In the La Nave series by TOMBOW, the most kitschy of designs is the Oceanic. It looks just like a fish icon. I’m not sure if this is right, but I believe they came in 2 colors – black and gray. Either that, or the gray was just a faded example. In any case, they were all given a kind of matte rubberized coating that… apparently has a tendency to suffer oxidation and breakdown. When it happens, it’s not pretty. Generally you can see it flaking off and it leaves behind smooth bald spots. You can use alcohol to rub off the remnants to get a uniform look, but it’ll be semi-glossy and not look all that great. If you scrub it with some micromesh to mimic the original matte finish, you will invariably lose the “OCEANIC ZOOM” and Tombow logo imprints.
I’m wondering if anyone here has this model and if this degradation has been experienced, or something different. Here’s an example of what I mean:
It looks like it’s some kind of oxidation but different from what I’ve seen where the rubber coating falls away. I don’t know if this is a case of the decay just beginning. I highly doubt there’s any way to stabilize it, though.
Once it starts breaking down, it’s a goner. In this sense, all examples of Oceanic are doomed. I believe the markings are printed OVER the rubber coating. Folks that were forced to clean off the coating ended up with a blank body. The real pain is when the rubber tail-knock eventually breaks down as well. I wonder if silicone would have fared better…
That looks horrible! A few days ago I got rid of my two Oceanics (black and grey) because both pens had turned into a sticky mess. They still looked great, but when I touched them, I had the impression that the plasticiser had leaked out.
When I first got interested in the Oceanic, I’d read about the tendency for the coating to become a sticky mess. After learning that, I basically avoided going after auctions / listings of this model. And lately on YAJ, several have recently closed for serious money… I expect the buyers didn’t have a clue about this problem.
My understanding is that it was just the coating and after removing it, the Oceanic is still usable, but it sounds like the tail is different… a dense molding of that material used for the coating, so it basically falls apart.
I bought this one very cheaply. $5.50 plus shipping. I figured I could probably resell the nice case it came in (looks to be in top shape) for anyone who has an Oceanic still in good shape but lacks a case.
Yeah, that’s a beauty Elliot. I have to wonder if the dark gray version had a different blend for the coating that holds up better. I remember you saying how you’d reached out to the original maker of several TOMBOW La Nave series models and that Dani Nebot actually sent you a signed box Oceanic as a gift [LINK].
Yeah, my troubled Oceanic pen with shipping and tax was $15, which is far lower than I expected it to go. When the surface treatment goes bad, I’d heard it just gets really sticky. As you can see in my photo, that effect is segmented… which has me believe that it’s a beginning phase of degradation. I don’t know if it can be rescued. I had read up on rubberized coating degradation sometime back and couldn’t find any useful means of stopping the degradation once it starts happening. I’m thinking maybe a matte clearcoat might work. Something like this:
It’ll all depend upon what it takes to get rid of that visible white oxidation without disturbing much else. I don’t know how deep it goes. The whole matte rubberized layer might be totally corrupted. Well, I’ll know in a few days. If I have to strip that whole layer off, I’ll try to work around the imprinting that’s still intact and then put a clearcoat over that. The button on the rear though… begs a whole other question. As I see it, it could be a great candidate for 3D printing.
Have you considered a clear coating, similar to automobile finishing? It wouldn’t help in the case of a piece already in process of breaking down, but it may just help in the case of a mint example. It could stave off degradation. They make matte/semi-gloss finishes for clear coating.
Well, I lucked out. Not sticky! It was a chalky oxidation I was able to wipe off with a damp paper towel. Not sticky afterwards either. Looks like it could use some plastic restoration though. It’s still a little off it’s original black, after drying. And there are some shiny bald spots from scuffs.
At least the foam cutout doesn’t seem to leak any weird chems that react with the coating!! This is one of the only MPs that I strictly keep in its original case.
Ah… the Mano. I sure wish I had one of those. It’s so funky looking. Kind of retro-futuristic.
Well, I took apart the mechanism and all looks sound. There’s no room for a spring in the nose-cone. It works fine for extension and retraction. The D1 does what it’s supposed to do. But it looks like there should be something “docking” it internally. There’s a brass component in the aft chamber (along with a spring), but it’s not wide enough to “grab” onto the D1. I can probably solve this problem with a little kapton tape applied to the tail end of the D1. But I’d much rather get this back to OEM spec.
Dang it all… the D1 support tube is cracked! I’d seen someone else report this problem. I can’t recall where and I’m unable to find it now… but yeah. There’s a hairline split. Two of them, actually.
I was able to use a little bit of kapton tape wrap the tube (couldn’t do more than a 50% wrap, as it then has trouble moving through the plastic channel). It somewhat solves the problem. The D1 doesn’t fall out. But… ideally, this tube should be replaced.
