Master Model of Poland produces small brass parts for detailing models, be they aircraft or ships. They have parts for aircraft in 1/32, 1/35, 1/48, 1/72, and 1/144, mostly pitot tubes, refueling probes and gun barrels. For ships the Sea Master series has 1/35, 1/200, 1/350, 1/400 and 1/700 scale details, mostly gun barrels.

This product is a single pitot tube for a 1/144 F-16. I was particularly happy to get this part for review, as I was building the LS kit, and their F-16 doesn’t have a pitot. I looked in my stash, and Revell’s kit has a pitot, although it’s pretty thick. Dragon’s is better, closer to size. Academy’s 1/144 F-16 also has an OK pitot, only slightly thicker than the Master pitot.

Assembly

I had some trouble drilling the hole for this pitot at first. Drilling a .3mm hole at the tip of a tiny nose cone calls for skills I don’t think I ever had. I always thought of myself as a fair mechanic, as I repaired electric typewriters back in the day, when there were typewriters.

The solution was to drill the hole from the INSIDE of the nose cone. The shape of the cone held the drill straight, and the hole went through quite nicely.

Once I had the hole drilled, it was the work of only a few moments to put a drop of CA in the hole and install the pitot.

Painting

I had already painted the nose cone black, so it was the work of only a few moments to add some black to the pitot with a small brush. I then painted the tip silver. I started out with Model Master Aluminum, but it didn’t stick very well. I then went to Testors silver in the small square bottle. Worked fine.

Finishing

I installed the nose cone on the kit after putting on the decals. I then put on the canopy and installed the landing gear. It was during this step that disaster struck. I dropped the kit. It landed on its nose.

The Master Model pitot was slightly bent. I straightened it out and finished installing the gear doors.

Overall Evaluation

Highly Recommended. The first thing is that the kit I was working on didn’t even HAVE this part. The second was that it’s a far better part for when the kit is handled. For other kits, the Master Model pitot is still smaller and more break resistant than the kit pitots.