Is it anything like the Pentel Pocket Brush pen? No.
What about the Kaimei or the Akashiya brush pens? No, not really.
It is closest to the Pentel Aquash waterbrush in fine.
Okay, now that’s out of the way…
I ordered the Noodler’s Konrad brush pen from Goulet Pens and it was a smooth transaction from start to finish. The first thing I noticed was the strong smell – it comes from the resin body of the pen. I hope it fades soon. The pen is slightly longer than an M400, and has approximately the same girth. I’m used to slimmer brush pens, so my hand found it strange at first.
The pen is a piston fill. It’s the only piston-fill brush pen I know of. Everything else is either an eyedropper or uses a converter/cartridge system.
The brush tip is very fine. The ink needs time to travel to the tip, especially if you’ve kept the pen upright in your bag or pen case. The flow is on the generous side, so you need to move the brush with a swift, light touch to avoid ink pooling on the paper.
Here’s the tip compared to an Akashiya with synthetic hair. The Akashiya is thicker all throughout.
Details, details, details.
Because the tip is fine, and the girth wider than what I’m used to in a brush pen, the Noodler’s Konrad somehow feels appropriate for cursive.
Should you buy it? For variety and novelty, yes. Will it replace your favorite brush pens? If you’ve been looking for a finer point, or just want the magic of piston fill, yes. If you want spring and a closer-to-natural brush feeling, no.
