Slim pen spring

[chromantic]

Having purchased an Aurora Ferrari (Hastil) around Xmas last year, I was spurred by Wattz for Ziti's January thread about slim pens to go looking for other pens that were mentioned, especially those in alexwi's list. I love the Ferrari but the cap is super heavy due to the huge brass clip and I wanted to find a few lighter offerings. Here's what I ended up with (soorry for the poor quality of the pics, eh):

 

 

L to R: Ferrari, Parker 180 Flighter, Sheaffer Slim Targa Pinstripes, Slim Targa matte black/chrome, Hastil matte black, Fashion matte black, Hastil Ciselle, with a Parker 50; even that diminutive pen looks fat in comparison

 

 

nibs: gold EF, steel M/EF, gold M Triumph, steel M Triumph, gold EF, gold-plated steel F, gold EF (I'm assuming, haven't inked it)

 

 

Here's another pic of the striped Targa; though the 1st pic prob shows it off better, pics just don't do it justice, the way the gold stripes catch the light is amazing. One small problem it has is there's always a smear of ink across the nib just below the breather hole, that's where that ink spot above came from. I don't recall this happening on the black/chrome one when I had it inked. I've been checking ebay occasionally looking for a 14k F Triumph, though the M isn't too bad.

 

They all write well, the F's and M's smoother than the EF's on the Hastils, of course. The black Hastil and the striped Targa both use carts and the first time I refilled them, they both ended up leaking into the barrel (and out the bottom spring pad holes on the Hastil into my shirt pocket) but hadn't had any problems on subsequent fills.

 

Ink-wise, I have KWZ Lux Grey in the striped Targa, the black Hastil and the Fashion, Diamine Manngis in the 180 and Diamine Ruby in the Ferrari; I first tried Monaco which was great and laid down a nice, very distinct line but I wanted something a little closer to the red accents. Wild Strawberry was too pale in EF but the Ruby is a good choice, color matches fairly well and the line is pretty distinct. Black Targe not inked atm and I haven't inked the silver Hastil.

 

Looks-wise, they're all quite nice, especially the striped Targa, though a bit too striking perhaps; the Ferrari is dashing and I'd use it more if it weren't for the heavy clip; the black/chrome Targa is kind of meh, while the black Fashion and Hastil are the cat's PJs - there's just something elegant about matte black with gold trim that I find very appealing. The Hastil has the edge here, the barrel taper isn't as pronounced and the brushed clip is more subdued than the shiny Targa one. The silver Hastil, well, I just saw silver Hastil and odered it without looking more carefully to see the "Ciselle". It's nice enough, I suppose and at least it's not Parker Ciselle, with the big, honking squares and what looks (in photos) like black crosshatching; no, the pattern is extremely fine, with the tiny facets like glitter so it sparkles in the light but, being just a length of shiny silver with no variation, it's kind of bland. Maybe if it had a gold clip...

 

The Parker 180 is perhaps the most interesting. It looks quite dainty; it's the shortest (by 3/16s - 1/4") and the barrel tapers the most (it's not the slimmest, though, as the Targa's cap can easily slip into the 180's cap). The brushed stainless is also very smooth and very slippery - I did drop it once. It's also the only one I have trouble maintaining the right positioning of the nib (I find it rolls slightly to one side or the other), possibly because of the long tapering section. Still, it has the (possibly most) quintessential Parker "look" and the wedge-shaped nib exerts an almost hypnotic fascination.

 

That's my little collection of slim pens. If you have any questions about particular pens, please ask.