There are three 1/144 TSR.2s available currently. Great Wall Hobby and Pit Road appear to be the same model in different boxes. I could be wrong here, but I don’t think so. On the other hand, the third 1/144 TSR.2 kit, which I have in my stash is the Kami de Korokoro kit. Since it’s a paper model, I’ve put it off. I’m sure I won’t need a new pitot for the paper plane.

The model I used is the Pit Road kit, in “what if” markings for the Gulf War.

Installation

Installation instructions show 3 steps. I’ve expanded that to 4

1. Cut off the plastic probe at the indicated spot. I then used a sanding stick to get a flat surface which I could drill.
2. Drill a .25mm hole. Test fit a couple of times to be sure it’s deep enough. (NOTE the instructions call for .4mm. I think that’s a little too big.
3. Use CA glue to hold the brass part.
4. Paint the finished installation.

The most difficult part of the whole operation is getting the drill to start in the cut off on the nose, and then keeping it straight.

Evaluation

As the pictures show, the Master Model pitot is far thinner than the original kit part. Additionally, they have the correct shape. I base this on the photos I’ve seen of the TSR.2 at Duxford. They are also stronger from the point of view that they do bend, but they don’t break.

Highly recommended. It’s more to scale, it’s stronger, and it looks better.

Many Thanks to Master Model for the upgrade set, and to IPMS USA for allowing me to upgrade my TSR.2