Pen Review: Wing Sung 3009 Mint Green Fine Nib

Wing Sung 3009 fine nib fountain pen inked with Monteverde California Teal

Wow! I purchased this pen cause I had heard a lot of folks talking about how good a pen and the ink capacity of this bad boy. This is another Wish pen purchase, a single mint green fine nib piston filler fountain pen. The pen itself was priced at $2 plus another $2 for shipping. So $4 bucks for a nice hefty plastic pen that looks awesome.

The suction to pull the ink up is strong and holds quite a bit of ink. I was leery about the horror stories of reviewers that accidentally twisted the piston while posting or taking the cap off and torrential ink spill.

Fingers crossed, I played with it all last night, capping it and posting it, writing and doodling with it. It maybe the piston on my pen is a lot stiffer than others or possibly because it is new. The piston makes a click sound when it is locked in place. I didn’t have any trouble with the cap moving or twisting as I wrote with it. My biggest problem is remembering it is a screw top pen, not a pull top like my others.

The nib on this pen writes better than any of my other pens. I thought they wrote really well until this pen. This nib just glides across the page. No feedback, no pressure, just a nice smooth flow of ink. It lays down a nice line that is a lot bolder than the other fine nib I have. So I am not sure if that is normal. It’s inked with De Artementus Aubergine since I couldn’t get my Monteverde California Teal bottle open. I got it open and filled then took the picture. I had to see my fave ink in this pen. I love the way the clear feed looks with the green ink.

The pen writes well on my journal paper and the Staples Arc notebook. I took it to work today and used it on regular copy paper. One plus is it didn’t bleed through any of the papers I tried it on. It writes better on better quality paper. Although I am pretty sure this is most to all fountain pens. I did figure out if I put a piece of card stock under the page I was writing on it wrote better.

If you are willing to risk losing your heart to a fountain pen this is one to try. I just ordered a second one, with a possible third. If I can get my mom to try it out. She hasn’t cared for the grip section of the other pens I have. This one I think she will like, I hope. Fingers crossed.

Cheers on this dark chilly evening, james

Pen Review: Jinhao 559

New pen, new year. Okay maybe not exactly, I got it the last week or so of December. I like this pen. It writes well, even in a fine nib. Unlike the Jinhao 992, the 559 is long enough so I don’t pop the cap off when I post it. The price was incredibly cheap, I purchased it from Wish.

I currently have it inked with Diamine Aqua Blue. I haven’t had any problems with it hard starting or being finicky. I haven’t had to change out the ink and clean the yet. Other than its intial clean before inking it. I have left it along for several days and it starts writing as soon as the nib touches paper.

The paper I have been using is my journal that has fountain pen friendly paper. And the Staple Arc dis bound notebook. Both are thicker papers and have handled both extra fine and medium nib fountain pens well. I have not tried it on regular copy paper as this is a home pen and not a everyday carry pen. I am still leery of toting plastic pens around and having a catastrophic failure of the inky kind.

Jinhao 559 fine nib inked with Diamine Aqua Blue on Staples Arc paper

There is one issue that I really hadn’t noticed about the 559. It is a Lamy Vista copy. Some folks dislike using clones or copies. However when I ordered it I didn’t know anything about the Vista. It was only after watching and old Goulet Pen review of Noodler’s Black ink that I saw a Vista. So I leave you to your own decision. If you don’t mind a copy the 559 is a great writer for a small price.

Cheers, james

Pen Review: Hero 359A

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

Pen Review: FPR Darjeeling

Part of the Facebook pen group means I get different posts for different pens. One post was a survey to name a new pen design last summer. I voted for Darjeeling and low and wow that was the favorite choice. Yay! I should have played the lottery that day. Never mind. Back to the pen, I have been sticking with the Hero brand of pens from China. I have several of the 221, the 901 and 7022. And of all of them only the 7022 wasn’t to my liking. Not that it is a bad pen, just to high maintenance for me. But since I saw the Darjeeling offered by Fountain Pen Revolution they are a Texas based company. I wanted one. I finally lucked up on their deal of the day and picked up a dark green medium nib pen for $9 plus shipping.

After some growing pains and converter hicups I love this pen. It is a wet writter and the nib is very smooth. However it takes a good high quality paper to keep up with this pen.

I use this pen for my journaling which has good paper that doesn’t mind fountain pens. Long story short a worthwhile purchase at $14 plus shipping. And a steal if you luck up and get it as a deal of the day. Customer service was good when I emailed them about the converter and they sent me a new right out.

If you are looking for a new company to try give FPR a try. Cheers, james