Noodler's — General of the Armies — Ink Review #10

Noodler's — General of the Armies

 

Ink Review # 10

 

Originally posted on FPN: Mar 25, 2021

 

Ink: General of the Armies
Type: Bulletproof
Brand: Noodler's
Country: USA
Availability: 3 oz, 90 ml bottles. 
Pens Used: EF Chinese pen, Pilot Metropolitan F, Noodler’s nib-creaper, Kaweco BB

Description

This ink is part of a series of bi-color dyes, like Rome and the discontinued House Divided. won’t go into the historical details, but it emulates the color change in U.S. Army uniforms from green to blue after the Civil War, approved by General Sheridan.

Bottle

The ink color in the bottle is green with the blue permanent dye settling at the bottom. 

It writes blue which transforms into a soft, muted green on good paper. With time and especially sunshine, the green turns back into blue. On copy paper it writes green and quickly becomes a soft sea-glass blue; on cotton paper, the transformation is almost immediate.

This is one of the Noodler’s best-behaved inks. Despite being wet, it dries fast. It writes best, in my experience, with B, BB or flex nibs, but it is also enjoyable in EF or F. Personally, I prefer it on Japanese papers.

It’s a bit gimmicky due to its fluorescent nature. Feathering and bleed through are minimal, but present on copy paper. Update: I did a test in 2026 on copy paper with an EF nib, and it behaved flawlessly with no ghosting. However, I found an old test on Rhodia where some heavy ghosting with a semi-flex and BB was apparent. I don’t know if it’s the scanner’s exaggeration or excess ink. 

The ink can be surprising at times and write in an odd, overcooked broccoli soup color, which can be disconcerting but soon it’ll return to the original color. 

The ink transformation can be distracting when writing one’s great novel with a BB nib on Tomoe River paper and struggling with a certain plot twist. I could just write nonsense to see the ink transform instead of focusing on the story. 

Chroma

Writing Samples

Rhodia

Midori

Tomoe River 68 gsm (Photo)

Note: Tomoe River used here is 68 gsm, not the thinner 52 gsm version commonly referenced in reviews.

Sheen. It's not a sheening ink.

Amazon copy paper Note how it espouses the original color...

Fluorescence

Comparison

Water Test

Note the fluorescent part washing down.

 The next day

Ink Characteristics

·      Shading: Subtle with BB nibs. So no!
·      Ghosting: Yes, especially with BB or flex nibs.
·      Bleed through: None, except perhaps isolated spots with very heavy ink deposition.
·      Flow Rate: Nice and wet.
·      Lubrication: Good.
·      Nib Dry-out: Nope.
·      Start-up: No problem.
·      Saturation:  Soft but becomes a dark-ish blue with time. 
·      Sheen: No.
·      Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: On rare occasions.
·      Nib Creep / “Crud”: On EF, F nibs, yes. On Nib Creaper ,a little, on the Kaweco BB, none.
·      Staining (pen): Nope. 
·      Clogging: Nope.
·      Cleaning: Easy to clean.
·      Water resistance: Partial. The green component washes away.

 

Prologue: This used to be one of my desert island inks. I retrospect, I am not so sure if this ink is stable in the long run. I need to do a redux review of it one day. 

Ironically, I didn’t use it much since the review was initially posted. 

 

Feel free to share your experience, feedback, or any other comments. The more the merrier. 😊