Su-24 Fencer Refueling Probe

Published on
April 23, 2017
Review Author(s)
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$7.00
Product / Stock #
QB 72 522
Base Kit
Trumpeter Su-24s
Company: Quickboost - Website: Visit Site
Provided by: Quickboost - Website: Visit Site
Package

Last year Trumpeter released a pair of very nice Su-24 kits, replacing the old Dragon kits. This set is one of two released by Aires/Quickboost to upgrade some of the Trumpeter parts. The set consists of five parts: the inflight refueling probe, the refueling probe door that covers part of the probe when it is retracted, the bay into which the probe retracts and the two fuel dump pipes under the engines.

The parts are one-for-one replacements for corresponding kit parts, with a few differences. As shown in the photographs, the refueling probe itself is better detailed than the kit part and the probe door is much more refined and thinner than the kit part, which is molded as part of the prove itself. I was not able to find any clear photographs of the probe in the extended position and none of those was on the ground, so I made an educated guess on the colors for the probe. The tip of most inflight refueling probes I have seen is pretty shiny so I painted it Chrome Silver and the rest of the probe is steel. Take care when mounting the probe door cover on the probe itself as the rear part actually angles upward at a pretty good angle. I discovered this after attaching mine, so my door is not as angled as it should be.

There is not a lot of difference between the resin probe bay and the corresponding kit part, but it appears that the kit part is a bit wider. Both bays have a hole or slot into which the shaft of the probe can be inserted if you are modeling the probe retracted. Unfortunately, I discovered that the raised ring around Quickboost’s probe is wider than the top of the probe bay, so if you are going to model the probe retracted into the bay, you will need to shave off the sides of the ring to allow the probe to fit into the bay. However, if you are going to do this, I would use the kit probe and the kit bay as there really is not much to see once the probe is retracted.

As shown in the photographs, the fuel dump pipes on the kit and the resin replacements are completely different in shape. Based on photographs I found of this area of the Fencer, the Quickboost parts are much closer to the actual fuel dump pipes on the Fencer.

This is a good set and provides a nice upgrade to the Trumpeter Fencer kits, especially if you are modelling a Fencer with the inflight refueling probe extended. Recommended.

Thank you to Aires for the review sample!

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