It’s just too hard to collect the full line-up of ‘For Film’ pencils from any one maker, so I did a lazy combo instead.
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Here is my collection of the Pentel P200 family For Film.
The only one I know I am missing is the PF509.
https://twitter.com/r4pnsn91mzmhlzf/status/1372084051297792002?s=61&t=oB4fgMdLYJQLIcN3CkVDYw
Still trying to get a Graph For Film.
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I believe I only have one or two film pieces. I’m jumping on this wagon.
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Appreciate the detailed breakdown - I think I’ve seen the PF50x around and recall being vaguely confused by the non-sliding tip design. Can confirm my 337 has the black stopper (no pin) instead of an eraser, and no molded lead size on the body.
My Castell Filmar comes with a hard green eraser, while the Pilot has a typical pink eraser. Both include cleaning pins. So, it would seem only Pilot made 0.3 for film… but I’m in no rush to find one.
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Even the PF339 did not have a sliding sleeve, only the .5 & .7 versions. I don’t believe Pentel made a 0.9mm sliding sleeve for the P200 series.
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2 Film pencils and one “Non-Repro” P1040715 | Pencils "for film" For more information on the fi… | Flickr
The Micrograph I sold some time ago.
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Do you still have the PNR9?
Yes.
Some more text to reach 20 chars.
Could you take a good clean picture on a white background, so I can add it to the Pentel ID Book. The picture I have is distorted.
I can try, but not before new year (I guess there is no hurry involved here).
That should be fine. I may try to push a new version out between Christmas and New Year, but I can hold that for a later update.
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I possess both incredible respect and pure dumbfounded-ness for your love/dedication of/to this model of mechanical pencil. Bravo.
I only thought there was one version of the pentel… i should have known haha.
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Did Pentel sell a special lead for the “For Film” pencils?
Yes. For each size (0.5, 0.7 & 0.9) they had P1, P2 & P3 lead and 0.9 also had P4 & P5. P1 being the softest up to P5 being the hardest.
Check out the Pentel of America 1985 Catalog on page 25 (PDF page 29).
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thank you!
I have an inexplicable love for film pencils and have probably too many (and leads). Even so, I don’t recall ever seeing the Pantone model before - it’s a stunner!
One question that I’d like to see answered is who first came up with the ubiquitous beige/magnolia/whatever colour for film drawing instruments? I know Faber-Castell’s TG1-J jewel-tipped pens (designed for use on film) sported the same drab livery, but I’m not sure if these predated the other pencils.
Also, why? Was there some benefit to beige, perhaps in terms of cleaning or corrosion resistance? Harsh chemicals were needed to remove etching ink, so maybe the special plastic for these pens could only be of this hue, and the pencils just followed suit.
Finally, do all of the film pencils (Pantone included) share the same smelly black “eraser” found in most film Pentels? I’m sure I once knew the purpose of this repugnant plug, but have long since forgotten.
[edit: sorry, I kept writing Letraset instead of Pantone!]
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I believe that Pentel just used a Rubber Plug instead of an eraser, since the erasers they had would not work on the film / film lead. I know that the Graph for Film set came with a (IIRC) Faber Castel eraser for film. Pentel later came up with a block eraser (ZF-11) to use with the film pencils (it is in the same Pentel of America 1985 Catalog on page 26 (PDF pg 30).
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Speaking of film pencils: I have noticed these in the 1982 Faber-Castell catalogue.
However, I have never seen these in the wild.
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Thanks, I was not aware of all those film eraser developments.
One warning I should give for collectors of late 20th century drawing instrument/pen sets is regarding the ink erasers sometimes supplied with these. They were often impregnated with some kind of chemical to help erase drafting ink, and over time this leaches out into its surroundings, causing discolouration of plastic/flock cases and corrosion of nearby metal.
It’s nice to have complete sets, but now I tend to remove the ink erasers and keep them separately, wrapped up safely.
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Interesting! I wonder if these came before beige? I’ll have to check when the beige TG1-J technical pen was released.
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