History

The C-17 was funded for development in 1984 and the first one was delivered in 1991 to the USAF for testing. The C-17 was originally designed to replace the C-130 and augment the C-5 and C-141. As we all know the C-130 and the C-5 are still going and the C-141 has been removed from service and has been sent to the boneyard for scrapping. The initial order was for 120 units and that was bumped up in 2002 following the attacks of September 11th to 180. Although the USAF is the main user there are many other countries that utilize the C-17.

The Kit

The kit is molded in light gray plastic. Several of the parts had a grainy texture to them and several of the sprue attachment points were thick and difficult to remove. The construction is fairly straight forward.

History Brief

The Adventures of Jonny Quest was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for Screen Gems. An animated television series, it ran on ABC in prime time on Friday nights for one season from 1964 to 1965. A true original for the 1960s, it was created and designed by comic-book artist Doug Wildey and was inspired by American radio serials, American action-adventure comics and American science fiction genre. Ground breaking for it’s time it featured unmatched realistic art, interesting characters, and a better story line than any previous cartoon seen on television.

The Quest Labs Supersonic Suborbital Aircraft known as The Dragonfly is the iconic Jonny Quest aircraft featured in the episode introductions. It was also featured in some of the best episodes.

In case you missed the IPMS/USA Nationals this past summer, Eduard released a 1/48 scale F-14A Tomcat as part of a special Danger Zone boxing that included a slew of photoetch and resin detail parts along with the plane. I mention this as some of the detail items, such as this set, are now being released to further spruce up the limited edition release. I have never seen anything like this fabric set, so I would consider this a warning shot across the bow of other detail part manufacturers.

The AB was a soft-top variant of the Model AA, and inherited features such as the 3.4-liter inline-6 engine and live axle leaf spring front/rear suspension. It differed from the AA in its folding cloth roof, dedicated windshield design, and front-hinged door layout. To make room for the new folding auxiliary seats, the rear seat bank was moved somewhat further back. Of the 353 produced by 1938, the majority were eventually sent to the military and never made it into the hands of the public as was originally intended.

There’s not a lot of military history for this kit. It’s a pretty standard European-style shopping cart. I have pushed a bunch of these around stores in Italy when I was TDY at Vincenza. From my experience working at Kroger’s I know that the American version has a different wheel setup and a shelf below the main basket.

This kit is a marvelously done piece of photoetch. Everything except the push bar, which is done in resin, is on one fret. The basket is one piece with the legs attached. The wheels and axle supports are separate pieces, and there’s a chain which attaches to the push bar. I remember that this chain hooks into a dispenser outside the store, and you put a coin in the dispenser to get your cart. When you’re done, return the cart, and you get your coin back. That’s one way for the store to make sure you don’t leave the cart out there in the parking lot. And if you do, some kid would probably take it back to get the coin.