This set provides replacement pitot tubes for the Su-24/39 Grach (Rook), better known as the “Frogfoot” in the West. The Grach has two nose mounted pitot tubes. The left pitot is a simple needle point pitot tube, while the right pitot has multiple vanes and spikes about halfway down the pitot, similar to many other Sukhoi fighters.

The set includes three brass parts and one resin part. The left pitot is a single piece of brass which comes to a nice sharp point. The right pitot is composed of the circular tubes of the front and back of the pitot tube and the resin part replicates the fine vanes and protrusions commonly seen on Soviet pitot tubes. As with Master Model’s other pitot tube sets, the packaging for the set is really well thought-out as the brass parts are in separate pockets from the resin part and the resin part is contained in a small foam square that is lined with good sticky tape on the back side to keep the resin part from floating around, which is good as the vanes and spikes on the resin part are very delicate.

The right pitot is assembled by sliding the thin rear section of the tip of the pitot tub through the resin section and then into the front of the base of the pitot. As the vanes have a specific orientation, I recommend that you first install the base section of the pitot tube before adding the other two parts. The instructions advise you to drill a .8 mm hole for the left pitot and a 1 mm hole for the right pitot tube base. There are faint marks on the aft end of each pitot tube indicating how far to insert the tubes into the nose mounts. You will need to use superglue to attach the brass parts to the kit and I recommend using one with a little delay in setting up to give you time to get the alignment correct before the glue sets up.

Once the right pitot tube base is installed, either install the landing gear or prop the kit up so that the wings are level, then you can install the rest of the right pitot as this will allow you to ensure that the nose vanes are in the correct orientation, the double fins should be vertical, while the spikes that face aft are horizontal. There is nice close up drawing of the correct orientation on the instruction sheet to remind you. Again super glue will be needed, but I recommend thin superglue for this step and just letting a drop of it run around the joint.

Master Model’s craftsmanship on this set is outstanding. The vanes and spikes sticking out of the right side pitot are exquisitely molded and are a vast improvement over the kit part. Highly recommended!

Thank you to Master Model for the review sample and to IPMS-USA for letting me review it.