A friend of mine gave me one of these yesterday. It's 24 years old, but still unused and in its original packaging with full instructions. After reading through the instructions, I am left with the feeling that this might be something that is not as easy to use as the manufacturer tells you. Has anyone here used one of these devices and would be able to comment on how easy they are to use, and whether or not the results are any good?
Hi Wolsey, Although I haven't used a genuine Bob Moore pen, I do have a Peter Spoorer pen which works in exactly the same way. You use neat enamel and the results from them are really good. What throws some people off is the mention of using lighter fuel to ease the flow. The mistake that they make is in thinking that the lighter fuel is a thinner when in fact what it does is break the surface tension when a drop is added to the paint when in the pen (it's no good adding it while still in the tin because it will have evaporated before you use it). As I understand it the Boob Moore pen is more versatile than the Spoorer version with different nib sizes and it's easier to make guides - The main area where the Spoorer pen is lacking over the Moore pen is where the nibs are held by the pen, they just push into a slot in the end of the Spoorer pen which doesn't seem very secure to me. Below is an O gauge coach side that I lined using my Spoorer pen.
Thanks for that. It seems, then, that I might have acquired something useful, although it could well be several months before I get around to trying it out.
These pens are a refinement of the pen Tracers used in a Drawing Office years ago ( 1960's and earlier). If permanent copies of pencil drawings were required they were traced on linen sheets in ink and the writing was done with a stencil and a ink pen. Roger P
