maybe a few more of these will trickle in shortly, but I don't know how much I want to bank on that...

I just saw that the Fountain Pen Hospital in NYC is taking orders for the 146C for a "late Jan. - Feb. release". This might be an option for those of us in the NYC area/the US.

While I have been a customer there before, no affiliation or sponsorship or something like that exists -- just leaving this here as a resource from one enthusiast to others, which I hope is appropriate 🙂

 

[invisuu]

1 hour ago, readytotalk said:

I absolutely agree with @A Smug Dill that Pilot 912FA with #10 nib (which he consider comparable to 149C) can produce definitely better line variation than 743FA with #15 nib (with plastic feed). It would be optimal to get a direct comparison of Montblanc vs Pilot on the same paper and with the same ink, but if 146C writes like #10 without problems with feed - this is a outstanding nib.

Yup, that is my experience as well. #10 has better line variation than #15. 

I can make the comparison as I have all of the pens at home. I'll do that first thing when I have time. It seems like 146C is very comparable to 149C, so that should give a nice overview of the modern flex nibs available today.

[Karmachanic]

Am I correct in assuming that the 146/9 nib is marginally superior to the 912 nib, and that the 912 is close enough for rock and roll?

[invisuu]

51 minutes ago, Karmachanic said:

Am I correct in assuming that the 146/9 nib is marginally superior to the 912 nib, and that the 912 is close enough for rock and roll?

I would say so. I'll try to get some comparison pictures today, if the kids cooperate

[Karmachanic]

9 minutes ago, invisuu said:

if the kids cooperate

 

 

Thank you, and good luck!

[invisuu]

So here's the comparison, the stars aligned.

 

 

Inspired by previous post, here's a quiz; which quote was written with which pen? My wife nailed it immediately, so it seems to be more obvious than I'd think.

 

 

In my opinion, the 912 FA punches way above it's price range and could easily replace a MB 149C on a budget. The weakest link is the filling mechanism.

 

The 823 FA has the best filling mechanism with huge ink capacity and extremely easy ink window and can shut off so there's no way it can ever leak. It's also the most precise of the three, but the line variation is the weakest.

 

The 149C is my favorite with superb line variation, I'd say the thinnest are thinner than the 912's and the thickest are also thicker than the 912s, but the difference is smaller than one would perhaps expect from the price. The filling mechanism is right in between, but the size is by far the most comfortable to me. I can write with this pen for hours without any issues, which is not something I can say for the other two pens, but I have large hands.

 

I pushed all three nibs to max by the way. I wouldn't go this far normally in my day to day writing.

 

All of this is really, really nitpicky. Let me reiterate that I really believe all 3 of these pens are superb and I could easily live with either one of them.

[Recursion]

21 minutes ago, invisuu said:

So here's the comparison, the stars aligned

Superb! This gives a great perspective. Thank you for sharing 

[Karmachanic]

@invisuu Thank you so much!  Valuable info.   I'll be content with the 912 (ebonite feed).

[Andrew_L]

invisuu - thanks! It's very informative! (your 912FA is742FA:))

 

1 hour ago, invisuu said:

Inspired by previous post, here's a quiz; which quote was written with which pen?

1 - 742(912), 2 - 149, 3 -823

[invisuu]

15 minutes ago, Andrew_L said:

invisuu - thanks! It's very informative! (your 912FA is742FA:))

 

1 - 742(912), 2 - 149, 3 -823

ooops, you are right! It is 742! I will tell the answer when more people have had the chance to participate

[Tasmith]

12 hours ago, Andrew_L said:

 

Yes, of course I am very pleased with my Pilot nibs and withcertain ink selection I have no big problems in writing even with factory feeds. I ordered custom ebonite feeds but haven't tried them out yet. For me, the 149 is very big and my hand gets a little tired, so I was very interested in release of 146C, which has been rumored for a long time. It's impossible to know everything, but  really want to :))

 

 

 

 

Beautiful!  And very helpful in seeing what each pen can do.  Thanks!

[readytotalk]

6 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Um, I have no experience at all with any Montblanc pen or nib, so I couldn't possible consider the 149 Calligraphy to be comparable to the Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with FA nib.

I apologize for the incorrect quoting, @A Smug Dill these were the words of @invisuu. 

 

7 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

I'm surprised at how fine the hairlines you managed to produce with the #10 FA nib. The ink flow looks a bit dry (but that would suit me just fine), but there is no evidence of ink starvation, no broken lines. Are/were you using the in that pen? If so, then it just goes to show that the plastic feed is adequate for producing calligraphic writing in English.

This nib was tuned, first of all). And maybe it's because of the ink also. Pelikan 4001 Violet is very "dry" ink, but in my experience it suits well to Pilot factory-fitted plastic feed.

 

2 hours ago, invisuu said:

So here's the comparison, the stars aligned.

Thank you very much for sharing, @invisuu, your test confirms that 149C is closer to #10 FA Pilot nib. 

PS And special thanks for the quotes from Russian writers, this is very kind of you)

[como]

Montblanc 149 Calligraphy has been very well documented by @fpupulinFranco and many other members in long The Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Appreciation Thread (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/354196-the-meisterstück-149-calligraphy-appreciation-thread/page/38/#comment-4500170)

 

I've played it for two days now. Simply put, if you like the 149C but think the 146 size would better suit you, this is the pen.

[como]

Here are some criteria I considered while evaluating a modern flex pen:

 

- True Extra Fine

- Flex

- Versatile (workable with different inks and paper)

- Robust

- Ink flow

- Snapback

 

I ended up with 149C (and now a 146C too) and a Pilot Custom 912 with Spencerian grind.

 

The 149C/146C score high on all but the Snapback. While it's good, Pilot 912 Spencerian is slightly better. The problem with the Pilot 912 Spencerian is that it is only meant to write Spencerian script with (this nibs.com says so on its website), so I can't really use it on any of the beautiful artisanal fibrous paper (Fabriano Unica, Amalfi...). The ink flow is problematic at times. I think it's more than just the plastic feed issue. When material is ground away at the back side of the FA nib to add flex, it doesn't always deliver a perfect capillary action. So on Versatility, Robustness, Ink Flow, I strongly prefer 149C/146C. I play with 149C a lot more than the Pilot 912 Spencerian, as it has much more paper options. On Tomoe River paper 52gsm (and surely many other smooth paper that I don't have), it's very much fun and pleasure to write with Pilot 912 Spencerian. So please take your paper preference into consideration too when you make a choice. I won't go into the design preference of the pens. Each to his/her own.