Review: Hero M86 Chinese Calligraphy Pen

This review is by Kalina Wilson, who can also be found at geminica.com.

Once again, my review is inspired by an Urban Sketcher.  This time, it's the wonderful Tia Boon Sim of Singapore and her use of the Hero M86 Chinese calligraphy pen.  The pen has a beautiful and solid (albeit heavy) black and silver body.  

See that bulbous cap?  It's too heavy for the pen, and doesn't post well.  Hmm.  At least it's stylish.

The only source I know of for these pens is ISellPens.com.  Scroll down towards the bottom of the linked page to find it. Right now it's selling for $12.88 plus shipping.  

This pen has a bent nib which is sometimes referred to as a "ski jump" nib.  Due to the bend the line is generally quite broad; however, when you tip your hand forward (bringing the pen into a more vertical position, up to a right angle from the page), you get a fine line.  Additionally, as also works with other fountain pens, inverting the pen results in an even finer line.

 
The first two writing samples are on Aquabee Super Deluxe paper which is fairly toothy, and shows the lines available by changing the vertical angle of the pen.   (Sorry for the blur.) The third sample is on smooth "Pen Sketcher's" paper.  Also see Tia's video demonstrating her use of the pen; it's subtle, but you can see that she changes the pen's angle to the paper quite a bit and also uses it in the inverted position for awhile.

      

I believe it's because of the strange way you need to hold this pen to achieve line variation that it has such particularly idiosyncratic results.  Tia achieves gorgeous fluidity in her sketches using this tool (this is one of my favorites of hers - so beautiful!).  That's Tia, though.  In my hand the pen produces a very different style.

The Hero M86 is so unlike other pens that it takes special attention and practice.  Luckily it's a lot of fun, as well!

As for ink, I took no chances and filled up with Noodler's Bulletproof .  Use an economical ink in any case because you can blast through it fast with this pen. 

The pen comes with a pump filler ink reservoir. This brings us to the pen's one major flaw that I've found, besides the minor annoyance of not being able to post the cap:  ink flow has been inconsistent.

Often I need to open up the pen and manually push the slider to force ink towards the nib, being careful not to push too far, which would flood ink onto my hands and paper. I haven't heard of others encountering this problem with the Hero, so it may depend on how you hold the pen or it could be a manufacturing issue.  Tia recommends moving the ink pump very quickly in order to reduce air bubbles.  Following that advice reduced but did not eliminate my ink flow problems.  See her discussion here; note that my ink reservoir is the one she states is newer, printed with "Hero" rather than "Made in England".

Like most other fountain pens and brush pens, this pen doesn't do well in a Moleskine sketchbook or, indeed, on any paper that has a non-absorbent coating.  The copious ink just pools up.  Toothy watercolor or mixed media paper has a strong effect on the line, but it takes the ink well.  In general, an artist may need to be a little more selective about paper when using this pen than they would when using a standard fountain pen like a Lamy Safari.  My accounting ledger paper resisted the ink a little bit which resulted in some smudging and a greyer tone, but other than that the effects were nice.

This is an exciting pen for artists.  I highly recommend the Hero M86 for anyone who desires great variety of line and loves to discover new possibilities in their tools... as long as they are willing to spend some time getting to know the pen and don't mind working around the unpostable cap and potentially unreliable ink flow.

Thanks to Tia for showing her gorgeous sketches made with this pen at last year's Urban Sketchers Symposium... and to my partner Mike for putting the Hero M86 under our Christmas tree!

Review: Platinum Carbon Desk Fountain Pen - Super Fine

The Platinum Carbon Desk Fountain Pen in it's brand new packaging glory.

After becoming obsessed with Esterbrooks, I've felt a need to acquire an Esterbrook desk pen set. I really wanted to try out desk pens and see if I could really use it daily. While this never happened, I got a Platinum Carbon Desk Fountain Pen instead. This pen is particular in that it comes with a cartridge of carbon ink, which is waterproof.

The pretty gold-plated stainless steel nib of the fountain pen. It has the signature Platinum "P" logo.

The Platinum Carbon Desk Fountain Pen writes as smoothly as a fountain pen should and solidly. It has a 14K platinum nib and takes ink with cartridges. After the ink empties, I'm pretty sure you can just take a syringe and fill it up perhaps. What's interesting about the cartridge though is that it is stopped by a metal bead which plugs the whole of where the ink comes out. Just stick the cartridge in the pen, push with some force, and then the bead is dislodged and the ink is flowing. The pen feels very nice in my hand and looks very elegant with its elongated body. The cap feels a bit cheaper, but this doesn't mean that it not good quality. I guess it is because it comes with a stand to put the desk pen in, but I did not buy it and felt that the cap was sufficient for me.

The fountain pen tested on Clairefontaine 90g paper.

I found that I really loved the carbon ink! It's waterproof and it dries reasonably fast compared to the majority of fountain ink pens. However, this carbon ink is lighter in pigment and is more so a dark grey than black. And also, because it is carbon ink, it is not suitable for all types of fountain pens and may clog up some of the finer more delicate ones (or so I have heard). 

However, I found that I cannot ever posses a desk pen. In the beginning, I was able to use it daily and it was nice. Yet, as time went by and I became swamped with school things, I used it less and less.. and it made a big mess as the ink pooled to the bottom since I heard that a desk pen has to be stored pointed down.

Another view of the Carbon Ink Pen and the cartridge it comes with.

In conclusion, I found that this pen is not for me. At all. I've realized that I really do need portability for me to actually use pens (daily), especially since I am not always at my desk. But, the carbon ink is really interesting and some people may be able to find good uses for it, particularly artsy folk who like to deal with watercolors and other watery things. I'm highly considering buying a bottle of Platinum carbon ink and loading it up a fountain pen, if I find the correct fountain pen to use it with.

The Platinum Carbon Desk Fountain Pen can be found for a mere 12$ at Jetpens.com! A fairly great price. (But it appears to be sold out currently). The accompanying stand can be found for 18$, and a bottle of carbon ink can be found for $22.50 - both at Jetpens.com.

Fountain Pens for Daily Use

I recently starting collecting fountain pens this past summer and fell in love with them. This compelled me to convert all my school stationery to become more fountain pen friendly, with the idea that I could use fountain pens to take notes in class.

On the first day of lecture in my physics class, I tried it out and decided that I should really just stick to using gel pens to take notes. I had the following problems: the doesn't dry fast enough making the ink smear, the ink is too water soluble, and I just feel really pretentious (and I just get distracted by my pen and start writing random things). It seems that all the problems are down to the ink, as I am basically using Private Reserve Velvet Black, but I'm really afraid of loading other types of ink into my fountain pens, and the safest inks seem to have similar problems. 

The mild sadness that is seen through my physics notes on a side-staple bound ~A5 Rhodia notebook. (Areas circled in red = problems which include smudging and distraction.)

Now, it's really difficult for me to find time to use or take care of my fountain pens. I've basically emptied them all and then now only dip whenever I feel the need to use them.

I'm wondering, how do you find time to use fountain pens? And if you use them daily, how often do you use them and in what situations do you use them in?