A feature that you can quickly notice on the Sukhoi Su-9 Fishpot-B or Sukhoi Su-11 Fishpot-C is the complicated nose pitot tube. Although Trumpeter made a valiant effort in molding the Su-9 and Su-11 pitot tubes with its four separate vanes, the limits of the injection molding process come into play. I have used another set that used a combination of resin and photo-etch that was an improvement, but assembly was very difficult and the photo-etched vanes don’t really convey their 3-D nature. This Master Model set provides a quantum leap over any previous attempt to portray the Fishpot nose pitot tube. As a bonus, Master Model also provides the ability to build the less complex Fitter nose pitot tube seen on some models without the four vanes. Also included in this set are four brass missile head rails. You will find plenty of photos with red covers over the sharp pointy ends of these rails and there is a reason for that; they were sharp. The ones supplied in this set are like tiny hypodermic needles, so be careful.

Notable is the re-sealable packaging that Master Model uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. The resin vane section is secured in a high density foam block that is backed with some sort of adhesive tape to minimize them being moved around, or crushed for that matter. You will want to be careful handling the metal and resin parts as their small size makes them an easy sacrifice to the carpet monster. The resin part is especially easy to break one or more of the vanes in handling (as I did), so be sure to handle with care.

This Master Model set provides you with a wing mounted pitot tube and the option to build one of two versions of the nose pitot tube. You also receive four brass missile rail heads. There are eight machined brass parts and a single resin part. Assembling the resin and brass nose pitot tube is quite simple and only required only a minutes to do due to the excellent fit.

You will need to deepen the hole in the wing for the wing-mounted pitot tube. The directions call for a 1.0 mm bit (~#60) for the wing. You will want to be very careful to center your drill bit on both your x-axis and y-axis of the pitot tube. The Trumpeter nose pitot tube does not require any drilling, but you may need a tad bit of filler. Make sure you follow the directions to get the proper alignment of the resin vanes. The missile rail heads will require careful sawing off the Trumpeter missile rail head and then drilling with a ~ #75 carbide drill bit to insert the new missile rail head. Assembling the four missile rail heads took only a few minutes each, mostly to make sure the drill bit was properly aligned on both the x- and y-axis. Again, be careful as these are quite sharp.

Be sure to use your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with the resin or brass. You will also want to be careful painting the pitot tubes to retain their sleek nature.

Highly recommended! This set is a super upgrade over the injected kit parts, especially with the pitot tube resin vanes included. These excellent pitot tubes will point you in the right direction!

Thanks to Master Model and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this set.