Contents Description

The subject set includes several turned brass pitot tube parts, resin vanes and two 30mm gun barrels for the Su-17, Su-20, Su-22 (Fitter), plus the secondary pitot tubes (optional parts for all versions).

I contacted Master to confirm what material was used for the vanes and is their response: "This material is a resin, but not casting resin. This part is a direct 3D print, so it is UV cured resin used in 3D DLP printers. This material is very similar (chemically and structurally) to Plexiglass (PMMA). It can be easily join using CA glue. The problem is that this material is quite fragile, so we intended to use flexible type of UV resin, so it is not so easy to brake. Of course when it happened our customer service will replace broken parts for free. Piotr Czerkasow "

It is very simple to use on your model and makes it extremely realistic. Simply cut off the original plastic part, drill a hole in the remaining plastic parts and insert the metal parts using a gel super glue to allow for tweaking adjustments and proper alignment.

The Kit Parts

Plastic injection-molded kit parts normally have some raised molding longitudinal lines that need to be eliminated. Flat surfaces can be scraped or sanded and the raised seam line is gone. Gun barrels, pitot tubes, probes and similar molded parts can be treated the same manner, but often with an unsatisfactory result: the surface is flattened and the realism is gone. The molded round section is no longer round.

Some modelers are quite skilled in eliminating the raised seam line on those parts, while other of us may fumble our way through the process, with less than satisfactory results. Often the small parts are fragile and may be broken in the process. Granted with simple pitot tube and gun barrels a reasonable facsimile can be achieved with telescoping tubing. But still the result may not be totally effective to the discriminating eye. Resin accessories are also available, but they are fragile and care must be taken to avoid breaking them.

I plan to use the Master set on the Kitty Hawk 1/48th scale Su-17 M3/M4 Fitter-K, kit number KH80144. The kit's main pitot boom mounted on the upper right side of the nose is made from five plastic parts, not including the tapered mounting fairing. There are four small pitch and yaw vane parts with rather robust sprue connections. Care will need to be exercised to avoid breaking these tiny parts when removing them. The probe shaft has two attachments to the sprue that are also large. Removing these parts and cleanup with require care.

The kit's auxilliary pitot is a single part fitted to a depresstion on the upper left side of the nose section. The part (58) does not appear to look like what is shown, but may just be distorted by the angle depicted in the instructions. Here the end of the pitot must be cut off, a small hole drilled into the cut end and the brass part glued in place.

The kit's wing root-mounted cannons fit into weapons bays fitted between the top and bottom parts of the wing center section, with the gun barrels extended through openings in the wings' leading edges. The kit's cannon barrels have open ends which is a plus. These parts must be fitted in place before the wing top and bottom parts are fixed together. Chances are good the barrels get broken during the rest of the assembly. Although I did not attempt any assembly of these parts as part of this review I plan to test fit the kit's cannons with barrels in place and test fit the brass barrel to determine how must of the plastic must be removed. The brass parts would be installed once the model has been painted and finished.

The Master Parts

The assembly consists of five parts: three turned brass and two resin. I test-fitted these parts together, and it will take a steady hand to get everything to fit, but they do fit together. The instructions show the alignment of the vanes, and once properly aligned I applied a small bit of super glue at the joins and let capillary action take over. The Master main pitot boom once assembled will fit into kit part D-70, but the opening in the end of the plastic part must be drilled out a bit deeper. Part D-70 may be glued to the nose as part of the model's construction and the Master pitot fitted after the model is painted. Less chance for something to get broken.

There are two auxilliary pitot's included with the Master set. Depending on what version is being built (Su-17, -20, or -22) the modeler must make a choice on which to use. Either way this pitot will fit into kit part D-58 which requires minor modification (cut off the plastic pitot extension and drill a small hole in the fairing to attach the brass part later.

Both the Master main and auxilliary pitots have a small diameter male extension to fit into openings in the nose fairings. With the use of a super glue this should make for a reasonably sturdy connection.

The Master cannon barrels will replace the kit's parts once the plastic barrels have been removed from the main body of the cannons. Here, too, the cannon barrels may be installed after the model has been painted. The instructions note the longer cannon barrel fits into the left wing root.

Although Kitty Hawk has offered some very nice parts in this particular kit the Master Model replacement parts will be far superior and a great addition to any Su-17, -20 or -22 kit. For those of you building 1/72nd scale aircraft Master Model has a set of Su-17, -20 or -22 pitots for you too.

I highly recommend the Master Su17/-20/-22 set AM-48-122 for any modeler wishing to update their kit of this Sukhoi aircraft. While the kit parts are nicely molded, they will require careful clean up and care to assemble, and will not be as sturdy as the brass replacement parts.

I wish to thank Master Model and IPMS/USA for the review copy. Check out the Master Model web site for retailers worldwide.

Background

Master Model is a Polish company. The owner is Piotr Czerkasow who is a mechanical engineer by trade. Piotr is also a scale modeler. Master model has a broad range of accessories for aircraft, military vehicles and ships in several of the popular scales. In addition they also offer a blackening agent under their Tools and Supplies tab.