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Apocron posted:Just ordered my first ink. I wanted something from the Iroshizuku series and was tempted to go with Shin-Kai but ended up choosing Tsuki-yo. I always go for blue-black so I thought I'd try something different, plus it seems like a lovely night sky colour. Think I've bought every Iroshizuku blue in a sample and tsuki yo is the only one I've bought a bottle of. Makes me feel like a weaboo any time someone asks what color it is though. I still wish baystate blue behaved better. That is probably the best color in existence. But I don't want to risk it in one of my good pens.
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Jan 16, 2017 07:20
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Kind of disapointed wonderpens is closed today so none of my packages will ship until at least tomorow. I WANT MY INK! So to pass time I was reading reddit and other sources and found out peoples really dig Serwex MB Fountain Pen so I got one from there site in India. Also bought accessories to restore my ebay pen that should be here before 2019. It is so frustrating to want to write badly but just hate the inks you use. ha ha. Thank god for the parallel pen I am having a ton of fun with it.
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Jan 16, 2017 14:14
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Demon_Corsair posted:I still wish baystate blue behaved better. That is probably the best color in existence. But I don't want to risk it in one of my good pens. be like me and get a cheap 5$ Jinhao and feel no remorse E: Speaking of Baystate inks, has anyone used the Baystate Cape Cod Cranberry? I want a hella bright pink, and had a sampler of the Rachmaninoff but that clogged up every pen I tried it in- which is apparently a pretty common issue with that ink. It's a shame because the Rachmaninoff was the right obnoxiousness for me to love it. KKKLIP ART fucked around with this message at 18:15 on Jan 16, 2017 |
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Jan 16, 2017 17:55
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Have you considered Iroshizuku Momiji? Nice bright reddish-pink and very well behaved.
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Jan 16, 2017 19:31
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Is a TWSBI Diamond 580 worth getting? How are the nibs? And has anyone tried those new Nemosine Re-Entry nibs? I feel like putting one of those on a Shimmering Sands Jinhao would create a sick as hell space pen.
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Jan 16, 2017 22:51
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I really like my 580, the last person to use it commented on how much nicer it was in hand than my Eco. I've never had a problem with any TWSBI nibs either, all have been a joy to write with. edit: Ahab arrived today, nib and feed needed re-seating out of the box, but, it's a very smooth writer with an alright amount of flex. I've heard them reffered to as wet noodles before, this this one at least isn't sopping wet. The patterning on it is lovely, but the pinched clip area and strange step down at the end of the pen make it look a bit like a dildo.  e2: really long thread on the cap tho, my Eco is like 1.1 turns, the Ahab is 2.5 Megabound fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Jan 17, 2017 |
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Jan 17, 2017 00:39
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I never really found either of my Noodler's flex pens to exist on the same order of magnitude of flexiness as vintage Waterman flex pens. They're still fun as heck, though. They also make great hosts for Jowo nibs, such as the Anderson/Goulet ones. The Ahab was my favorite of them by far and I would still have mine in the daily rotation if the converter/pump threads didn't just decided to fail one day.
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Jan 17, 2017 04:33
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I wonder if they've properly fixed that yet. I think I read somewhere that they'd redesigned it so the threads wouldn't strip anymore/so easily. It happened to mine and I just lazily glued it on. Just gotta be careful when unscrewing it, because ink sorta migrates… I don't think I've ever heard someone describe an Ahab as a wet noodle, though. Not unless they'd taken a dremel to the nib or some other sort of modification.
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Jan 17, 2017 06:14
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I thought "wet noodle" referred to a specific sort of vintage pen.
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Jan 17, 2017 06:28
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Probably confusing it with another pen by them, or just misremembering altogetherMy Man Shran posted:I never really found either of my Noodler's flex pens to exist on the same order of magnitude of flexiness as vintage Waterman flex pens. They're still fun as heck, though. They also make great hosts for Jowo nibs, such as the Anderson/Goulet ones. This for sure, the flex on my Mabie Todd is wonderful with its really broad nib. It's so much more expressive.
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Jan 17, 2017 06:29
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"Wet noodle" just refers to an incredibly flexible pen. It mostly only applies to various vintage pens because they were made to do so. It's not a particularly bright line or anything, but the usual terms are something like: nail -> semi-flex -> flex -> wet noodle I'd probably put an ahab (or probably any steel-nibbed "flexible" pen made even vaguely recently) as a semi-flex, excepting the soft-falcon nibs. But as I said, there's a thread somewhere on FPN about dremelling out wings on the nib of an ahab to make it far more flexible, like a dip pen. I assume that still requires a fair bit of force, though. Fountain pen nibs are generally way thicker than the ones for dip pens.
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Jan 17, 2017 06:34
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I'm almost sorta glad my handwriting is horrendous enough that flex writing really isn't an option for me. At least one rabbit hole I'm not going down! Now if you'll excuse me I have some more Deltas to buy.
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Jan 17, 2017 07:11
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I sometimes envy your Delta rabbithole. Mine has been a very obscure vintage brand that made high-value pens. My new rabbit hole is Soviet bloc pens with nibs of a totally undiscernible alloy. Seriously, all of my Soyuz pens have this weird, flexy nib that sorta-kinda resembles titanium with gold streaks. I hope they aren't radioactive.
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Jan 17, 2017 07:29
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My Man Shran posted:I sometimes envy your Delta rabbithole. Without any other information, I want one of these pens. Where are you finding them?
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Jan 17, 2017 07:43
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Demon_Corsair posted:I still wish baystate blue behaved better. That is probably the best color in existence. I think I like Bung Box Sapphire more, but that has its own problems of being stupid pricey, and comes in a not ideal bottle.
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Jan 17, 2017 17:41
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NeurosisHead posted:Without any other information, I want one of these pens. Where are you finding them? eBay from foreign sellers. A few quick notes, since this is genuinely weird territory: Heavily scrutinize the listing, especially if there are any hints as to where the pens are really coming from. A lot of sellers use "st-petersburg, usa" where they are really shipping from Russia. (Trade sanctions etc.) Bulgarian sellers are usually in Russia as well. Ukraine is always the best bet. These pens are of trashy quality even in comparison to the cheapest Chinese products. They are also almost universally inspired by the Parker 51, though they usually have piston fillers, accordion fillers, or integrated converters. Soyuz is the most well documented brand and is generally considered the best of the bunch. Here is a video done by that one Dutch pen nerd about a pair of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4cXelnLRtw
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Jan 18, 2017 08:45
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So this thread inspired me to get a fountain pen. I've no idea why, my handwriting is terrible and it's not something I have liked doing a lot, but I was curious. So I found a Pilot Metropolitan online, and I quite like it. It's certainly smoother writing with a fountain pen than a ballpoint. I'm going to try using it as my primary writing implement for a while and see what happens. But it leads me to a question, if there are any Scandinavian/European people in residence: I absolutely couldn't find any (online) retailers that sold the Metropolitan in Norway/Scandinavia. Pilot is Japanese, but I understand there are German pen manufacturers as well, and I would've thought it'd be easier to find. Anyone got any tips for preferably Norwegian, but also Scandinavian, retailers?
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Jan 18, 2017 15:24
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VKing posted:So this thread inspired me to get a fountain pen. I've no idea why, my handwriting is terrible and it's not something I have liked doing a lot, but I was curious. So I found a Pilot Metropolitan online, and I quite like it. It's certainly smoother writing with a fountain pen than a ballpoint. I'm going to try using it as my primary writing implement for a while and see what happens. You should be able to get the Pilot MR, which is the Metro but accepting standard international carts/converters instead of Pilot's proprietary format.
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Jan 18, 2017 17:50
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Is anyone else thinking about doing InCoWriMo this year? A friend just gave me a Lamy Logo as a thank you for serving on his thesis committee and I thought, "what better way to give this new pen the beans than to write 28 letters with it?"
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Jan 18, 2017 18:39
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Got my ultrasonic cleaner yesterday and it worked wonders for the clogged feed in my Swan. Now I'm just throwing anything that'll fit on it. Whoever said glasses was on point.
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Jan 19, 2017 01:39
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Megabound posted:Got my ultrasonic cleaner yesterday and it worked wonders for the clogged feed in my Swan. Now I'm just throwing anything that'll fit on it. Whoever said glasses was on point. Yeah I got mine monday and have used it to clean some airbrush stuff. No pens yet. But finally my orders from wonderpen shipped and should be here friday (should be christmas for me this day) and my ebay auction sheaffer balance as cleared customs and is on the way too! Add to that I decided to take a time off and bring my mother to Toronto with me sunday. I've been teasing her for ever with omofuku and Rodney's oyster house. For sure I will visit wonderpens we should be staying 2-3 nights.
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Jan 19, 2017 02:20
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Are you guys putting any solutions, or ammonia or vinegar or anything in your ultrasonic cleaners for pens?
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Jan 19, 2017 03:57
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NeurosisHead posted:Are you guys putting any solutions, or ammonia or vinegar or anything in your ultrasonic cleaners for pens? I did a 1:10 vinegar:water solution, might not actually need it tho.
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Jan 19, 2017 04:07
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VKing posted:So this thread inspired me to get a fountain pen. I've no idea why, my handwriting is terrible and it's not something I have liked doing a lot, but I was curious. So I found a Pilot Metropolitan online, and I quite like it. It's certainly smoother writing with a fountain pen than a ballpoint. I'm going to try using it as my primary writing implement for a while and see what happens. I'd look at German makers like Lamy, Pelikan or Online first. Pilot makes great pens but their stuff is marked up to a frankly absurd degree anywhere in Europe.
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Jan 19, 2017 04:51
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Kaweco is another good German brand (and they accept international cartridges). For "exotic" brands, your best bet might be eBay.
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Jan 19, 2017 07:50
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grack posted:I'd look at German makers like Lamy, Pelikan or Online first. Pilot makes great pens but their stuff is marked up to a frankly absurd degree anywhere in Europe. I understand your recommendation of Lamy, but is there any cheap Pelikan that is reasonable as a beginner's pen?
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Jan 19, 2017 14:06
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Hm, I was all set to say "hey, I kinda like this Preppy" and then it decided to just stop working. Although it seems some combination of "reseating the cartridge, feed, nib;" writing on truly awful paper; and leaving it upside down in a cup for a bit seems to have fixed it (for now). When it's working, it's pretty great. It feels like the fragility of the cap is offset by the inner cap — there's no need to constantly re-cap the pen during pauses in writing, just putting the cap on seems to do the trick. And the barcode/labels being printed on(in?) the barrel is pretty amusing to me. Incidentally, shout out to Pilot Black for being ridiculous. In the above (linked) image, the top line on the right is from an "empty" platinum converter that had pilot black in it. I was cleaning the pen and then decided to let it sit with water in it for a bit. As it turns out, it writes just fine, and is basically indistinguishable from a proper fill of pilot black. That's pretty good black. Cacao du Bresil is also rather nice. It's a taupe-grey, and nice and warm (or an especially muddy brown, like very dry soil). Athas posted:I understand your recommendation of Lamy, but is there any cheap Pelikan that is reasonable as a beginner's pen? The M200 line is a bit under $100, which is fairly pricy, but features a piston-fill (and huge capacity), interchangeable nibs (the nib/feed screws out), and might have an ink window. Mine does, but it's an M215, I'm not sure about the regular ones. The ink window is also pretty hard to see (it's actually an entire "section" of the barrel, but heavily tinted), unless you hold the pen up to a particularly bright light (and hurt your eyes as a result). I can't recall hearing anything bad about the Pelikano (or whatever it's called, I think I've seen it called a Pelikan Jr in some places?), which is roughly on par with the Safari. There's also a Pelikan ABC I think, which is situated like Pilot's Kakuno as a kid's first pen. As an aside, my Kaweco Sport (F) is nice enough, but doesn't really play nice with good paper. On crap paper it works pretty much flawlessly, but on halfway-decent stuff the first stroke (regardless of direction) didn't have any ink to it with the stock cartridge. I'm now running some Pilot Black through it, to see if that helps any. I've seen quite a few complaints in a similar vein on FPN and the like, although it seems the EF and B nibs don't have the issue. Also as you might note in my image, the Kaweco F and Pelikan F are about the same width, which I'd consider pretty broad for "fine." The one listed as "Platinum ?" is marked M, and I think it's roughly a JP Malthough the nib is also marked DIPLOMAT, so it's a liar of a pen.
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Jan 19, 2017 14:21
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Athas posted:I understand your recommendation of Lamy, but is there any cheap Pelikan that is reasonable as a beginner's pen? Pelikano, Pelikano Jr. or Stola III
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Jan 19, 2017 19:14
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Re ultrasonic cleaning: You just put stuff in there and have at it? No concerns about damage or scratches? I'm really considering one for my eye glasses pens and jewelry.
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Jan 19, 2017 21:32
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The one I have has a plastic basket so stuff isn't rattling against the steel sides of the vessel. The are some materials that don't go in it like pearl, emerald, and materials that would be damaged by water. For the most part it's very gentle though.
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Jan 19, 2017 22:20
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Ultrasonic can be the last straw for gold plate that's barely hanging on.
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Jan 19, 2017 22:37
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You don't want to put hard rubber/ebonite or celluloids in an ultrasonic and it can be iffy with some plating materials (mostly gold). Otherwise it should be fine.
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Jan 19, 2017 22:43
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You also shouldn't put casein in an ultrasonic cleaner.
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Jan 19, 2017 22:53
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Also: older Sheaffer inlaid nibs can be loosened by an ultrasonic.
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Jan 20, 2017 00:16
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Just got the Tsuki-yo, cleaned an old cross pen I got as a gift, and gave it a go. So much better than the Parker pen with quink I've been using for months!
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Jan 20, 2017 01:56
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Apocron posted:Just got the Tsuki-yo, cleaned an old cross pen I got as a gift, and gave it a go. So much better than the Parker pen with quink I've been using for months! I loaded up a sample of Tsuki-yo last week and the color didn't immediately grab me, but when it ran out tonight I was so terribly disappointed and had to add it to my wishlist. It's such an incredible ink, both in behavior and color.
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Jan 20, 2017 05:18
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Getting my two orders from wonderpens later today I am so loving impatient I almost could not sleep. have to keep myself busy or else I F5 the loving tracking every other minute. Got my 2 new Pilot parallel pens this time in 3.8 mm. Soo that's 3 2.4mm and 2 3.8mm. Lots of fun with lots of colours. When I run out of the little cartrige I think I'll convert everyone to eyedropper. I love love these. edit: forgot why I was posting! Anyone has a opinion on Parson's Essential Fountain pens? They look nice, have great reviews and are not that expensive. edit 2: sooo everything got here. My order from wonderpens is all I wanted. The inks are insane and it's a nice surprise that they sent a big sampler of each one so I won't even open the bottles for a while! The J. herbin emerald of shivor is insane. I feel like a little girl loving all the glitter ha ha. Apache sunset and turquoise are stunning. The Kaweko is very light and feels real cheap but is sooo smooth. The 1.1 nib I got for it is wonderful. One problem is it's is so wet the ink will take hours to dry! The ahab smells so bad ha ha now I get it. Also It's stiffer then my creaper but I do like the size much more and the filling system is great. So much capacity! My ebay pen (Sheaffer lifetime balance 1930ish) looks very nice and is inked and writes! The high res pictures show a ton of little dents and use on the pen but with the naked eye it still has shine and looks quite stunning. You do feel all the defautls when you hold it. The nib looks good but is somewhat scratchy. Does write very well still. The ebay auction said the ink sac needed replacing so I guess even if it writes I should look into replacing it. I'll document myself a ton and attept eventually to buff the pen back to a nicer finish. I'll look at the nib and my options when I get there. Might end up just shiping it to a pro somewhere unless somehow it is not restorable. As is I feel I did not get ripped off. edit 3 thats right! Changing the pics I rinced ther ink and gently cleaned the pen with a micro fiber cloth for glasses. Came out ten times nicer already.    Iznogood fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Jan 20, 2017 |
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Jan 20, 2017 15:33
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For the Ahab: disassemble it entirely (nib, feed, and all) and let the whole thing soak in water with dish soap for a bit. 20-30 minutes ought to do it. Then let it air out on a paper towel overnight. That should eliminate a significant amount of the smell. It tends to build up again if you keep it in a case, but after a week or so it should go away pretty much entirely. I like my Ahab a lot, it just requires a lot of special care. I wish I had the skill to try the "ease my flex" mod on it.
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Jan 21, 2017 01:42
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Heath posted:For the Ahab: disassemble it entirely (nib, feed, and all) and let the whole thing soak in water with dish soap for a bit. 20-30 minutes ought to do it. Then let it air out on a paper towel overnight. That should eliminate a significant amount of the smell. It tends to build up again if you keep it in a case, but after a week or so it should go away pretty much entirely. You know what? It kinda smells like baby powder and with a 19 months old I don't care very much about the smell. J. Herbin's Emerald of Chivor is pretty tame on "deluxe" paper. It really comes to life in my "normal" notebook from costco. Had read about it but wow. I really love the 1.5mm nib on my Kawecco. It writes beautifuly.
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Jan 21, 2017 02:30
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effika posted:I loaded up a sample of Tsuki-yo last week and the color didn't immediately grab me, but when it ran out tonight I was so terribly disappointed and had to add it to my wishlist. It's such an incredible ink, both in behavior and color. It's not super flashy it's just a solid but different blue. Definitely one of my favorites. Now I have a safari and studio at work and a metro and italic preppy at home. Thought I was good, but I keep checking amazon to see if I can snag a cheap vanishing point. Then I wonder about finding an old pen to use. gently caress, I didn't need another addiction, old film camera should have been enough... Excuse me while I dig a big pit, fill it with money and light it on fire....
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Jan 21, 2017 02:37
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