The story I am working on right now is being written using the Hero 359A extra fine nib. I have been pleased with how well this pen writes and behaves. I use it for both work and home writing.
The pen has a white plastic body with a port window so you can check ink levels. It is rounded with one flat side. So it won’t roll as bad. The length is perfect for me, either posted or unposted, since I prefer a longer pen. The Jinhao 992 while a lovely writer is too short for my taste.
The grip is clear and triangular shaped with finger grooves. This grip is very cool because the ink is visable. It did take some getting used to the grip. The cap provides the only pop of color. I have the mint/sea foam green cap. However they come in the green, pink, purple, yellow, and a grey. The colors were designed to be a “Lady” pen vs the bold solid body colors of the 359. The 359 and 359A are homages to the more expensive Lamy Safari. However this pen clearly is branded with the Hero name and logo.
It is my first extra fine nib all the other pens are mediums. And like the Lamy, the nib is triangular and not a standard fountain pen nib. There are several pen reviewers on YouTube that successfully changed the Hero nib with the Lamy nib. I haven’t had any problems with the Hero nib. It writes equally well on quality journal paper as it does on copy paper. The only disappointing thing about this pen is how fine the line is and the color isn’t as bold as the medium. Except that isn’t the pen that is me.
In the course of work and writing on copy paper I don’t need a lot of ink because of bleed through. I have put four or five different inks in the pen and it has sailed with them all. Monteverede California Teal is my standard ink for work and home. The color is good and bright and there is still sheen coming through. Diamine Graphite was a surprise it seemed to change color, less grey more green tone to it. Ku-jaku in the Pilot Ironshonki ink line was gorgeous. The finer line really allowed the color to come through and it was a lot brighter than with the medium nib. Monteverde Rose Noir and Jade Noir were well behaved and lent their colors well to the extra fine line.
All in all I give this pen a glowing review and hearty thumbs up. By the way I had to order a second so I could leave one at work and have one at home. Cheers, james
amusing2write's Blog 