Quickboost

1/48 MiG-17 Pitot Tubes

Kit Number: QB 48 242

Reviewed by  Michael Novosad, IPMS #36721

MSRP $4.99 Website: www.quickboost.net Introduction I purchased the Hobby Boss MiG-17F Fresco C recently and plan to complete the model later this year. This aircraft has two pitot tubes located near the tip of each wing. Model kit manufacturers because of the molding process normally form these delicate parts with at least two sprue attachment points that must be carefully removed from the shaft of the tube. In addition mold lines can be found on both sides of these parts. All this means some clean up is required to make these parts presentable. The Hobby Boss kit is no different. Although the instructions normally show these delicate parts being installed early in the construction seasoned model builders will often defer installation until late in the effort, or after the model is painted and decaled to avoid damage to these fragile parts. Personally, I have often replaced kit-furnished pitot tubes with short lengths of telescoping brass tubing. There is a good deal of work required for this method, but the advantage to using metal tubing is that the modeler is working with a round section that requires cleanup limited to the ends of each section. The smaller diameter tube of the inner shaft can also be extended at the attachment end to form a very rigid connection to the mounting surface when installed in a pre-drilled opening. This effort may be a toss up to the kits parts preparation.
The Kit Parts The Hobby Boss kit-furnished pitot tubes are molded as part of sprue "D", and as noted above have two attachment points, and mold seams to clean up. The parts have three telescoping sections, and what I would consider a less that adequate mounting pin. The overall length of the kit pitot tubes is 1" plus a 3/64" long mounting nub. These parts, if used on this model most definitely need to be installed at the end of the work to a void damage and loss. Would these parts be adequate for most builders? With some cleanup and care, yes.
The Aftermarket Parts Quickboost provides four replacement pitot tubes in this offering. The parts are packaged in a heavy-weight, clear plastic bag with a heavy paper backer sheet. The tip section on one of the sample tubes was slightly bent, but I would expect that this could be corrected. Why four replacement pitot tube? My thoughts on this later. The parts are cast in a cream-colored resin, with the bases cast as part of the casting block, plus there are two sturdy "wings" cast as part of the casting to protect the parts. Each tube is a four telescoping section as opposed to the kit three section tubes. The overall length of the replacement pitot tubes is 1 3/64". There is no mounting nub, therefore some care will be required when installing these parts on the wings' leading edges. The Quickboost parts are really quite delicate when compared to the kits parts.
Conclusion The kit-furnished pitot tubes are molded with a small nub at the mounting location. Each wing has a fairing that will receive the pitot tubes. The mounting nub is glued in place in the mouth of the fairing. The base section of each pitot tube is the same diameter of the fairing. With care this should be a fairly solid connection, with a slight join line, but not abuse-resistant. The base section of the resin parts appears to be close to the same diameter of the wing fairings, and therefore it would appear that a butt joint is proposed by the resin part manufacturer for this installation. I would be inclined to provide a more secure means of fixing the replacement tubes to the wing fairings. Why four replacement tubes? Two possibilities as I see it. First, it is possible that one tube or more could be broken or lost during the building process. Second, with care when installing the first two tubes the modeler would be encouraged to buy another HobbyBoss MiG-17 to use the remaining tubes. Recommendations/Comments I did find in a Google Image search one line drawing image of the wing construction of a MiG-17 that appears to show a three-telescoping section pitot tube. I also found a few in-flight images that were clear enough to show the pitot tubes as three telescoping sections. Finally, I checked my copy of MiG-17 Fresco in action, and the clear images show three telescoping section pitot tubes. The fine, crisp casting of these parts places them above the molding quality of the kit parts, and are recommended for the accomplished modeler. Although a small feature of the overall model, these replacement parts will have appeal to those of us who wish to be challenged in our hobby. My thanks to the fine folks at Quickboost for the opportunity to review this product.