Picture(s) a Day: Dec 30
Pilot Custom 742 with FA nib on left, Skogsy Pens Cholla with Monty Winnfield Utility nib on right
Today's pictures are both pictures of the day and new pen day pictures. 🤩 Clearly I spent my Christmas money SO FAST. 😅
I happened upon an announcement from Skogsy Pens for recent pens that were put up on their shop site, and was amazed to see that this Cholla model with a holographic glitter resin was not yet purchased. There were actually two models, one with this silver shimmer section, and another with a copper shimmer section. I waffled back and forth between the two, but ended up with the silver-sectioned pen. I love the depth that the embedded holographic shimmer gives to the pen. I kind of wish that the pen cap were as clear as the pen body, but that's a minor nitpick. I bought the pen without a nib to save a bit of money, since I have another Cholla pen and fitted it with a Monty Winnfield Utility nib (extra fine italic with a broad architect grind on the reverse) and figured I would transfer the Utility nib to the new Cholla. I've inked the pen with Troublemaker Rodeo, an intriguing warm, rosy beige ink sample I bought a little while ago.
As for the other more traditional looking pen, it's a Pilot Custom 742 with a 14K gold FA nib, a specialty flex nib. This is my first Pilot pen from this traditional line up. I have other Pilot pens that are either from the more affordable, beginner line ups (Kakuno, Lightive), pocket pens (Pilot Elites, Pilot E95s), or a retractable model (Pilot Capless Fermo). Oh, I momentarily forgot I also have a resin Pilot Falcon with the falcon nib, which is more of the traditional pen body style, but it's slightly lower tier than the Custom 742, from my understanding.
Anyway, I wanted to try out the FA nib since it is one of the more exclusive offerings from Pilot. It doesn't disappoint! It's a very bouncy, flexy nib that needs very little pressure to give line variation. It reminds me of the vintage gold EF nib in my Pelikan 140. Initially I dipped it in Pilot Iroshizuku Syun-Gyo for testing. While it obviously worked well in the pen, the wetness made line variation less apparent because any pressure at all made the ink flow readily, making most lines relatively broad. I ended up filling the pen with a drier ink, Colorverse Hwang Cho (from my "Slackvent" ink samples) and it balances out the wet flow much better.
I will, of course, have more to say about these pens after a while of living with and using them, but I'm very happy with both purchases!
