Fake Wingsung 3008 fountain pen

I have seen a lot of talk about the cheap and very nice Wingsung 3008, and I decided to give it a try. Being my first piston filler fountain pen I was very intrigued by it. I ordered it along with other pens from Aliexpress and waited... and waited

One eternity later ... (to be fair the local postal service is not the fastest, so this contributed to the wait as well)

The fountain pens arrived in the mail. The fountain pen was in this orange cardboard small box. I took it out and after a short inspection, I realized it is a fake Wingsung 3008. I went back on Aliexpress and indeed the pictures presented by the seller were correct, only the description was misleading.

Right from the start, I could see the quality of the fountain pen was sub-par even for a Chinese fountain pen.

I will start with the exterior and the feel. The barrel is made out of clear plastic which has molding lines on the side. If you pay attention, you can see and feel them. The cap is made out of nice to the touch black opaque plastic and has a chromed trim at the tip and a nice and secure clip.

The cap is screw fit and comes off after 1 and a half tuns. Inside the cap, there is some sort of white plastic lining. I do not like the feeling when you screw it back on, there is no clear point at which the two sections are perfectly screwed, it always feels that you can twist it a little bit more. After you take the nib off you are presented with a clear nib section and feed, a very nice look. The grip has three flat sections for a "better" grip. one at 6 o'clock and the other two in the mirror at 10 and 2.

From this point forward, things look a little iffy. The nib is plane and has no decoration on it whatsoever. It sits very far from the section, it is like it is missing something, or it is a size smaller than the feed. Because of its position, I feel that I am writing with a wand. And it has a weird look  The metal in it is very thin, and after I pushed it a little bit it bent, which is not a good sign... Out of the box, the nib was ok-ish, but had a squeaking sound on paper. After a bit of tweaking and writing with it, the sound is not so obvious. Now it is writing fine, it is smooth and has a low to medium ink flow.

The piston filling mechanism offers a lot of ink capacity. I think the piston can't be disassembled for cleaning. To actuate it, you turn the nob on the top of the pen. It doesn't have a locking system, there is a bit of play in it when it is fully closed. Inside the barrel is a dimple over which the piston has to travel. You can feel that bump, as it requires more pressure to go over it, so I can consider it a "locking" mechanism. I do not know how other pens do it, but I don't think this is the best system. I am not worried that the ink will come out accidentally, but because the gasket has to travel over that hump over and over, make me think it's more of a disposable pen. 

The fountain pen is comfortable in hand, and it can be used for long writing sessions. The size is good, and it can be used without posting it. The cap posts shallow but really well and secure, without the risk of activating the piston.

So far I hadn't had problems with burps from the fountain pen, but at the same time, the fountain pen was never with me on a plane or on a desk where the sun is shining all day. But just from holding it in the hand and writing for moderate periods of time.