I've completed my comprehensive review of Baystate Blue that I mentioned in my initial posting a couple weeks ago. Please note this was done with my own pens and papers, which is by no means completely comprehensive - your own experience may vary. I've tried to be as objective, balanced and neutral as possible - if you feel otherwise, please let me know.
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Summary: Noodler's Baystate Blue is one of those colors that people are either drawn to or repelled by - it is quite electric in appearance on any paper and with any nib. It is not sedate in any sense.
Baystate Blue requires some special handling as it can stain in unexpected ways and with real tenacity; if in doubt, do not use - as some pen materials can be permanently colored. Cleanup is generally good - but not perfect - with bleach solutions (from 25% to pure) or isopropyl alcohol. It is waterproof, but not "bullet-proof". A free-flowing ink, it can bleed and feather quite a bit on some papers depending on the flow of the nib being used.
As much as I love Baystate Blue, I find I personally cannot continue to use it. I've had a devil of a time with it unexpectedly getting on clothing, desktops, pen bodies, wooden floors and other surfaces due to its free-flowing nature in my wet nibs. In most cases bleach has been able to remove it - but not all - and therein lies my problem.
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Pens used:
- Bexley Tea Time in stub crisp italic
- Conklin New Nozac in broad crisp italic
- Pelikan M805 in double broad crisp italic
- Pelikan M805 in triple broad crisp italic
- Pelikan M600 in double broad crisp italic
- Pelikan M600 in broad crisp italic
- Pelikan M600 in medium crisp italic
- Platinum Music in crisp italic
- Platinum Preppy modified eye-dropper fine ball
- Sheaffer NoNonsense in broad italic
- Sheaffer NoNonsense in medium italic
- Sheaffer NoNonsense in fine italic
- Sheaffer NoNonsense in extra fine crisp italic
- Sheaffer NoNonsense in medium ball
- Sheaffer Snorkel in stub italic
Papers used:
- Apica 6A10 lined notebook
- Black n' Red lined notebook
- Clairefontaine Pollen vellum sheets
- Clairefontaine Triomphe blank pads (various sizes)
- Crown Mill Cream Laid plain sheets
- Fabriano deckled edge blank cards
- G. Lalo deckled edge blank cards
- HP Premium Choice 32# LaserJet plain sheets
- Levenger 3x5 lined note cards
- Moleskine blank notebook
- Moleskine weekly planner
- Rhodia Uni-Blank pad
- Richard Binder premium plain pads (various sizes)
- Sheaffer deckled edge plain sheets
- Southworth 25% cotton Granite plain sheets
- Southworth 100% cotton plain sheets
- Various office and printer papers
Flow rate: Towards the upper-end of the free-flowing range. Can actually drip from "wet" nibs if one isn't careful. My best results came from "dry" ball nibs and a Sheaffer Snorkel stub.
Lubrication/feel on paper: Just above the middle of the range; not too slippery and not at all dry. Quite controlled and pleasant to write with.
Color - in bottle: Very dark cobalt blue.
Color - wet: Electric blue.
Color - dry: Electric blue; very little difference between wet and dry. The closest Pantone match I can find is somewhere around "Reflex Blue" or "PMS 2738".
Color - different nibs: Color does not appear to vary between nibs.
Color - different papers: Shifts darker on colored papers; loses vibrancy on manila envelopes.
Color - similar inks: Aurora Blue, Omas Blue and Visconti Blue are in the same general color range in a vague way at best, but do not begin to match the vibrancy of Baystate Blue - which appears to be unique in fountain pen inks at present.
Tint: Very similar in color and tone to Windsor & Newton French Ultramarine watercolor pigment. A clean blue at the ultraviolet end of the spectrum.
Saturation: Deeply saturated, like many in the Noodler's line.
Contrast: Mid-dark level of contrast. Varies towards the darker end with different types of light sources and lighting intensity.
Shading: Little, if any. Lines are uniform from side-to-side and top-to-bottom.
Opacity: Towards the darker end of the spectrum; easily covers lighter inks, but does not cover all printed lines.
Feathering: Varies widely depending on the paper. One of the few inks I've found to feather on Clairefontaine Triomphe. Seems to do best on paper that has a slight absorbency to it like Rhodia Uni-Blank and HP Premium Choice 32# LaserJet. Also did well on the Southworth cotton sheets.
Bleeding: Also varied widely, with much the same results as above.
Fiber raising: Hardly any.
Drying time: Very quick. Scary quick when it found it's way onto things where it wasn't intended.
Smearing: None after drying.
Effect of hand oils: Goes right over the top without issue in my tests.
Nib creep: Little to speak of. However, several nibs stained and could only be cleaned with a bleach solution.
Effect of leaving cap off: I left a cap off overnight and it started flowing immediately when I next put the nib to paper.
Waterproof: Yes.
Bullet-proof: No; comes right off with bleach.
Lightfast: Yes, in limited testing.
Fugitive: No; a strong color with no evidence of shifting over time.
Effect when highlighted: No color smearing by the highlighter ink when dry.
pH neutral: No. pH rating is between 8 and 9 on the label.
Bottle: Noodler's standard 3 oz. bottle.
Cartridges: Not available.
Presentation: Noodler's standard card-stock box and colored label.
Price: $12.50 from Swisher Pens
Availability: On-line stores appear to have a good supply at this writing.
