Noodler’s V-mail Midway Blue [full size photo] – This past weekend, I attended the Miami Pen Show. While I was there I picked up a bottle of Noodler’s V-mail Midway Blues. Noodler’s created the V-mail series of inks when they had a chance to try some vintage inks from the 30’s-40’s. On the original bottles, the inks were referred to as V-mail inks. They also were labeled with highly patriotic images. Well, Noodler’s went to town reverse engineering those vintage inks. What they came up with was their own version of V-mail inks.

I also, recently purchased a couple of vintage Osmiroid nibs. So, what a better time than now to test both a new nib and ink! I loaded the ink and nib into an Esterbrook. I played with various test papers and wrote into my Quo Vadis Habana ink log.

The ink has a very nice shade and tone. Very pretty. I only have the Noodler’s V-mail Midway Blue inked in one pen. From what I can see, the ink seems very dry. This could also be due to the choice of nibs I used. This pen/nib combo doesn’t seem to lay down much ink, the flow is ok – just a tad bit dry for my liking. The shading looks nice with slight gradients… in general the ink seems very well behaved. There is just a tiny bit of show though. No bleeding or feathering. Dies in about 2 seconds.

I love the color of the ink. Its a very nice medium/bright blue. It reminds me of another ink color, but the name eludes me at the moment. As far as Noodler’s inks go, I am relatively new to them – as I only own a few of these inks. One thing I have to give Noodler’s credit for. They fill their inks to the very tippy top of the bottle. So, be very careful when opening these inks. I always end up spilling a tiny bit.

This ink, as well as many other inks and pens can be purchased from – my friends at Pear Tree Pens.