I had no ink flow issues with either while using them with fine and extra fine nibs. One of my pictures shows what happens when both ink get wet and are smeared. And for the Hongdian 1862, I bought it because I loved the look of the coral color and was not disappointed by its looks in person. Initially I was concerned by how much lighter it was than my 516 despite being larger. But as far as I can tell, the barrel and cap are all stainless steel with a coating and the only plastic is the feed and the converter.