EFNIR: Sailor Blue

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Sailor Blue

This is review #283 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Dark and muted enough to be interesting, but not enough to be blue-black or even dark blue.  There's a bit of sheen on the right paper (a wetter nib would surely yield more).  Shading may increase on more shade-friendly papers and from the right nib.

Cleaning wasn't bad, but you may need flush or a swab - it was the tiniest bit clingy.  The microscope smear was dullsville.  I thought I saw a smudge on the 1:45 mark during recording, but examining under greater magnification shows none, so I set the dry time at just over 1:30.  In testing, it was over 2 minutes...

Zoomed in photo (Too muted on one monitor, too purple on the other. But not too far off.)

Screenshot (Text is much too dark.)

Scan of Completed Review (This is closest.)

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (Too muted on one monitor, too purple on the other. Reality isn't blotchy.)

Line width (The "I" in "Ink:". Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. The line width for this ink is roughly 296µm. With 283 inks measured, the average line width is 296µm.)

Previous Review: Diamine Bilberry.

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

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View a list of my inks, complete with review results in a google sheet.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh? Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[Sailor Kenshin]

@LizEF: Not only do I have this ink, but ALL your comparison inks!  Does that detract from my Default Jerkery?  😹

 

And I really like the color of Sailor Blue.  It's a Sailor ink so similar in behavior to any of their others (got the BB, too).  I haven't noticed a lonnnnggg dry time so I may dip-test it soon.

 

Love the story, of course.  The intrigue deepens.  Marsell, The High Wizard, what's up with them?  Poor Dad.  I look forward to the next one, and thanks as always for the Tuesday Treat!  👏🏻 💝 🎉

[LizEF]

48 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

@LizEF: Not only do I have this ink, but ALL your comparison inks!  Does that detract from my Default Jerkery?  😹

 

49 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

And I really like the color of Sailor Blue.  It's a Sailor ink so similar in behavior to any of their others (got the BB, too).  I haven't noticed a lonnnnggg dry time so I may dip-test it soon.

Yes, very Sailory...   The long dry time may only be because it's the back of a sheet of Rhodia...

 

50 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Love the story, of course.  The intrigue deepens.  Marsell, The High Wizard, what's up with them?  Poor Dad.  I look forward to the next one,...

Thank you!

 

50 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

...and thanks as always for the Tuesday Treat!  👏🏻 💝 🎉

You're most welcome!

[yazeh]

The wait is over for another Tuesday extravaganza. I'm starting to feel like a cat in a routine. Treat please 🙀

Great review. It's funny I was about to review this one and another one you did recently 😊 

I'm now getting more and more curious about jerk-wizard / Saruman/ Voldemort and admirative of Quinn's sang froid and not revealing much of the demise of Marsell the oily wiz 😉

Looking forward to the installment and the new inks to discover 👍

[LizEF]

20 minutes ago, yazeh said:

The wait is over for another Tuesday extravaganza. I'm starting to feel like a cat in a routine. Treat please 🙀

 

20 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Great review. It's funny I was about to review this one and another one you did recently 😊 

Thanks!  Great reviewers choose alike?

 

22 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I'm now getting more and more curious about jerk-wizard / Saruman/ Voldemort and admirative of Quinn's sang froid and not revealing much of the demise of Marsell the oily wiz 😉

 

22 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Looking forward to the installment and the new inks to discover 👍

Thank you!

[yazeh]

2 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Thanks!  Great reviewers choose alike?

Or we follow in the mighty steps of grand reviewers 😹

[LizEF]

11 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Or we follow in the mighty steps of grand reviewers 😹

[InesF]

Thank you, @LizEF, for reviewing this Sailor ink. Basic (royal) blue is not something I'm willing to spend money for (this is a quote from the jerk inside me ). There was an oversaturation with royal blue during so many years in school. Going grey- or jeans-blue is different and I'm with you that this Sailor Blue looks quite a bit interesting.

 

Nevertheless and again, I put my attention on the story, not on the ink colour, because I was entertained and pleased more while learning about non-empathic high-jerk wizards!   

[arcfide]

One of my favorite blues, and I *loved* it writing on Monokaki paper with a Sailor 21k Broad KOP nib for Morning Pages. Used up basically a whole bottle of the stuff that way. 

[Lithium466]

Thank you @LizEF for that review of one of the classic Sailor inks!

Sailory, hum? Maybe. Maybe not enough?

 

Probably an unpopular opinion but I find this one to somewhat fall in the shadows of Sailor Black (which IMO kind of punches above its weight), and Sailor Blue Black (if you want a real grey dark blue black).

Sailor Blue is hard to fault for the price, but... meh? And double meh perhaps? Flow is good but lubrication average, colour is yawnmuted, there are some velleities to resist water a bit, but nothing like Pilot blue or blue-black. Also a little tendency to hard start if you pause a bit too long? Maybe that's just me and my particular pens, at my age, pauses with the cap off might be too long. Thankfully nowhere near Diamine Bilberry level.

 

When I got a Pilot Custom 743 in F (that is way too thick to fit within this review's frame), I disdainfully ignored the black cartridge it came with and used Sailor blue instead...and that was a terrible match, so bad it made me avoid the 743 for a while after that. (Want a better match, use Sailor ink Studio 743 with the Pilot 743, yes that's more of "that" royal blue purple liquid stuff😱 At least you'll have the "satisfaction" of the double 743.)

 

Sailor blue sat unloved, on the shelf of shame. I started experimenting mixing it with Edelstein Rose Quartz, to put some chest hair to one, and tame the other. Or give it some LSD. So far so good, no overdose  

[LizEF]

7 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you, @LizEF, for reviewing this Sailor ink.

You're very welcome!

 

7 hours ago, InesF said:

Basic (royal) blue is not something I'm willing to spend money for (this is a quote from the jerk inside me ).

  Nor should you, IMO - it's a yawn-inducing color (royal blue).

 

7 hours ago, InesF said:

There was an oversaturation with royal blue during so many years in school.

Hence the yawns.

 

7 hours ago, InesF said:

Going grey- or jeans-blue is different and I'm with you that this Sailor Blue looks quite a bit interesting.

Exactly!

 

7 hours ago, InesF said:

Nevertheless and again, I put my attention on the story, not on the ink colour, because I was entertained and pleased more while learning about non-empathic high-jerk wizards!   

Thank you!

[LizEF]

4 hours ago, arcfide said:

One of my favorite blues, and I *loved* it writing on Monokaki paper with a Sailor 21k Broad KOP nib for Morning Pages. Used up basically a whole bottle of the stuff that way. 

Very nice.  Thank you for sharing your extended experience.  I should have tried this on Iroful, but between the new kitten and spring yard work, who has the energy?  (And this morning I had to waste 1.5 hours with the company that hosts my domains as two of them wouldn't receive email after they migrated servers!  All working now, but a waste of my time.)

[LizEF]

4 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Thank you @LizEF for that review of one of the classic Sailor inks!

You're very welcome!

 

4 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Sailory, hum? Maybe. Maybe not enough?

Well, the answer will probably vary by person. I won't be rushing out to buy a bottle... (Even if I weren't already up to my ears in ink.)

 

4 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Probably an unpopular opinion but I find this one to somewhat fall in the shadows of Sailor Black (which IMO kind of punches above its weight), and Sailor Blue Black (if you want a real grey dark blue black).

Sailor Black is quite nifty in how it seems to give some texture to the nib.  I'm thinking perhaps a mixture of Blue and Black might yield something more interesting even than Blue Black...

 

4 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Sailor Blue is hard to fault for the price, but... meh? And double meh perhaps? Flow is good but lubrication average, colour is yawnmuted, there are some velleities to resist water a bit, but nothing like Pilot blue or blue-black. Also a little tendency to hard start if you pause a bit too long? Maybe that's just me and my particular pens, at my age, pauses with the cap off might be too long. Thankfully nowhere near Diamine Bilberry level.

Well, I don't much like Pilot Blue or Blue-Black as far as color (they work nicely in the pen, but the colors are boring).  I don't remember Sailor Blue drying fast on the nib, but I'm not sure I always do things that will test that - though I try to do logic puzzles daily, and those seem to be a pretty good test.

 

4 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

When I got a Pilot Custom 743 in F (that is way too thick to fit within this review's frame), I disdainfully ignored the black cartridge it came with and used Sailor blue instead...and that was a terrible match, so bad it made me avoid the 743 for a while after that. (Want a better match, use Sailor ink Studio 743 with the Pilot 743, yes that's more of "that" royal blue purple liquid stuff😱 At least you'll have the "satisfaction" of the double 743.)

Fortunately, I don't have or plan to get a 743, so I won't be tempted to get the royal blue 743 ink.

 

4 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Sailor blue sat unloved, on the shelf of shame. I started experimenting mixing it with Edelstein Rose Quartz, to put some chest hair to one, and tame the other. Or give it some LSD. So far so good, no overdose  

[yazeh]

@LizEF as promised here is the sketch of a surly Sphinx after the meeting with the high wizard.

Diamine Vivaldi. There might be a hont of De Atramentis Artist  Orange in the wings  😊

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

is it very wrong of me to think Surly Sphynx is cute?

[yazeh]

32 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

is it very wrong of me to think Surly Sphynx is cute?

[LizEF]

8 hours ago, yazeh said:

@LizEF as promised here is the sketch of a surly Sphinx after the meeting with the high wizard.

Diamine Vivaldi. There might be a hont of De Atramentis Artist  Orange in the wings  😊

 

Oh, very unhappy indeed.  He appears to be stretching up to full height in consideration of doing something about it, too!   Thanks, @yazeh!

 

4 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

is it very wrong of me to think Surly Sphynx is cute?

Probably shouldn't tell a surly sphinx that you think he's cute - might get yourself fireballed!

 

As mentioned elsewhere, here's a map of the Wizardlands (with bits cut off, as the page was too large for my scanner; explanations follow):

 

 

Names of places / geographic features that have not been used in the story are subject to change.

• In the desert, there's an X where the "sphinx-trap" statue / structure is. I don't have a clever name for this thing.
• Below that and chopped off, there's a label and arrow indicating that further south, we have Sphinxland and some plains
• The letter "P" in a box indicates the location of a magical portal
• Toward the top right we have (partially chopped off) "Barrier Mountains" + "unenchanted lands" and an arrow pointing right, indicating these are both off the map to the right.

Happy to answer questions.  Things may not be to scale or at their proper relative distances...  I just wanted a rough map as I needed a new region for our upcoming story line and our adventurers had traveled enough that I felt the need to bound their world so I could stay consistent...

 

[LizEF]

2 minutes ago, LizEF said:

... needed a new region for our upcoming story line ...

 

I removed the location label for this as it would be something of a spoiler.

[yazeh]

Wow! This is real helpful! Great job @LizEF 

 

[LizEF]

20 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Wow! This is real helpful! Great job @LizEF 

 

Thanks!  Glad it's helpful.  Historically, I've usually started with a map as things are easier when you know where you are.