Second chances go over well in religions and romance novels. Recently, I’ve realized they also work with pens. You can absolutely hate a pen when you first try it, then when you go back and write with it again, maybe holding the pen at a different angle or using a different ink, you start to like it.
I gave the Pilot Elabo a second chance.
Outside Japan, the Elabo is called the Falcon. Its body feels like resin, and with the inner metal sleeves the pen is heavier than the previous Pilot Falcon. The barrel is wider, and so is the grip area. The clip, trim and nib are rhodium-bright. It comes with a CON-70 converter.
The nib has an unusual hump, like a beak. Also, note the shape of the iridium tip – it’s somewhat flat on the sides and rounded even on top. That makes sense if you use it like a brush, with the nib almost vertical as it touches the paper.
The nib bends away from the feed as it progresses through a stroke. The tines also separate, but because of the shape and size of the iridium tipping, there is not much line variation.
Ink flow, so far, seems to be able to keep up when I flex the nib – I’ve only gotten railroading once, and that after gesticulating with the pen and letting it dry out during a conversation.
Here’s another shot of the nib.
I doodled this with the pen held at a high angle to the paper. (Yes, that’s still-wet ink where the hair meets the shoulder.)
I like the pen enough that I’m looking for one with the SEF (Soft Extra Fine) nib. I had a chance to use the previous incarnation of the Pilot Falcon before. The nibs both look like beaks. I feel the shape of the iridium tipping differs, but I don’t have an old one to compare the new one with. If anyone out there has a macro shot of the old Pilot/Namiki Falcon nib to share, please do.
