EFNIR: Noodler's General of the Armies

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Noodler's General of the Armies

This is review #295 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: This is a sort of washed out army green. It leans strongly blue.  Per instructions, I shook the life out of it before filling... Had flow problems on day 4 while doing a logic problem. After cleaning dried ink from between the tines, flow was much wetter and the ink darker and greener, so watch out for fast drying on the nib.

I was wrong in the video about dry time - looking under the microscope, the smear I thought I saw on 1:40 was an illusion.  I'm saying 1:25 is the dry time (or 85 seconds).  Dry time seemed almost instant on other papers, FWIW.

Cleaning was surprisingly easy, though it did take some extra effort. The ink wanted to cling to the underside of the nib and to the glass slide, but came off the grip section easily enough. Don't ask me to explain it.

The microscope slide was boring: blue, green, and yellow (green could have been where the other two colors didn't separate, I don't know); and gritty grey, like fine sand, that's common to pigmented inks.

According to Noodler's website, it is: bulletproof, eternal, partially fluorescent (I was able to see this, but attempts to capture it didn't really work - you can sort of see it in the video - photos didn't work at all).

Zoomed in photo (Pretty close except in real life, the ink looks like one solid, smooth color, not blotchy like the image.)

Screenshot (Text is a little too dark.)

Scan of Completed Review (Text is a bit light, and maybe a little too blue.)

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (AP: A little too blue; CP: a little too dark)

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 353µm. With 295 inks measured, the average line width is 297µm.)

Water Test Results (I couldn't see any green or yellow on the paper towel used to sop up the water, yet it's as if the green/yellow was lifted (from day 5 on, see notes about days 1-4), leaving only a blue shade behind. Can't explain it.)

Previous Review: Sheaffer Skrip Green.

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!

[yazeh]

Wow what a trip down memory lane. Thanks for such an excellent review @LizEF👍

This is one of the first inks, I reviewed and I kept a Kaweco inked with it for 2 years at least. Ironically, I rarely used it. And cleaning was surprised easy.

This ink will turn into a glassy blue over time and the green dye will disappear. It's something to do with uniforms. I'm not well-versed in American history to capture all the supposed nuances 😊😁

My swatch is now blue.

I'm thinking  maybe, sometime soon, I should revisit and re-review it, with new eyes. 😊

Thanks for taking me down the memory lane. 🙏🙏🙏

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

Ooo, I had a sample of General etc.  It reminded me of poster paint.

 

I wonder if it's still around because my curiosity's been prodded, and I have cheep pens to test it in. 

 

Thanks, @LizEF, for the review and story.  

 

Interrogations?  I get them every day.  They're draining.

 

I like Makhabesh jumping into the interrogation to defend Quin.  Please keep 'em coming.

[yazeh]

@Sailor Kenshin inner interrogation I assume, those are the toughest ones 

The good General is still in production and sold in the US.😊

 

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Wow what a trip down memory lane. Thanks for such an excellent review @LizEF👍

You're most welcome.

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

This is one of the first inks, I reviewed and I kept a Kaweco inked with it for 2 years at least. Ironically, I rarely used it. And cleaning was surprised easy.

Impressive!

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

This ink will turn into a glassy blue over time and the green dye will disappear. It's something to do with uniforms. I'm not well-versed in American history to capture all the supposed nuances 😊😁

Ah.  Well, I'm not sure if the blue is the right shade, but yes, when those old army uniforms fade enough, they are quite a different color from when new.

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

My swatch is now blue.

I suppose in time we'll see if mine does that too.

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

I'm thinking  maybe, sometime soon, I should revisit and re-review it, with new eyes. 😊

Could be interesting to see if your perception has changed, or if it's still the same old ink.

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Thanks for taking me down the memory lane. 🙏🙏🙏

Gladly!

[LizEF]

33 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Ooo, I had a sample of General etc.  It reminded me of poster paint.

 

I wonder if it's still around because my curiosity's been prodded, and I have cheep pens to test it in. 

Can't say I remember poster paint, but even without a cheap pen, it's probably safe to test - one of the easier permanent inks to clean.

 

34 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Thanks, @LizEF, for the review and story.

You're most welcome!

 

34 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Interrogations?  I get them every day.  They're draining.

Indeed.  (Insert snarky comment here about not getting arrested so often.... )

 

35 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I like Makhabesh jumping into the interrogation to defend Quin.  Please keep 'em coming.

The High Wizard is coming close to getting fireballed.   Will do!

[chromantic]

I always look forward to Tuesday and a new LizEF review I had considered this ink back when I was new here but never bit.

[LizEF]

11 minutes ago, chromantic said:

I always look forward to Tuesday and a new LizEF review I had considered this ink back when I was new here but never bit.

Thanks!

[inkstainedruth]

When this ink first came out I was a little iffy about the color in the reviews I saw.  And now, seeing this new review, and the slow dry time?  My opinion of it hasn't changed.  

But thank you for the review (and my wallet thanks you even more, since we need to have our driveway replaced fairly soon -- not overly looking forward to having to juggle parking on the street, especially for the days where the town does street sweeping... ; but the driveway people are going rid us of the stupee steps on one side at the bottom where the driveway hits the street, so we will no longer have to warn people to back down the driveway so as to NOT wreck their vehicle's undercarriage...).

[LizEF]

18 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

When this ink first came out I was a little iffy about the color in the reviews I saw.  And now, seeing this new review, and the slow dry time?  My opinion of it hasn't changed.  

But thank you for the review (and my wallet thanks you even more...

You and your wallet are very welcome!

 

Good luck with the driveway replacement!  Hope it goes well.

[inkstainedruth]

They said it will take about 5-6 days (I presume that will depend somewhat on the weather).  They will do one side, including replacing the blocks held up by rebar on the upper side with the concrete sloping up, then the other side, so we can still walk up and down to the street).  They're going to do a base layer of gravel with drains that will drain into the front yard.  They are also raising the driveway up so that there isn't a step up from the driveway to the first step to the front porch (although I'm a bit concerned that the raised level along the side of the house will cause problems with the basement windows on that side, as well as the outside spigot and the bottom part of the wiring for the outside corner lights on that side).

The original plan was to extend the driveway into a turn around behind the house, but that was just going to cost too much more.  When they replace the blocks on the upper side of the driveway, they may have to rip out the privet hedge on that side (we may have to warn our next door neighbors about that, and I'm not sure on which side of the property line some of the big trees along there are along the upper side of the driveway, either - ours, theirs, or the people from the cross street whose property backs onto our side yard behind the next-door neighbors" property.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

33 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

although I'm a bit concerned that the raised level along the side of the house will cause problems with the basement windows on that side, as well as the outside spigot and the bottom part of the wiring for the outside corner lights on that side

Well, voice your concerns before they start. Better that than regret of expenses later! 

[inkstainedruth]

Oh I did at the time.  I was assured that they are going to fit those clear window well thingies around everything -- which I understand for the basement windows, but I'm more dubious about the ones around the spigot and the electric connection for the corner floodlights....  I'll have to see what they come up with, and I don't know when this is all going to take place (I don't know if my husband has signed the contract yet; I certainly haven't seen the papers for us to go over).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

Oh I did at the time.

  Well, you can only do what you can do.  Hope it all goes well for you!