STA Fineliners (6200-KP26) Review
This is a review on a set of 26 entry level fineliners I bought off Aliexpress for US$10.92. After having them for over 12 months, follow me as I swatch, test these pens and show you how they have performed for me. I will cover how the pens arrived, how they are packaged, the quality of the pen barrel, the quality of the pen tip, writing and drawing performance and more. For my video review click the link below:
First Impressions
As mentioned, I bought these pens off Aliexpress and when they arrived in my letterbox the fineliners and their case were wrapped in bubble wrap then wrapped in black plastic wrap with the packaging label stuck to the outside of that plastic. So, they were very well packaged.
Needless to say, the fineliner pens and their case arrived in very good condition. The case was not damaged, the pens looked to be in as new condition and I did receive a 26 pen set, which is what I ordered. The only downsides on first impressions was that the packaged had been opened. This was obvious as the label was already torn by someone (something?) having previously opened the case.
The case itself, I really liked. Mainly because it splits in two around halfway down the length of the case so both halves can be used as pen holders. This I found really useful for organising or arranging colour combinations for my coloring and writing projects. Another feature of the case I like is that it is hexagonal in cross section and not round so it won’t unexpectedly roll off your work surface if you place it on its side. The rigidity and sturdiness of the plastic used for the case feels like quality and the fit of the lid onto the base was tight enough that it holds if you shake it around a bit. The size of the case was great for the 26 pen set, I liked that it is really easy to grab all the pens and put them all back into the case at once, ie. it is not a tight fit to get all the pens in.
When I first got these fineliners I decided to write a sentence with each pen in my journal and found Each one to be very juicy and vibrant in colour.
Quality of These Fineliner Pens
The fineliner pens have a light grey smooth barrel with a colored cap and end to indicate tip colour. There are also small raised bumps on the lid, at the bottom of the barrel near the pen tip, and at the top of the barrel near the end, which act like a grip. Each pen has the brand, product code and colour code printed on the side of the barrel as well as a barcode.
The feel of the barrel is nice and smooth and easy to hold, they have a nice light weight so feel quite comfortable to write with and maintain good control. It is quite interesting that the barrel is round at the ends yet triangular shaped along most of the length. However, place the fineliners on a slight slope and they act just like a round barrel would and will roll away.
A good tug is required to remove the cap and an equally good push is required to replace the cap over the tip or onto the end of the barrel. These actions give a good click feel and sound so great positive indication that you have removed and placed the cap in the right place.
The tip itself is stated as 0.4mm and each tip has a metal protective cover. Usually I would be jumping for joy when I see metal designed into entry level stationery; I used to get a real sense of quality however, after my previous set of fineliners I’ve come to realise that the quality of the tip is really important if you often use fineliners. Basically, my previous set were ruined in less than a year’s use, after a while the tips started fraying and bending, hence why I bought this new set of STA fineliners that this review is all about. However, to be fair on my cheap whitcoulls fineliners, I did like how sturdy the case was that they came with and I do prefer the hexagonal barrel they came with because the pens tend to stay on my desk rather than rolling off all the time.
Anyway, back to the STA fineliners, they write beautifully, and after a year of use, they still write with a fine line just like when I first got them. I also did a lot of fineliner colouring, mostly scribble colouring and crosshatching with the occasional block filling project. The impressive thing with these fineliners is that after all that work and use, the tips are still in great condition, almost as new with plenty of ink left in them, there are no signs that I am running out of ink in any of the 26 pens.
Colour Swatching and Colour Range
I decided to do a swatching of these fineliners to get an idea of the colours and the ranges of colours the set comes with. Among the 26 pens there are:
3 blues, 1 brown, 1 black, 2 greys, 7 greens, 3 purples, 3 reds, 3 pinks, 2 oranges, and 1 yellow.
This is good range of colours but I would have preferred less greens and perhaps another brown, blue and orange instead. Not a great set to buy if you are not a fan of greens and with only one black and two greys, it is not the most ideal set for monochromatic or grey tonal looks either.
For the swatching, I did a little square and block coloured it then wrote the product and colour code beside it.
Swatching revealed that 4 of the lighter shades are more like highlighters as the ink was vibrant but see-through. The darker tones are more juicy, vibrant and have better coverage when block colouring.
Mixed Media Performance
I wanted to do some testing around using these fineliners in mixed media projects. I often watercoloured and wondered if I could used these as watercolour markers like the popular Tombows or the like my STA Aquarelle Dual Tone Brushmarkers. Answer was no. Although the darker colours happily bled when I applied a brush to them, the original drawn line remained very visible and could not be blended out; the light colours were difficult to wash out.
As I know many people like to use fineliners in journals and mixed media sketch books, I decided to do quick water fastness, highlighter fastness, alcohol marker fastness as well as a smug test. Basically, I found that even when left to dry, the pens were not really water fast and the darker the colour the more it bled when water was applied. However, once left to dry, the ink does not move when a highlighter or an alcohol marker are a swiped over top. Note that i use a Faber Castell highlighter and a Touchfive alcohol marker for these tests. When i tried to snug the ink of these fineliners straight after I had put pen to paper, the ink smudged, again, the darker colours smudged more than the lighter colours. Hence, if you are left-handed, you might like to beware of this when writing.
Overall Impressions
Overall, I mostly like my latest set of STA fineliners. The colour range is good for my colouring projects, they are really comfortable to write, draw and colour with and most importantly after a year of consistent use and abuse, the tips still write well and almost like new! Added bonus of the STA 6200-KP26 set I bought is the case; it is sturdy, has a great design and doubles as two pen holders when opened. My only minor gripes is that the case had been opened before it arrived at my house and the pen barrels are too round – I just prefer hexagonal or more triangular pen barrels.
For US$10.92 from Aliexpress, I definitely recommend these as a good beginner or entry level set, especially if you are into fineliner colouring as the tips can handle a lot of use.