Reviews Written by draigh_silver

  True to its name, this..., September 21, 2010

True to its name, this ink is like the flesh of a ripe mango. It's an orangey-yellow color that's about the color of the pen cap. It's not quite yellow ... not quite orange ... but it's a beautiful color in its own right. The ink is highly visible -- definitely not neon -- since there's enough orange in the color to make it stand out. With a 0.4 mm width and an exceptional color, this is a definite recommendation for anyone wanting to venture out from the normal color schemes.

Color: Mango/orangey-yellow/fresh orange juice
Readability: Visible at-a-glance, won't strain your eyes to read it
Smoothness: At 0.4 mm, this pen writes very smoothly

(goes well with the Apple Green Hi-Tec-C)

  The color is such a bright..., September 21, 2010

The color is such a bright neon that you should only use this pen for drawing leaves or coloring, not writing. Even at 0.4 mm width, the ink is difficult to read. I tried writing over the words a couple times, and it's still pretty hard to read. If you want a pretty green color that IS readable, go for the Hi-Tec-C "Apple Green" color (it's a grass green/apple green color). That was how I imagined this pen to be before I got the Muscat pen and started writing with it.

While the Soda Blue and Grape colors are washed out in the Cutie Colors series, and the Mango and Strawberry amazingly bright, this Muscat has become a highlighter. In fact, if you got this pen, you should go ahead and use it to highlight text, because you won't be able to see it unless it's in a thick block of color.

  I bought this pen after..., September 21, 2010

I bought this pen after being so disappointed by other green inks I had tried over the years. If you are looking for a thin line and good readability, as well as interesting color, give this one a try!

Color: Apple green/grass green (about the color of those "add to cart" buttons, if you mixed the two halves together)

Readability: It's not fluorescent, thank goodness. Good ink, dark enough to read at a glance.

Scratchiness: It is 0.3 mm, so write on smooth paper with very fine grain. Otherwise, it works like you expect a Hi-Tec-C to write -- pretty smooth, no smudges.

  I tried the Hi-Tec-C..., January 27, 2010

I tried the Hi-Tec-C Cuties Muscat color, but that one was too neon and too light. Definitely not a good color for writing. This one is good - it's dark enough and interesting, so you're not just looking at the same old black or blue inks. They really meant it when they named this "Olive" - it looks like the green olives you can buy in grocery stores, just slightly darker so that it is of writing quality. It's definitely not the green ink you see anywhere else!

  Just received this and..., January 27, 2010

Just received this and I'm excited to use it. It looks easy enough...

To address the question I see others asking, this template/stencil makes 4 different sizes of envelopes:

2-3/8" x 3-15/16" (6 x 10 cm) [largest]

2" x 3-1/4" (5 x 8.4 cm)

1-7/16" x 2-5/8" (4 x 6.7 cm)

1-3/16" x 2" (3 x 5 cm) [smallest]

  This pen is so beautiful..., January 24, 2009

This pen is so beautiful and has a very nice weight to it. The silhouette is also very elegant. The only con is that every single refill ink barrel I've gone through has had problems so far. I've used 0.3 mm black and 0.4 mm blue refills and they die about a third of the way in. The pen stops distributing ink flow smoothly, leaving gaps sometimes or just giving up altogether. It's a shame, since I love the pen so much and I love the disposable Hi-Tec-Cs as well.

Lovely pen body, disappointing ink refills.

  This is a good pen for..., January 24, 2009

This is a good pen for small notes in margins or between lines, but definitely not recommended for general writing. The point is too fine and tends to scratch at the paper for more than delicate writing. As always though, Hi-Tec-C ink is incredible, smooth, fast-drying, and the color is wonderful (on normal computer paper, this light blue has an aqua tinge to it).

Good for tiny notes, not for general writing.

  I love Hi-Tec-Cs. They're..., January 24, 2009

I love Hi-Tec-Cs. They're just so nice to write with - smooth, great feel, and the ink dries really fast, so no smudges. This one is pretty special, though. Don't believe the "sunset red" part of the name. The ink color is more like a dark silvery purple, like those deep purple plum leaves. I imagine this is the shade of lipstick chosen by vampire wannabes. See an example of plum leaves here [ http://www.idealtruevalue.com/catalog/purpplum_77469_1.jpg ].

In short,

Interesting color, definitely not red, fast-drying ink.

  When I first tried this..., January 24, 2009

When I first tried this pen out, the ink seemed to be a little faded-looking, but the color grew on me. The ink in the photo is a little darker than it actually is from the pen -- the actual ink is a little closer to the shade in this link [ http://www.amazingpaper.com.au/persistent/catalogue_images/products/OJP.jpg ]. The particular pen I had lasted a long time with no ink flow problems. I used it until the ink level went down to the very tip, near the ball point.

Good buy, lovely color, great pen.
Just don't get it if you need a very bright color.