Testing Hero 9018

From a friend's (Drewscape) recommendation, I bought a Hero 9018 fountain pen to try too since there was a rave about it. It is only costing not more than S$11 including shipping charges. Before I started filling it with ink, I flush the feed and the nib with water by filling the converter with water and then pushing it out through the feed and the nib. I did this for a few cycles. There is no scientific proof that this may help in the ink flow later.

The new pen is glossy and sleek

The parts of the fountain pen.

Hero 9018 is a fude nib fountain pen and has a corrugated surface section for better grip. The ink converter is the screw type which I like. So a cheap pen has everything that is ideal including gold trimmings that makes it looks glossy and sleek. The pen itself feels sturdy, quite light weight, and has the usual Hero insignia on the pen cap. Now for the performance.

Since I flushed it with water, I have to coax the ink to fill the feed at first. It took a little while for the ink to turn black. I used Noodlers Bullet proof black fountain ink for this trial, and for all of my inked drawings. I have a specially made squeegee bottle to fill the ink converter (which I have made a review in my previous posts, but I will do it again), so I am not filling the converter through the nib by dipping the entire pen with the section into the ink bottle, so I don't make a mess.

This is the first drawing I did with the pen. I like the line variety it could produce. Drawing thin lines is a breeze. For some fude nib fountain pens, I may have to tilt the nib more to get thinner lines. I don't recommend applying too hard a pressure while drawing thick lines. It seems that the materials used for the nib is not strong enough to maintain the flex. You might see the tines splitting and staying that way and not going back.

This entire comic is drawn using only the Hero 9018. Watercolour was added later and the flat shade was done with Photoshop digitally. It is easy to get a hairline line width and a 2mm line width all with just a single pen. Ink flow feels effortless and did not skip for now.

More drawings with Hero 9018

The quality of the ink converter is good, as it fills up about 1ml of ink that allows me to cover a few pages before refilling again. I like piston ink converter though as it is faster but this doesn't matter. What matters is ink flow and getting ink onto the paper. So fat these drawings were done on book printing paper (Maple off white). The following sketch is done on a sketchbook. Its paper has a little tooth on it and more absorbent. I converted the ink color digitally in Photoshop.


Reviewed by http://edjelley.com/2013/11/27/hero-9018-fude-nib-fountain-pen-review/

"Another huge plus about the Hero 9018 is that it does not feel like a pen that cost less than $10. It’s got a great weight and balance to it. The materials aren’t top notch, and the clip is kind of bendy. The textured grip looks out of place, but it does ensure that the pen isn’t slipping around during long writing sessions. I didn’t expect the pen to have as much heft as it does." -- EdJelley

I do like the textured grip and don't feel that it is aesthetically bad. I have been using Fude nib Hero fountain pens for a couple of years now, the pens including, M86, 510, & 578, which are my favourites so far. These are pretty reliable and has stayed my work horse for these time. 9018 is a nice addition.